KISS Reels Of Rock Review: Plenty Of Action, A Little Light On Results

I was born in 1971, and as a result, I’m reasonably certain I was first introduced to KISS via Dynamite magazine. 

At this point, I realize I have narrowed my audience by about 96.9%, but bear with me: Dynamite was a pre-teen mag that I’m reasonably certain I got in school via Scholastic. (I could search this to be sure, but I have pleasant, perhaps even real, memories of getting the magazine at school, so let me have this. Anyway … )

KISS scared the hell out of me. These four dudes, wearing makeup and platform heels, looking all kinds of weird. I was too young to appreciate the glam-rock era and so I just took it at face value: weirdos.

I got a little older, the guys ditched the makeup, and then I found out the two leads — Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons — were in fact Stan Eisen and Chaim Witz. A couple of Jews from Queens. These guys could’ve been my father if things had broken differently. I started listening to their music — by this time I was into Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe, etc. — and I developed something like an appreciation.

To be clear, I never thought they were a particularly great band, but boy, could they put on a show. I saw them a bunch of times, and a few songs really stuck with me. “Heaven’s on Fire” was one of them.

But the one that really stuck — the one that is, inarguably, a great rock tune — is “Detroit Rock City.”

So when I stumbled across “KISS: Reels of Rock” on BetRivers, opened it, and “Detroit Rock City” started playing … well, I was going to have to spin. It was an experience.

The nitty gritty

KISS Reels of Rock is a six-reel video slot that starts out with 576 ways to win, but if you make it to the big feature, it can expand all the way to 4,096. The base game runs on a funky 2-3-4-4-3-2 reel setup, so right away you’re dealing with something a little busier than your standard slot.

The symbols are what you’d expect from a KISS game: The band members’ faces as the high-paying symbols, then the usual letters and numbers underneath them. There’s also a wild symbol, a KISS recor, that substitutes for everything except the scatter.

As with most slots, the regular spins are whatever, but the bells and whistles are where it’s at. On any regular spin, you can get Lock and Load, which synchronizes one pair of reels — either 1 and 6, 2 and 5, or 3 and 4 — so they show the same outcome. You can also get Drive Me Wild, which drops in a guaranteed x2 wild on reels 2, 3, 4, or 5, and any other wilds that land during that feature also get the x2 treatment. Those wild multipliers stack on paylines up to x64, which is where things can get spicy in a hurry. 

Then there’s the bonus setup. Three or more scatters anywhere trigger a free-spin selector, where you choose from five cities: Johannesburg, Sydney, London, Rio de Janeiro, or Tokyo. Each one gives you a different tradeoff between regular free spins and Encore Free Spins. So if you want the safer route, Johannesburg gives you 20 normal free spins and 1 Encore spin. If you’re feeling crazy, Tokyo gives you 4 normal free spins and 5 Encore spins.

During the regular free spins, reel synchronization is active on every spin and if you land three or more scatters on the last normal free spin, you trigger Encore Free Spins, where the game opens up. Encore spins are played on an extended 6×4 grid, all wilds become x2 multiplier wilds, and the reel sync remains active throughout. 

In other words, this is one of those games where the base game feels like it’s constantly teasing you. Random reel syncing, random multiplier wilds, a choose-your-own-adventure free-spin bonus, and then a bigger, louder Encore mode waiting behind that. Very on-brand for KISS, honestly — subtle was never really their thing.

Let’s take a spin

Spins at BetRivers for this game range from 20 cents to $7.50. I went the 20-cent route and had one of the most head-scratching experiences I’ve ever had playing a slot.

I started off on fire — I got a bunch of 9s all over the place, turning my initial 20-cent spin into a $4.80 windfall.

Spun a few more times, landed the bonus round. Things were looking up.

I chose Rio De Janeiro, getting 8 free spins and 4 Encore spins. Clearly, this was going to be very profitable.

I won 6 cents in the bonus round.

I repeat: I hit the bonus on a 20-cent spin, played the bonus, and lost 14 cents on the adventure.

Well, that sucked.

Here’s the thing. I get that slots are volatile, I get that not every spin will be a winner, but if there’s a bonus round and I’m designing it, I’m making sure the player walks out of it with, at minimum, a profit.

Leave it to KISS — one of the more mercenary bands in history — to rob me in the bonus round. Boo. 

I spun a few more times, lost the winnings, and cut out of there.

The verdict

It’s fine. It’s five years old, and it kind of shows a bit. The bonus-round disaster really left a bad taste in my mouth. And I know it’s not fair to judge a slot by one bad experience, but … how could I not?

Obviously, if I’d 100x’ed my money, I’d be singing a different tune. As it stands? I feel uptight on a Saturday night.