Australian players at Microgaming online casinos can play online pokies with an interactive Respin feature. Playtech also has an interactive feature in two of its popular online pokies, which works slightly differently. The feature is Lock & Spin and the two video pokies are from the Wild Gambler series. The first online pokie in the series is titled Wild Gambler. It has an African Safari theme with symbols like zebra, leopard, rhino and flamingo. The lion is the wild symbol. The sequel has a subtitle Arctic Adventure in order to differentiate it from the original. The symbols are polar animals like caribou, walrus, white fox and penguin. The wild symbol is the polar bear. You can play both these online pokies at Playtech online casinos like Omni Casino and Mansion Casino.
The Lock & Spin feature plays in exactly the same way in both Wild Gambler online pokies. You have the option of locking any wild symbols that land on the screen. You have to pay an additional cost depending on the number and location of the wilds being locked. Visually you will see cage across the locked wild symbols. The locked wilds will remain in place at additional costs for all future spins till they are deactivated. These online pokies also include a Play Your Way feature. You can convert any position on the reel to a wild symbol with a multiplier of up to 5x. Again an additional cost is involved, which can be quite steep. So you have to tread carefully.
Both the Wild Gambler online pokies have free spins features. In Wild Gambler the free spins are triggered when you land five meerkat symbols at the bottom of the screen holding up letters that spell BONUS. The feature awards 8 free spins. The wild symbols that were present in the triggering spin will remain locked during the feature without any extra cost. Also the wild symbols that may appear during the feature will get locked for the remaining free spins. The free spins feature cannot be re-triggered.
The Wild Gambler: Arctic Adventure free spins feature is triggered by landing three or more Free Spins symbols anywhere on the reels. Three symbols award 7 free spins, four symbols award 12 free spins and five symbols award 20 free spins. The feature operates in an identical manner as far as the Lock & Spin part is concerned. If you land 20 free spins the payout will definitely be whopping, but do not expect this to happen every time you play.