Fig Tree Reels

The oldest tree in the garden grows against the south wall, and this is its slot: three reels, five lines, figs and lemons and the odd garden bee. Choose a stake and spin: five lines are in play every time, and there is nothing else to fiddle with.

How to play

Pick a stake from the row of chips under the reels: 5, 10, 25 or 50 Fig Coins a spin. Press Spin and the three reels turn, stopping one after another from left to right. Your stake is spread evenly across five lines (the three rows straight across, plus the two diagonals that cross in the middle), so each line carries a fifth of what you put in.

This is a plain classic, the way the old fruit machines were. All three reels turn on every spin, every spin stands entirely on its own, and the only decision you ever make is the size of your stake. When a line collects, it is drawn across the reels in honey-gold so you can see exactly which way it ran.

Reading the paytable

Open “Paytable & rules” under the game to see every symbol. The figures are multiples of the line stake, so on a 50-coin spin (10 a line) three Orangery Lemons on one line collect 100 Fig Coins.

Ripe Fig 8, Orangery Lemon 10, Olive Sprig 12, Halved Fig 15. The everyday fruit of the garden.
Terracotta Pot 25, Garden Bee 30. Rarer, and rather more rewarding.
Watering Can 75. The best of the ordinary symbols.
Golden Fig 150 for three in a line, and it stands in for any other symbol to complete one.

The Ripe Fig has one extra habit. Land it on the first reel of a line and it returns 1 on its own, or 2 when the second reel matches too, even if the third reel shows something else entirely.

Rounds and Fig Coins

Each spin takes its stake from your balance the moment you press the button, and whatever a line collects is added back as soon as the reels settle. The message under the reels tells you what landed and on which line, and the matching squares light up so you can see them.

If your balance gets too low for the stake you have chosen, drop to a smaller chip or press “Refill to 5,000 free” at the top of the game. There is no limit on refills and no catch: Fig Coins have no cash value, cannot be bought and never leave this site.

From the garden notebook

The fig against the south wall was here long before any of us. It sulks all through April, then in August produces more fruit than one household could possibly eat, and for a fortnight everyone who visits goes home with a paper bag of figs.

The reels borrow that fortnight: the fruit bowl on the terrace, the lemons carried out of the orangery for summer, bees working the lavender, the watering can that is never quite where you left it. The Golden Fig is the one we are all waiting for: the fig that ripens perfectly, the day before the blackbirds find it.

Questions about Fig Tree Reels

Why is the stake split into five?

Because each spin covers five lines at once. Each line carries a fifth of your stake, and the paytable multiplies that line stake, so you can always work out exactly what a line collects.

Which lines count?

All five, on every spin: the top, middle and bottom rows straight across, and the two diagonals from corner to corner. One square can sit on several lines at once, so a Golden Fig in the very centre can help up to three lines together.

Is there a way to make the reels land better?

No. Every reel position is chosen at random by your browser at the moment you spin, and nothing you do beforehand changes it. Pick a stake you are happy to watch come and go, and enjoy the figs.