End Zone Riches by Nucleus Gaming is that lonely slot machine sitting in the corner nobody seems to play; yet never gets replaced. Initial thoughts upon starting this game gave me flashbacks of Saturday morning cartoons and Madden 98'. A real classic touch with lobby type music that really makes a bold attempt at recapping the weekends scores before commercial break.

Just bringing back that nostalgic feeling started me in a good spot. However, after playing several hundred auto-spins (effortless) at max bet; I seemingly chipped away at my balance to no avail. Standard symbol wins were few and far between and generally paid back less than my wager. Scattered wilds were highly sought after for the majority of those wins. There is also a poor attempt at a scatter bonus in the form of a trophy symbol that pays 1X per paying symbol. If you're a fan of doubling down after any win this game does offer it, however you do have to stumble upon it yourself on the bottom right of the slot, as it does not pop up automatically.

Triggering the bonus round consists of catching 3 or more bonus symbols on any given reels. The bonus game does pay from both sides (left-to-right, right-to-left), and offers 12 free spins. Upon entering the bonus round the payout was no more than a 3X return, and the initial win total for triggering the bonus paid better than the bonus itself. This was highly disappointing as it took some time to trigger the bonus, and fell well short of recouping wages lost through the initial playthrough amount.

Overall, this game is just slightly better than mediocre. Think of this game as the backup game you have on for Sunday football. It holds your interest while you're waiting for the big game to start. Or maybe, it just happens to be that lonely slot that only gets played while your gambling partner uses the powder room.