Where our numbers come from
Every figure on this site traces back to a named source, and we rank those sources. In order of trust:
- Official pages and in-game screens. NetEnt’s game page at netent.com and Red Tiger’s at redtiger.com, plus the paytable and rules inside each game. The 96.23% RTP, the 27.00% hit frequency, the 243 ways - those come from here.
- Spec sheets and launch materials. NetEnt’s 2019 spec sheet and launch PR. Useful, but they can drift from the current build; that’s exactly why we list both max-win figures (1,000x on NetEnt’s current page, 1,506x in the 2019 materials) instead of picking one.
- Named aggregators. Bigwinboard and Slotcatalog for figures the studios don’t publish, such as feature trigger rates. We always attribute these as affiliate-sourced, never as official.
Anything we can’t source, we say so. NetEnt publishes no official volatility tier for Narcos, so we call it “medium-to-high” and flag it as our read, not a spec.
Hands-on before write-up
Ryan plays the official demo (the tokenless version served from netent.com) before reviewing anything. That means logged sessions, usually a few hundred spins, with notes on how often features actually landed compared to the published rates. It’s a small sample and we treat it that way; 200 demo spins can’t verify a 96.23% RTP, but they can verify that Walking Wilds behave as documented and that the Locked Up respins reset the way the rules claim.
We verify ourselves: feature mechanics, bet ranges, what the paytable screen shows, how the demo behaves. We attribute rather than verify: RTP, hit frequency, and trigger odds, which only a certified test lab can truly confirm.
The 8.2/10, unpacked
Our rating isn’t a vibe. Four criteria, weighted equally:
- Maths transparency: does the studio publish RTP, hit rate, and max win, and do the numbers agree across sources? Narcos scores well on RTP and hit rate, loses points for the 1,000x vs 1,506x max-win conflict and the missing volatility tier.
- Features: depth and interaction of the mechanics. Four named features that feed each other is strong for a 2019 release.
- Presentation: audio, art, and how well the licence is used.
- Win potential: ceiling and how reachable it feels in practice, judged against comparable NetEnt titles.
An 8.2 means the game beats most of its peers but has documented weaknesses. A 10 doesn’t exist here.
Corrections
When we’re wrong, we fix the page and note the change. Studios also update their documentation; operators can deploy different certified builds, so the in-game paytable always outranks us. If you spot a discrepancy, email [email protected] with a link or screenshot; corrections normally go live within a few days.
Affiliate commissions (disclosed in our disclaimer) play no part in any of the above. The rating was set before monetisation and doesn’t move for commercial reasons.
Why don’t you just run enough spins to verify the RTP?
Sample size. RTP converges over millions of spins; a few hundred demo spins tell you about mechanics and pacing, not the long-run return. Certified test labs verify RTP; we report what they and the studio publish.
Do you re-test games after updates?
We re-check the official pages periodically and re-test when a documented change appears. If NetEnt resolves the max-win discrepancy, the review gets updated and the correction noted.
Who decides the final rating?
Ryan Cole scores each criterion after his demo sessions; nobody outside the site reviews or approves ratings before publication.