Alf Casino is yet another online casino property from Araxio Development N.V. and thus a subsidiary of Tranello Ltd. As such you will find many similarities to its sister casinos such a Cadoola or Boaboa, but Alf Casino is distinctly more individual than either of the others.
Theme and layout are very different here, though not quite unique, because the quirky space or cute alien theme is something you can encounter in other online casinos. You get to choose one of the five funny and funky alien heroes and embark on an adventure at Alf. That always adds a little more flavour to playing than just simply churning through the slots.
Naturally, Alf will offer very much the same portfolio available at its sister casinos, because Araxio is working with a number of developers and showcases their games across their range of casinos. Other things are the same, too, such as the welcome bonus and the bonus conditions, but we’ll get into that further below.
Here are the things we noticed and liked at first glance about the casino:
Live Chat, Email, Phone
2018
Curaçao
English, Deutsch, Россию, Magyar, Svenska, Português, Norsk, Suomi
Euros, Hungarian forint, Norwegian Kroner, Polish zlotys, Russian rubles, Swedish Kronor, Turkish Lira
Blackjack, Roulette, Baccarat, Casino Holdem,
Microgaming, Betsoft, NetEnt, Yggdrasil Gaming, Thunderkick, Evolution Gaming, Quickspin, Elk studios, Pragmatic Play, Red Tiger Gaming
E-Wallets : 24 h
Credit/Debit Cards : 3-5 d
Bank Transfers : 3-7 d
Here’s the thing about Araxio N.V. casinos: they all appear to have the same welcome bonus and they all have the same conditions attached. It’s a copy/paste kind of situation. At least you know what to expect, but they could change things up a little as well.
So, if you know any of their other properties, you know to expect a 100% match bonus on your first deposit and up to €500 in bonus cash along with 200 free spins, which are handed out in increments of 20 spins across 10 days.
You will know that the minimum deposit is €20 and that you have to contact customer service in order to get the bonus. Once you have activated it, deposit and bonus will need to be wagered 30 times for which you have 10 days. That’s an awfully short amount of time, so you may not want to claim the full amount.
Also, slots and “other games” (such as keno, bingo or scratch cards) aside, no games contribute towards the wagering requirements. Some slots only contribute 20% and others don’t contribute at all. You can find the list of what’s what over at Alf Casino.
Alf provides hundreds of games to their players, most of which are slots. Araxio N.V. works with most of the best developers in the industry, including NetEnt, Microgaming, Yggdrasil Gaming, ELK Studios, Pragmatic Play, Quickspin, Play’n GO, NYZ Interactive, Endorphina, Pariplay, Ezugi, Amatic, GameArt, Betsoft, Thunderkick, Push Gaming, Amaya, iSoftBet, RedRake, Ainsworth, Habanero and Rival.
Thus you’ll find games such as Bollywood Story, Amazing Aztecs, Chinese Zodiac, The King, Cops’n Robbers, Jungle Jim El Dorado, Moon Princess, Hotline, Pirate’s Story, Asgardian Stones and many more among the slots on offer.
Card games, Poker Games, Video Poker and Blackjack each get their own category, but the filter is not working that well, because Video Poker games also appear in Card Games and Poker Games and Keno shows up in the Video Poker section. Interestingly, Roulette doesn’t get its own section for once. Here you will have to use the search field and look for games. Thankfully there’s a section for “My Games”, where you can add all your favourites.
Either way, you do get a good choice of card and table games to give you some added action when you want a break from slots.
A small live casino is better than no live casino. And at Alf you get the usual range of live tables from Evolution Gaming and the Ezugi live casino that you also get at any of Araxio’s other casinos. It looks almost exactly the same, which is also something that could be changed up a little, but we don’t want to complain.
The range of games is more than sufficient: roulette, blackjack, baccarat and casino poker as well as Dream Catcher.
Once again, jackpots don’t get their own section and you can’t filter them. You need to look for each game individually. And for that you need to know which jackpots are even there. NetEnt and Microgaming jackpots are missing entirely. But you get a good range of Betsoft jackpots, including their biggest progressives with The Glam Life and The Mega Glam Life.
Yggdrasil Gaming’s two smaller jackpots, Ozwin’s Jackpots and Holmes and the Stolen Stones, are also available at Alf.
But it’s somewhat annoying that the games aren’t all sorted in one section. Plus, on the homepage you’re even shown how much the accumulated jackpots are currently worth and you’re wondering where those games are hidden.
It would appear that Araxio N.V. keeps the customer service for all their casinos in one place. There is no difference in opening times, availability or the phone numbers you’re able to call for support. Only the email addresses are different, depending on which casino you have signed up with. But at the end of the line the same customer service reps are likely to answer.
What we noticed with Alf casino, is a bit of a slow response when it comes to customer queries. The customer service team doesn’t answer the live chat in a timely fashion and they could try and be more helpful. Those appear to be the most common complaints about the casino as well, which should be a problem easily rectified, especially since the casino claims to provide professional assistance.
Before contacting the customer service team, be sure to read the FAQ section and the terms and conditions, including the bonus terms.
At least as far as we can tell. On the homepage only the icons for Visa and MasterCard appear, alongside zimpler, Skrill, Neteller and bank transfer. All those options are usually available for deposits and withdrawals, though. If any other methods are available, you’ll find out once you have an account and go to make a deposit. But since there’s no separate page for payment options, we don’t know much more than this at first glance.
In the terms and conditions, you can find out that the casino doesn’t charge extra fees for making deposits or withdrawals. And thanks to the VIP section, you will also be able to find out that monthly withdrawal limits are between €10,000 and €50,000.
As you will be aware by now, we consider only a Curacao license insufficient for player protection. This is especially true for European-facing casinos. Play protection is a big issue in Europe and other gambling jurisdictions are very strict in enforcing their licensing regulations. That cannot be said of the Curacao jurisdiction and the fact that they are overseas does not help.
Thus, a casino that only offers this one license, will have to go to great lengths to prove its trustworthiness. For the time being Araxio does not appear to have caused noticeable issues for the players of their casinos, but the overall transparency and the customer service need to be improved.
Whilst all games supplied at Araxio come from trustworthy developers and are certainly safe to play, Alf and all its sister casinos have to prove that they adhere to good business practices, including protecting and respecting their players.
Only time and experience will be able to show us what they’re made of.
In comparison with the hundreds of other online casinos out there, Alf Casino’s design is not wholly unique. The layout is somewhat recognizable, and we’ve seen fun and quirky space aliens before. But among the Araxio properties, Alf manages to stand out a little more and it is quite charming. The five aliens featured at the casino are memorable and very likable.
Overall, the homepage is designed in a user-friendly way. A part of the menu folds away, but some of the most important links are easily accessible at first glance.
Added information and further links would be very welcome, though.
Interestingly, the mobile version of Alf Casino resembles that of its sister casinos much more than the desktop page. That is likely due to the nature of scaled down desktop pages, which forces a certain layout.
Of course, the aliens still feature, but the menu is folded away, and the mobile page is cleaner in design and layout. All information is still available, though, and you can access all the different sections, including signing up and using all the bonuses or participating in the tournaments.
And speaking of tournaments, those are available at Alf Casino as well. Mostly you’ll be able to win loyalty points, but cash may also be up for grabs. The tournaments are the same that are offered by all other Araxio casinos as well.
The reload bonuses are essentially also the same we already know. You can grab free spins and a match bonus plus free spins, either during the week or on the weekend.
Therefore, you can also look forward to earning loyalty points at Alf Casino, which can eventually be converted into cash. And the VIP scheme is available here as well. In principle it is the same offered by the sister casinos, but it is adapted to the theme of the casino.
What makes Alf Casino stand out among the other reviewed Araxio N.V. casinos is its theme. We liked it right away and it is more memorable than many others. The aliens are charming and add to the player experience you get here.
Outside of that, Alf has exactly the same strengths and weaknesses as its sister properties and needs to improve on the same things. That means we need more jackpots, more transparency and bonus conditions that are more generous than what they currently are.
Of course, we also want to see a European gambling license and then we can recommend Alf Casino without any reservations.