Pandas Quest Slot
Baby pandas, red pandas and a mother panda bear are all causing panda-monium on the reels of the Pandas Quest video slot from Aurify Gaming. That’s because these cute critters will place extra wild symbols to boost the chances of landing a big win, while a free spins bonus feature and high-paying scatter icon should ensure that this online slot machine is more than bear-able. In fact, it’s a great-looking game that places the 5 reels against the backdrop of a pagoda-roofed building in a garden filled with cherry blossoms, which isn’t exactly original but still very pleasing to the eye.
The Pandas Quest video slot combines 2 very popular topics, namely Chinese culture and wildlife into a single game very successfully. As well as the bears, we have paper fans, golden bowls, red lanterns and lucky turtles on the reels, all of which will be familiar to anyone who has played an Asian themed slot before, but Aurify Gaming have embellished them all with their own style. It’s a 30 payline game, where punters will want to land 3 or more of the same symbol across a line, from the left side without any breaks in the sequence to win a prize, but our helpful panda’s will be able to complete extra lines if needed.
Adopting a Panda
As the game is loading up, players are invited to select one of the panda symbols to become their Lucky Panda, who will modify the reels and help to complete winning lines. Like all symbols in this game, the bears are beautifully presented and highly realistic, with some nice animations when they cross the reels to add extra wilds. The paper fan is the lowest-paying symbol, returning 5x, 30x, or 100x the amount bet per line when it stops on 3, 4, or 5 reels, while the bamboo plant and red lantern are each worth up to 125x, the golden bowl serves up winnings to a high limit of 150x and a coin-covered bonsai tree pays a maximum of 200x the line stake.
The top-paying standard symbols are the turtle statue, that’s pays up to 250x, and an elephant sculpture that’s standing on a bed of coins and has a frog on its back. This unlikely creature returns wins of 75x, 150x and 300x the line bet when it’s across any of the 30 paylines on 3, 4, or 5 reels.
A gong symbol can land in any positions, and if 3, 4, or 5 appear in a single spin, the rewards are equal to 90x, 750x, or a huge 3000x, although unlike many slot machines where the scatter symbol launches a special feature, there’s a separate Yin Yang bonus symbol to trigger a free spins game.
Wild Pandas
Before we get to that however, let’s take a look at the local wildlife, as the pandas each have special powers. Any line of these cute bears will be worth 100x, 200x, or 400x the line stake, and any combination of them will still be worth this amount, so for example, you could get 1 of each across a payline and still win 100x. There’s a special ‘Superprize’ award of 5,000x the line bet when your chosen Lucky Panda lands right across a payline, but the main reason you choose a bear is because of the extra wild symbols that they add to the reels.
Any time you see 2 or more of any matching panda on the reels, your chosen bear can appear and move any of these symbols up or down, replacing them with a firecracker wild symbol to increase the chances of a winning line being created. It’s not certain that you will win anything from this feature, but it certainly helps and plays out in a nicely animated way. It’s the main unique feature of the Pandas Quest video slot, but far from the only one, as this game also comes with a free spins bonus round.
This begins when the Yin Yang symbol appears in any 3 or more places, with just 3 being worth an initial award of 60 coins, followed by 5 bonus spins, while 4 symbols will first pay out 600x the line stake before 12 free spins commence, and any 5 or more equals a massive prize of 1,200x and then you get 25 free games. These free spins can also be retriggered if the bonus symbols stops in 3 or more places at once before the round ends.
Betting Options
While you can try this game out via the free Pandas Quest video slots provided by Aurify Gaming, most people like to play for real cash and just 0.30 is needed to be in with a chance of claiming real winnings. The most you can stake per spin is 300.00, so it’s great for punters with just about any bankroll size.
There’s also a fast spin option, plus an Autoplay button that spins them for up to 100x without you needing to click anything, while win or loss limits can be determined before they begin, stopping the automatic spins if they are reached.
Other Games to Pander to an Audience
Because pandas can be seen in wildlife and Asian themed online slot games, there’s a few dedicated to these bamboo forest dwelling, slow breeding animals, including the Wild Panda video slot from Aristocrat. It’s got a unique free spins feature, where lower value symbols that spell out the word PANDA, will take you to 5 bonus games, during which the symbols that triggered the bonus round turn into extra wilds.
One of the most successful slots of this genre is the Untamed Giant Panda video slot from Microgaming. It’s part of a range of animal themed games, each of which comes with their own special bonuses. In this case, spinners are rewarded with sticky wild reels, a bonus symbol that can be nudged into view, and 3 of these icons launch a free spins feature where wilds stay locked in place throughout.
It’s all Black and White
By filling the reels with a rich variety of cute pandas, AdpotIt Publishing have created a slot machine that’s going to have instant appeal to lots of players. Thankfully the clever gameplay is up to the high standards of the design although the Lucky Panda feature, with the outstanding animations that go with it, is without doubt the most unique aspect here.
But having a free spins bonus round, scatter pays and regular wild symbols in play is still a nice set of extra features and ones that should ensure that both the online and mobile optimised versions of this game reach a wide audience.
