Maya Pyramid Slot
This Viaden slot is subtitled ‘temple trove’, and the theme is very much the ancient civilizations of South America. The graphics are excellent - with a huge pyramid sat behind the reels. There are two notable features on this slot. First, expanding wilds which can turn entire reels into wild symbols (and often do this on more than one reel at a time). Second, a break out bonus game in 2 parts, which involves selecting a temple to attempt to get to a diamond choosing game which has the big pay-outs. Like all Viaden slots, this game also gives you the chance to land a big win from regular play. In this case the single biggest prize per line is a big 10,000 coins.
Viaden tend to have two extremes with their graphics. Some of their slots are very simple indeed, while others are top quality, with detailed symbols and backgrounds. Maya Pyramid is firmly in the second category – with amazing graphics in the background and decent on-reel symbols too. The scene is a ruined pyramid, with a statue to the left of the reels and a jungle scene to the right. Reels are framed in stone. Animals, pyramids and carved stone tablets make up the symbols – there are playing card symbols which have been nicely adapted to the theme too. Pan-pipes led soundtrack plays in the background. There are also stone, animal and water sound effects – often in conjunction with animations on the reels.
You’ll find 2 main features, with the expanding wilds fairly common on the reels. The pick-em game bonus has two parts, though you will not reach part 2 every time you play.
Setup and Play for Maya Pyramid
21 win-lines does feel like a strange choice – though it should not make any real difference to your enjoyment of the game. You can choose any number of lines you wish, though the expanding wilds are enough to convince me to spin the full amount. Bets range from 5c to 25c, making the minimum and maximum spin amount for all lines $1.05c and $5.25c. You can gamble on the flip of a playing card after each win, use auto-play, or even choose super-fast play via the settings button.
The stone mask with the square background is the best paying symbol in this game. This is worth 10,000 coins for 5 on a win line, 200 for 4, 25 for 3 and a token pay out of 2 coins for just 2. Unlike on other Viaden slots, this is not the wild symbol – that is a stone block. When the wild symbol hits anywhere on the reels, it expands to cover that entire reel as a wild. One or two of these can bring you some welcome wins, if you get 3+ entire wild reels, then you are breaking into big-win territory.
Regular wins are headed up by the tiger (1000 coins for 5), eagle (750) and llama (500). Playing cards are in play; these are worth 100 coins for 5 on a line.
There are two more symbols in play. First the temple symbol, which appears on lines 3 to 5 only. This triggers the temple treasures bonus game with 3+. Finally the scatter symbol, this is the round stone tablet and pays out a multiplier of your total bet. You will bet 50x that bet for 5, 10x for 4 and 2x for 3.
Maya Pyramid Bonus Game
There are two parts to this bonus, and you’ll have the chance to collect or continue for part 1. This is a break out screen where you will see 5 different temples on the right of the box and a start / collect button in the centre. You hit start and a pointer moves between the temples, stopping at one randomly. Each has a multiplier (from 10x to 25x) with the exception of the top one, which is marked as a ‘diamond temple’. Your choice is to take that multiplier on the win which triggered the bonus – or to spin again. You get 5 attempts, though the same temples can be selected multiple times.
If you do not choose any, then the last spin determines your prize.
If you hit the diamond temple you get to a second part of the bonus which shows a grid of stone tablets. You choose these, and they slide open to reveal gems which have coin values. You keep picking until you hit a square which ends the game – at which point your wins are totalled and you go back to the main game.
Maya Pyramid – Conclusion
The graphics on this one are excellent. I’d put it up there with the best of the historical South American slots I have played elsewhere. Expanding wilds are a great touch; these happen often enough to help keep the game play from getting dull. The bonus game is a little strange, though it can result in some reasonably big wins. The main winning chances come from the regular play, particularly if you get the stone mask combined with some wild reels.
