Panda-themedslots have been in the wind lately, with releases such asEye of the PandaandPandastic Adventure, and Panda Money Megaways sticks out with it’s Bonanza-like Oriental garden theme. The panda is sleeping next to the waterfall grid in the base game, and you get winning symbols accumulation respins in all stages of the game.
Big Time Gaming’s signature visuals shine through, with glossy symbols and a top reel where wilds can slide in. It’s a simple game with rather low symbol values across the board, so the bonus round multiplier is definitely needed for larger payouts. It’s harder than usual to build, however, since you need to collect bamboo symbols that spawn in the winning respins feature to increase it. The 67,330x potential seems far-fetched, and we have seen better from Big Time Gaming.
Big Time Gamingis the inventor of the ultra-popularMegawaysengine, and this Aussie developer has invented several different engines as well. Their games usually come with a high win cap, but sometimes they seem unrealistic and near impossible to crack, which is the case with this game.
The bamboo garden with the little pond and the waterfall does resemble theBonanzawaterfall to a certain degree. It’s like an Oriental zen version of it, albeit smaller, and it comes with the added charm of the sleeping panda next to the grid. It’s a decent presentation overall, and day turns to night in the bonus round.
The Panda Money Megaways RTP of 96.10 % is a bit above average. However, this game also comes with an RTP setting of 94 %. This is a high volatility game from Big Time Gaming, and you can expect plenty of dead spins between anything significant. The Panda Money Megaways max win is 67,330x your stake, which is well above average according to our stats.
You can play with bet levels between €0.2 and €12 per spin, which is a narrower range than many games out there in our experience. The game plays out on 6 reels with 4 horizontal positions sitting on top of the 4 middle reels, and the dynamic grid provides up to 5 symbols per reel. This adds up to 15,625 win ways (or Megaways) at best. The Yin&Yang Wild symbols substitute for any pay symbol to help complete wins, and wilds slide in on the top reel. Wilds can drop down to the main grid during the Prize Builder feature.
Panda Money Megaways slot revolves around the streak winning symbols respins feature, known as the Prize Builder feature in this game. You need that feature to build the multiplier in the bonus round, and we’ll take a closer look at everything below.
Winning symbols drop to the bottom of the grid as all non-winning positions respin. This is known as the Prize Builder mechanic, and winning symbols on the top reel drop down to the main grid when there are spaces open. If the reel below has 4 symbols, however, the top reel symbol will not drop. This process repeats as long as the new symbol drop improves your initial win or creates a new win. The total win is paid in the end, and scatter symbols accumulate during the prize builder feature.
You win 8 free spins when you land 3 scatters in view or accumulate them in the prize builder feature. You win +2 additional free spins on top of that per additional scatters beyond the minimum of 3. The bonus round win multiplier is progressive with no upper limit, starting at x1 and increasing by +1 every time 5 bamboo symbols are collected during the Prize Builder feature. You get +3 extra spins from 3 scatters in view, and +2 on top of that per additional scatter.
Eligible players canpurchase the bonus roundfor 100x the stake, which gives you 8 free spins. Whenever you win 100x your stake, or more, you can exchange 100x to get the bonus round. Win between 25x and 99x your stake, and you can gamble to win the bonus round.
We trigger the bonus round with 3 scatters at the very start of the 4:24-minute highlights video, and it plays out for the remainder of the video. We managed to rack up a decent multiplier after a while, and you can see for yourself how we fared by hitting the play button below.
The Oriental garden is idyllic enough and the drowsy panda is as charming as these peaceful animals can be. We also like how the top reel symbols slide in on water lily leaves, and overall the Asian theme is more edible and less generic than many other releases in this genre. It adds up to a decent game, but there are some drawbacks as well. First of all, you can expect plenty of dead spins in the base game, and it’s no wonder the panda next to the grid is fast asleep most of the time.
Another thing to consider is the low overall symbol values. Even when you hit a lengthy prize builder sequence it will most likely not lead to massive payouts. The panda wakes up as the bonus round triggers, ready to swallow those bamboo symbols that are spawned in empty prize builder positions. However, we don’t see how this multiplier system improves anything compared to regular progressive multipliers. With low symbol values and a multiplier that’s harder to grow big, the 67,330x potential seems out of reach by a long shot.
Pros
Cons
We have given you our honest opinion about this game in the Panda Money Megaways review verdict above, and perhaps you have already tried the free demo game found at the top of this page. Either way, if you feel ready to take things to the next level, and play Panda Money Megaways for real money at a casino, simply follow these instructions:
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Frogs & Bugs- also plays out in a pond, albeit not an Asian one, and winning symbols accumulate via the tumble win mechanic. The bonus round comes with 2 extra rows that are blocked, and one position is opened up per free spin. The max win is 3,000x your stake.
Grand Melee- is a medieval-themed installment fromThunderkick, and it comes with sticky respins when a randomly chosen symbol is represented 5+ times on the grid. The respins continue as long as you keep improving your initial win, and there are 3 upgrade symbols. You get more of the same in the free spins round, for payouts up to 5,000x your stake.
Fat Panda- is an Oriental-themed installment fromPragmatic Play. You’ll benefit from top reel modifiers such as wilds, expanding wilds, upgrade wilds, and multipliers up to x20. Wilds are sticky in the bonus round, and the max win is a solid 20,000x your stake.
If you’re looking to play Panda Money Megaways on your mobile phone, or wonder whether or not this is possible, we can confirm this for you. You can test the free Panda Money Megaways demo game for free on your mobile phone to see how it works, and all the casinos we recommend below the demo game allow for mobile play directly in the browser as well.
Your overall Panda Money Megaways strategy should include playing the highest RTP version of this game. Other than that, you can play with a strategy we enjoy a lot. It’s all about guessing when the next bonus round triggers, and raising the stakes a bit right before it does. This will hopefully lead to larger payouts during the feature, while you save money in the base game.
You can try the freePanda Money Megaways demo gamevia this link to the top of the review page. Getting familiar with the gameplay and the volatility of the game risk-free is a good idea, and you will learn pretty soon if this is a game you want to play for real money. If so, our verified and recommended casinos to play at are found right below the demo game.