The Wild Panda slots game developed by Aristocrat Gaming combines fairly straightforward game play with some complex betting options, giving players the choice of up to 100 paylines. Avid New Zealand pokies players will find the title at mobile and online casinos that host a selection of Aristocrat games.
Wild Panda uses a simple five-reel, four-row slot set-up. Players can bet in six denominations of the relevant currency, increasing in stages from 0.01 to 1.00. The credits per spin can be adjusted in units of 10, from 10 to 50, to play 20, 40, 60, 80 or all 100 paylines, so the total bet per spin varies between 0.10 and 10.00
Chinese Theme with Unusual Twists
With the panda primarily identified with China, it’s no surprise that the Wild Panda slot design and game symbols uses Chinese themes. China’ lucky colour, red, predominates in the bamboo-forest background to the plain reels, and apart from familiar Aristocrat Poker symbols 9, 10, J, Q and K, which all have top prizes of 100 coins for five of a kind, all the other icons have Chinese associations.
In order of increasing value, these icons include a Lotus flower, a Chinese Mandolin, a bowl of Bamboo Shoots, a Parasol, a Goldfish and a Pagoda, which scores the highest win in regular play; 1,000 coins for five matching symbols on one payline. The Pagoda is also the only symbol that pays out for a match of just two icons, as long as they start on Reel 1.
No Wild in Standard Play
The lack of a standard Wild is another feature that sets the Wild Panda slots title apart. Instead, on every spin the letters P, A, N, D and A will replace one of the K, Q or J icons on each reel from left to right. If the reels come to rest with one of these letters visible on every reel, spelling out PANDA, an animated sprouting bamboo heralds the bonus game.
The bonus slots games online in Canada consists of 5 free spins, and while it is in play, the icons K, Q and J are replaced with Wild Panda symbols. As the name suggests, these can substitute for all symbols except the Scatter, to create more winning paylines. This helps increase the win on free spins, which cannot be retriggered until back in normal play. Three, four or five Wild Panda icons on one payline will score additional prizes, of 500, 1,000 and 2,000 coins, respectively.
Scatters Add Bet Multipliers
The Wild Panda Scatter is a Chinese Gold Coin, and combinations of three or more pay a multiplier of the total bet, no matter what position on the reels they occur in. Unlike many other Aristocrat slots titles, the Wild Panda Scatter does not trigger further bonus options. However, with multiplier values of X4, X40 and X200 for three, four or five of a kind, it is capable of adding enough value to the game to keep most New Zealand pokies enthusiasts interested.