Aztec Goddess Pokie Machine
Based on the ancient civilization that dominated Central and South America, Aztec Goddess is a 5 reel pokie from Aristocrat that features images of pyramids, statues and condors alongside the playing card symbols, all set against a backdrop made to look like carvings on a stone wall.
Any game with this sort of theme should attract a loyal fanbase and it comes with some extra features such as a free spins round where the payouts can become progressively more frequent, wild substitutions and scatter wins, plus a potentially rewarding payline system.
Playing Aztec Goddess
It’s off to ancient times with this pokie, although with smooth animations, realistic depictions of the treasures of the Aztecs and some interesting features, it’s right up to date in the way it plays.
The background image is quite atmospheric, made up of abstract designs that don’t detract from the main game and just set the scene, which is what it’s supposed to do really, so job done.
Players will notice that instead of regular paylines running across the reels, this pokie has Aristocrats’ ‘Reel Power’ format, which activates more sections of the game with bigger stakes. It’s similar in principle to having paylines and is fairly easy to understand, with players winning a prize when 3 of a kind of symbol stop on adjacent reels starting from the left side.
Like most Aristocrat pokies, the standard playing card symbols 9, 10, J, Q, K and A will be the most frequent visitors to the reels, as they make up the lower value end of the paytable. The 9 and 10 for example, will be worth 5x the reel bet when either lands on reels 1, 2 and 3 at once, while 4 of them will pay 15x and a full line is worth 50x.
Moving up in value, we see the K and A pay out the most for the playing cards, with 15x, 30x or 100x being awarded for landing 3, 4 or 5 on adjacent reels.
Many players like to see these symbols, as they instinctively know what they are worth in relation to each other, but the higher value wins come from the unique picture symbols and their order isn’t immediately clear until the payout table is examined.
This shows the condor and statue to be worth 20x, 50x or 200x when 3, 4 or 5 appear in the right spots, while moving up we see a golden idol, Aztec pyramid and finally an Aztec Goddess herself. Unusually, the payout table doesn’t list symbols in the exact order of value, as the golden idol and pyramid will be worth 400x for a full line of 5 and the top payout for the Goddess is 100x.
However, the pyramid and Goddess pay out when only 2 examples appear, but it’s still a slightly odd combination of rewards.
Aztec Goddess
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Bonus Bits
A colourful flower is the wild symbol, helping to complete winning combinations by acting as any other, apart from the scatter. It will appear on reels 2, 3 and 4 only, so can’t make up a line on its own.
The scatter is a gold coin on a blue background, which will pay from 2x to 50x the total stake when 3, 4 or 5 land in any positions. It will also trigger the main bonus feature of 10 free spins, which doesn’t sound like much, but there are some big treats in there that can make them well worth waiting for and as the free spins can also be triggered randomly, players may not actually have to wait for long.
In normal play, under the Reel Power format, there are 243 ways to line symbols up for a win, however, collecting between 5 and 9 scatters with a red background converts the game to Xtra Reel Power format.
This gives 1024 ways to win, which should boost the frequency of payouts, while players are also awarded 3 more free games to give them a little more time to enjoy them. If further coins are collected, the reels turn into Super Reel Power mode, which gives 3125 ways to win and should ensure plenty of payouts for the rest of the round.
Another 3 spins are added to the total to make sure players get a fair shot at the potential rewards in this mode, while even if not enough scatters are landed to trigger the extra lines and spins, there are additional wilds and Goddesses on the reels during the initial 10 spins.
The Verdict
Aztec Goddess may look fairly conventional at first sight, and in in normal play it is, but once the bonus games begin, players could be in for some great payouts. It’s a good-looking game that follows a popular theme, so is sure to be worth playing.