Shaman's Magic Pokie Machine
Traditionally, a Shaman was held in high esteem in tribes around the world for their magical powers and healing abilities. Shaman’s Magic from Aristocrat, depicts an African magician, alongside the tools of her trade and the one here seems pretty powerful indeed, as she’s summoned up what looks like supernova explosions and an eclipse of the sun onto the reels as bonus symbols.
Played out over 5 reels and using the Reel Power format that results in a win whenever matching symbols stop anywhere on adjacent ones, this pokie has some standard features, with free spins, wild substitutions and scatter payouts being included.
It may not be the most feature-filled game ever developed, but it should be able to reward players with decent payouts and comes from a trusted and reliable developer, so anyone who likes the look and wants to play an uncomplicated pokie should find this one suits their needs.
Magic Moments
Basic graphics make this game look quite old-fashioned and it’s not helped by the simple background image of an African savanna landscape, with stars above it. At least it’s easy on the eye and focusses attention on what’s going on in the main game.
Players can use the control buttons beneath the reels to set their wagers from just 0.25 and adjust the stake up to suit their budget, but because all parts of the game are permanently active, there’s no option to just pick a couple of lines to see how it works.
Reel Power pokies are quite low-volatility machines, where players tend to get low value, but more frequent wins, which is preferred by many as they don’t have to spin the reels endlessly before claiming a prize.
Having a look at the paytable, we see the ubiquitous 9, 10, J, Q, K and A symbols taking up the lower value end of things, with picture symbols being worth more. The smallest wins are worked out as 5x, 15x or 100x the total bet, divided by 25, which is awarded when landing the 9 or 10 on reels running from the left side.
Running through the picture symbols, there’s a medicinal flower, drum, decorative horn and tribal mask, but the most valuable symbol is the somewhat miserable-looking Shaman who stares blankly from the screen. At least she will cheer players up whenever she lands on the reels, with just a single one on the left side paying 1x, while 2, 3, 4 or 5 are valued at 5x, 25x, 50x and 100x respectively.
Shaman's Magic
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Bonus Features
An eclipse of the sun has often been seen as a bad sign, but in this pokie it’s a good one, as it’s a wild symbol that can help players to get additional winning combinations when it acts as any other, with the exception of the scatter. It will however, only land on the middle 3 reels, so won’t be able to make up a winning line on its own.
The scatter looks like an exploding star, which could again ruin someone’s day, but in Shaman’s Magic it will help to make it, by paying out multiples of the total stake when 3, 4 or 5 land on the reels, without needing to be in any particular positions to do so. A multiple of 2x the stake is awarded with 3 scatters, 10x when 4 land at once and then it’s a huge jump to 250x for anyone lucky enough to land 5 scatters at one time.
Any 3 or more scatters also takes players to the main bonus feature, which is a simple free spins round. 10 spins are awarded and during these, some extra wilds will be added to the middle reels to boost the odds of getting some payouts.
If 3 or more scatters appear at any point in the free spins game, players will be awarded 10 more spins that will begin as soon as any left in the current round have finished.
The Verdict
That’s all we get with Shaman’s Magic, so perhaps not so magical after all. However, while it may not be for everyone, there are plenty of people who like simpler games and the older style of this one, along with the relatively simple gameplay, could be enough to bring in some fans.
The 243 potential winning combinations should be enough to bring in plenty of prizes and the extra wilds in the free spins round will hopefully bring in even more, plus it’s got a popular theme, although it’s somewhat let down by the unhappy Shaman herself. Cheer up, it’s just a game.