Tigress Pokie
Featuring crocodiles, red pandas and very stereotypical Chinese characters, Tigress is a 5 reel, 50 line pokie from Aristocrat that comes with wild substitutions, scatter wins and a free games feature where a friendly tiger should result in some extra winning spins.
While Aristocrat have produced some highly sophisticated pokies in their time, this isn’t one of them, as it’s one of the most basic in the range. But those who like easier games and are attracted to the overall style, should find lots to like about Tigress.
Pouncing onto the Reels
50 lines is a lot for a Poker machine, so the symbols are set over 4 rows rather than the normal 3. This should still be enough to spin up lots of wins, which come from landing 3 or more of the same symbol across a line running from left to right.
The symbols will need to be on adjacent reels and are calculated as multiples of the bet per reel, except scatter wins which pay in any positions on reels 1, 2 and 3. Players can stake as little as 0.50 per spin, or 0.10 per reel and those with bigger bankrolls can adjust up from there.
The game is a fairly dark-looking affair, with a night time forest serving as a backdrop to the actual reels. A colourful set of symbols will be seen on them, with the playing card icons 9, 10, J, Q, K and A being prominently featured and paying from 10x, 20x or 100x for landing 3, 4 or 5 of the 9 and 10, up to 10x, 30x or 100x for the K and A.
That’s an unusual range of potential payouts and basically means it’s not that important which playing card symbols appear, as they are all worth similar values. The picture symbols are of far more interest, both from a visual perspective and because they pay out the bigger prizes.
Even these only have 2 levels of payouts however, with the red panda and Chinese character both being worth 10x, 40x or 150x when landing 3, 4 or 5 on a line, and the toucan and crocodile paying 20x, 50x or 200x for the same combinations.
Tigress
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Earning Its Stripes with Bonus Features
Luckily, there’s a bit more to Tigress than just spinning these basic symbols and collecting any wins, as it comes with a couple of bonuses as well.
A green jewel that seems to have very little to do with the theme is a wild symbol, appearing on the middle 3 reels only and acting as any basic symbol if it’s possible to complete a winning line. If the red panda for example, stops on reels 1 and 3 on a line, it wouldn’t be worth anything, but if the wild was on reel 2 on the same line, it would pay out the same as for 3 red pandas.
A full Moon acts as a scatter symbol landing on reels 1, 2 and 3 only, when it will be worth 2x the amount staked per spin. 7 free spins are also awarded, and throughout these our friendly feline will take on some extra powers.
In normal play, the Tigress is the most valuable symbol, being worth 2x when she lands on the left reel, going to 4x, 20x, 50x or 500x if more appear, but in the free spins game, a full line will pay 2000x the reel bet. Not only are there extra rewards, it should be easier to land them, as she doesn’t need to be on adjacent reels and will pay anywhere on a line.
So just a single Tigress in any position will count for a win, or having gaps between won’t matter, as long as she is on any of the 50 lines.
If 3 scatters appear at any point in the free spins, players will be given another 7 spins which will start as soon as any left to play out have finished.
The Verdict
Tigress is a slightly odd pokie that has a nice enough theme, but an unusual set of payouts and bonus features. Having the playing card symbols all being worth around the same value is practically unheard of, although it’s not necessarily a bad thing, just strange.
Also, the Tigress feature during the free spins is very unusual, but again, that’s not meant as a criticism, just an observation, so if the theme appeals this pokie is well worth visiting.