Mayan Princess Pokie
Eye-catching images of Central and South American plants, wildlife and people grace the reels of Mayan Princess, a popular pokie from Microgaming which follows the theme of an ancient civilisation.
With 5 reels and 20 paylines, this game is nice an easy to learn, which may be a part of the reason why it’s so popular. The fairly basic bonus features certainly won’t be the main attraction, as we just get free spins with a multiplier and wild substitutions to break up the run of play, but many people are looking for games that are mainly focused on the business of spinning the reels with few distractions and a straightforward style.
There’s quite a few Microgaming pokies that look similar to Mayan Princess, so players shouldn’t expect anything particularly original here, but it’s still a nice design and any game themed around cultures from the past is bound to attract lots of players.
While Mayan Princess isn’t quite as old as the civilisation that it’s based upon, this is still an older game which shows in the style of the symbols, which are realistic enough but can look a little dated. The animations are quite smooth however, and some symbols perform a little dance when they make up part of a winning combination.
Behind the reels is a background picture of a Mayan pyramid surrounded by lush plants and stone carvings to each side. There’s a further stone effect to the framing of the reels, while payline indicators show players where each of the 20 lines starts from the left side and finishes on the right.
Mayan Princess
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Right at the bottom are the control buttons which are also designed to fit in with the theme. Players use these to determine how many of the 20 lines they want to activate, how many coins they want on each and how much they want each coin to be worth. It gives them a bet range from 0.01, which will only activate 1 of the lines, through to 5.00 on each line for a 100.00 maximum per spin.
Wins are created when at least 3 of the same symbol land on adjacent reels across an active line running left to right, and a look at the paytable reveals what each combination is worth.
The chilli plant is the lowest value icon, paying 10 coins when 3 land on a line, while there’s 15 coins for getting a row of 4, and if 5 chillies run right across the reels on an active line the reward is 100 coins.
Other lower-value symbols include the crocodile, warrior, ears of corn, brightly coloured bird and a bird statue which pays from 30x to 500x the value of a coin when between 3 and 5 stop on a line.
Players win more when symbols like the sun god carving, and an elegant-looking jaguar stop in the right places, while the highest value regular symbol is the beautiful princess herself in a nice red bikini top, a snake around her neck and an elaborate headdress topping it all off.
Bonus Features
The Mayan Princess logo is the highest paying symbol of all, with 10 coins paid out when just 2 land on the first reels, while 3, 4 or 5 of them are worth 300x, 3000x and 5000x. This is also the wild symbol, so it can substitute as all others, apart from the bonus one, if that helps to make up a winning combination.
The pyramid makes an appearance as the bonus symbol, triggering a free spins round when it lands in any positions on reels 1 and 5 at the same time. A random number of between 10 and 20 spins will then play out, and any wins that occur throughout them will be doubled in value. The spins can be re-triggered if the pyramid lands in the right spots again, with the new ones playing out as soon as the current games have finished.
The Verdict
Mayan Princess may be quite old, but it looks perfectly fine, just not stunning. Players looking for a nice simple game should give it a try, but those looking for lots of bonus features are going to be disappointed.
There’s certainly a couple of extras that would have been nice, with scatter wins being top of the list, while the ever-popular gamble game that features on so many pokies from this developer could perhaps have been another welcome addition.