Pandamonium Pokies
There’s lots of pokies that mix different genres and themes together but unless someone can tell me otherwise, Pandamonium, with its heavy metal playing panda bears has got to be pretty unique. Clearly influenced by US rockers KISS, we have a posing panda next to 3 reels which have a single payline running through them, while symbols of guitars, bats and the traditional types of fruit line up to bring prizes of up to 2000x the bet. There’s loads of extra features triggered by the bonus wheel that players activate with each win, making this one of the more action-packed pokies around.
So if like most people you have spent many hours wondering how a game that mixes bamboo-munching Chinese wildlife with rock music would work, you can find out now as we head into Pandamonium.
Rocking Reels
This is a busy looking game, with the reels in the middle of the screen, surrounded by payout details, a number trail, nudge round information and our guitar playing hero looking cool to one side of them.
The game title is in Iron Maiden style writing, while a backdrop of orange flames has been thrown in just for good measure. Traditional symbols like cherries, which are worth 1x the stake when 3 land across the payline, and oranges that pay 4x are joined by different coloured guitars, with any mix of them paying 2x the bet.
A bat will be worth 6x, gold bars pay 8x and then the red guitars have a value of 10x, blue 7’s are worth 20x and the purple guitar pays 50x. Then there’s a watermelon that will treat players to a 250x the stake prize when it lands across the line and the jackpot symbol is the panda who pays 2000x the amount bet per spin.
Pandamonium
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With each winning spin, players are taken to a bonus game which sees our rocking panda next to a wheel of fortune with a series of prizes awarded as each of the 20 sections are lit up.
These can include cash, nudges, or features like free spins and multipliers, all given suitable names. Examples of these include Bamboozled, where players get to stop the reels spinning by clicking on them, Eat Shoot and Leave, where a pair of multipliers rapidly flash on and off, with players aiming to stop on the biggest one and Eye of the Panda, which is a guaranteed prize of up to 2000 coins.
Another feature that carries a 2000x win is Smells Like Teen Panda, while Rock Out! takes place on the main set of reels, where winning combinations are displayed and players simply click at the right time to choose which one they want.
Nudges are a useful feature where players are able move a reel up or down to try and make up a winning combo, or they can be gambled for a better prize, or banked until later.
Holds simply allow players to keep a reel in a fixed position while the others spin, which could also give them an extra chance of a win.
The Verdict
Pandamonium has a great theme supplemented by a mass of bonus features. While the initial game looks pretty good, it’s only when players get to the bonus wheel that things start to get really interesting, with loads of different rewards heading their way when the wheel lights up each section.
Fun feature titles are just part of the appeal, as players stand a good chance of getting a nice win in many of them although some, particularly the nudges and holds, don’t necessarily result in a prize.
It’s nice however, that several of the bonuses are guaranteed to be winning features and although there’s always the chance of landing on a spot that loses that’s part of the fun of the game anyway.