Monkey: Battle for the Scrolls Slot Review

Play’n GO is one of the biggest names in interactive gaming. It seems like every week, this brand is in the news, and in recent times, we read about its entry into the Greek market via Bet365, its expansion in the UK through Betway, and the company’s continuous rise in the US. Concerning the latter region, they are looking to break through and start offering licensed games in Pennsylvania. On the product front, they have been releasing around four titles per month, and October saw the unleashing of Ruff Heist, Return of the Green Night, Raging Rex, and Monkey: Battle for the Scrolls, the subject of this review.

Monkey: Battle for the Scrolls is a reel-spinner that debuted on October 12th, 2023, and it created some noise in multiple territories. That is what most experts would expect, as Play’n GO games generally do well in top markets. This one established itself fairly decently in Japan, Canada, Finland, The Netherlands, Argentina, Spain, and Turkey. It is doing better than its Play’n GO October 2023 siblings, so here we are, giving it a go and telling you what we think of it.

Theme & Design

The Monkey King is a famed figure from China who has become somewhat of a global phenomenon. Yet, his origin is unknown to most. For the uninformed, this is a character from the 16th-century folk novel – Journey to the West. It is there that this anthropomorphic monkey born from a stone first gets talked about. In the book, he possesses powers acquired through Taoist practices and rebels against heaven. It is this act that leads to him getting imprisoned by the Buddha. He eventually gets released to accompany a monk on an adventure for Buddhist sutras.

In the written tale, The Monkey King displays shapeshifting abilities, can control the weather, and immobilizes opponents without touching them. Few Westerners likely know that Dragon Ball’s Goku draws heavy inspiration from the Monkey King and how this character, with an enduring legacy in Asia, has affected this continent’s pop culture.

In the gaming sphere, The Monkey King has been utilized as a slot motif many a time. In fact, we believe this number stands at around eighty, with Quest to the West by Betsoft and Magic Journey from Pragmatic Play being the most famous instances of this fictional creature making its way onto digital reels.

Here, Play’n GO has decided to feature the Monkey King in a colorful painterly presentation boasting a magical ancient Chinese setting at around dusk, with light fog drifting through a green landscape with pagodas perched atop stone peaks. The soundtrack here is a very Asian theme that is period-appropriate, and the reels in this game spin inside a temple-like stone frame. Monkey: Battle for the Scrolls features some impressive character animations that really make this game pop. So, major kudos to Play’n GO for that. Overall, we would say that these are the stand-out aspects of this slot’s presentation that we would rank as above average.

The game, as you would expect, utilizes the customary Play’n GO buttons panel, with a five-choice bet selector in the middle with the spin functions to the right of it.

Specs & Gameplay

Monkey Battle for the Scrolls has a ranging RTP with the lowest possible setting of 84.27% and a max one of 96.21%, which is decent for a high-variance game that is not at the top of the volatility spectrum. The top win here stands at x10,000, and the action plays out on a 5×3 grid, where you can make bets that begin at $0.10 and end at a high of $100 per spin. The number of paylines here is 243 by default, but it can expand to 432 ways to win when character-linked features become active.

You need to land three matching symbols to claim a prize in this slot, and that can happen via A-J royals, which can pay up to x0.3 for five-of-a-kind combos, or character tokens that can produce wins of x0.8 to x1.5 when five of these appear on the same reel rotation. Rewards here get supplied when symbol combos hit adjacent reels, left to right, with only the highest combo getting paid out.

There are scatters and wilds in this game, but we shall discuss them below.

Bonus Features

You must continuously pay attention to what’s happening above the reels in this novel Play’n GO release. There, you will find characters that move around on each spin. If a scatter (Demon) hits on a reel underneath, the revealed character icon triggers a distinct feature. That means that Monkey King’s Ruyi Bang forms wilds that stack, Pigsy’s Fortune’s Rake slices symbols in two, Sandy’s Wild Waters adds random substitution tokens, and the Tripitaka Monk’s Spirit transforms random symbols into same-type ones.

When multiple character features activate, each character updates and delivers prizes before moving on to the next mode. There are no re-spins between these. And all symbols after each feature stick to the reels.

The game also has two jackpots that can be won when specific reels get highlighted and bonus tokens land. These are progressive. To go into the free spins round, you need to see three Closed Scroll scatters materialize in view on the same spin. You can then choose from four free spin options. Each of these has its character and multiplier. During this round, the chosen character’s feature activates when an Open Scroll scatter lands beneath it, multiplying your winnings. The other characters continue moving around, and Demon and Closed Scroll scatters do not show up during this mode.

GOSU Verdict

The neat animations in – Monkey: Battle for the Scrolls and the symbol splitting took us by surprise. Yes, the max win here is pretty high, and there are some nifty features in play. Nevertheless, these are only enough for us to say that this is a pretty good slot, but not one that we will tell you to go out of your way to seek out. We liked it. Yet, the mentioned positives were not enough to shout praises that will get you to go on the hunt for this visually pleasing Play’n GO reel-spinning title.

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