The Legend of Shangri-La Slot Machine

Pros

• Great artwork, music, and theme. This machine looks and sounds fantastic!
• Several interesting bonus features. It’s not just Free Spins and “pick-a-box” style games on The Legend of Shangri-La.
• Creative gameboard layout. Standard 5×3 slot machines are all well and good but they can feel samey quickly. This is not the case here.

Cons

• It’s hard to find something not to like about this game. Maybe if you hate anthropomorphised tigers you might take a dislike to it?

Top Jackpots

Since The Legend of Shangri-La slot machine doesn’t use win lines to award payments, the top jackpots are won by covering the entire 6×5 gameboard with matching symbols. The symbols themselves have been beautifully designed by the NetEnt art team and this gives the slot machine great visual appeal. The prizes for matching 30 of the same symbols in a cluster are listed below:

• Tiger = 10,000x the line bet.
• Elephant = 5,000x the line bet.
• Monkey = 5,000x the line bet.
• Flower, Butterfly, Dragonfly, Koi = 2,000x the line bet.

Game Features

Cluster Pays

Rather than using win lines, The Legend of Shangri-La slot machine uses a cluster pay system. This means that prizes are awarded for matching groups of symbols horizontally or vertically adjacent from one another. At least nine of the same symbols must land in a cluster to win the prizes listed on the game’s pay table.

“Substitution” Symbol

The “Substitution” Symbol is basically a “Wild” symbol. It’s represented by a question mark on a green and gold background.

The “Substitution” Symbol will transform into the adjacent symbol that creates the highest possible winning combination in a cluster. It will substitute for all symbols except the Free Spin symbol.

Guru Symbols

The game’s Tiger, Elephant, and Monkey symbols can appear on the reels as either a large or small symbol. The large symbols count as two symbols in any winning clusters and the smaller ones are just one.

Players should note that during Sticky Re-Spins and when affected by “Substitution” symbols, the Guru symbols cover only one position.

Random Substitutions

Random Substitutions can be activated when at least two clusters of the same symbol land in the main game.

If the Random Substitutions feature is activated, at least one “Substitution” symbol is added to the reels, in positions adjacent to the existing clusters. More “Substitution” symbols are then added at random until a win is awarded.

Sticky Re-Spins

Landing at least two non-winning clusters of the same symbols on the reels can activate the Sticky Re-Spins feature.

During Sticky Re-Spins, the feature symbols stick to the reels and all other symbols will spin again.

The symbols spin independently but simultaneously on the reels. This will continue until no new feature symbols land on the reels.

Free Spin Symbols

Landing three or more “Free Spins” symbols, fully or partially on the reels during the main game will activate the Free Spin mode. The number of symbols landing determines how many free spins are awarded. We’ve listed each below:

• Three “Free Spins” symbols = 5 Free Spins.
• Four “Free Spins” symbols = 6 Free Spins.
• Five “Free Spins” symbols = 7 Free Spins.
• Six “Free Spins” symbols = 8 Free Spins.

During the Free Spins mode, random “Substitution” symbols will be added to and removed from the reels for each spin.

The first two “Substitution” symbols will be randomly placed on the reels. After each spin and once the reels have stopped, between two and six “Substitution” symbols are added to the reels.

Before the next spin, between one and four “Substitution” symbols are removed from the reels from random positions.

If the total win from the Free Spins round is less than 10 times the bet, one additional spin may be awarded.

Nudge Reel

If two “Free Spins” symbols land on the reels and another “Free Spins” symbol lands to the right of them just outside the visible reel area, that third symbol can be nudged back onto the reels to activate Free Spins.

Any cluster wins that are concurrent with the feature will be evaluated before the reel is nudged.

Betting Limits

Although there are no actual win lines on The Legend of Shangri-La slot machine, to work out the betting limits, the game is played as if there were 10 fixed lines. This means that players can only adjust the number of coins bet on each of these supposed win lines, as well as the value of each of them. The maximum and minimum number of coins that can be bet on each line is 10 and one respectively. For coin values, players can choose several increments between 1p and R40.

With all these variables set to their minimum, the lowest possible bet per spin is just 10p. Meanwhile, when everything is set to its maximum, the highest possible bet per spin is R4 300.

Overall Rating

All told, The Legend of Shangri-La: Cluster Pays is a fantastic game. With its winning visual appeal, great soundtrack, and varied bonus features, we can confidently recommend the title to both experienced and novice slot users.

We really struggled to find anything to dislike here. That’s why we’re giving it a rare perfect score!