Monkey Warrior is a 5-reel, 3-row video slot with 243 way to win. Inspired by the 16th-century Chinese novels Journey to the West and The Legend of Sun Wukong, the game features a monkey warrior with incredible strength and magical properties. The slot was developed by Pragmatic Play, and it seems very similar to their other releases this year. It's equipped with several bonus features including a Free Spins game played with premium symbols and a Respin feature to trigger mighty jackpots. If luck is on your side, you can win up to 200x your stake. The slot is playable on all devices from between 25p and £125 per spin. If you want to know more about Monkey Warrior and its features, keep reading!
Theme and Appearance
Aesthetically, there's nothing bad about Monkey Warrior. The graphics are great, the backdrop is beautiful and the music ties in with the theme perfectly. However, as the theme of the game is similar to Pragmatic's previous releases, the slot is predictable with few surprises. Unfortunately, the structure of the game does nothing to stand out from other Pragmatic slots, leaving many players feeling disappointed and uninspired. If you're new to Pragmatic slots, however, you'll probably enjoy Monkey Warrior enough to keep playing.
Betting and Prizes
Like most slots, the symbols coincide with the theme of the game. Spinning on the reels you'll see A, Q, and K royals as well as scrolls, potion bottles and characters from the novel as the high reward icons. The most valuable is the holy monk, with 5 in combination rewarding you with 20x your stake. The Wild takes the form of the main character, Monkey Warrior, and substitutes for all the standard symbols. As the slot is playable from 25p, it's suitable for all types of player – even those that like to make their bankroll last!
Slot Features
Money Respin
The first of the Monkey Warrior features is the Money Respin. This is activated by landing 6 peach money symbols in combination. In the novel, the peach tree only produces fruit every 3000 years and eating it will grant you eternal life. Each money symbol holds either a cash value or one of three jackpots. Split into mini, minor and major, the jackpots allow you to win 30, 50 or 200x your stake. When the feature is activated, you'll be directed to a new set of reels with only peaches and empty positions. Each time you spin, the peaches lock into position and secure some kind of cash value. You begin the round with 5 respins, but this can be increased throughout the feature. After each spin, three treasure chests pop up and you can pick one for the chance to win more respins. The feature comes to an end when you either run out of spins or when all 15 empty positions have been filled by a peach symbol. At this stage, all the cash values are added together and paid out. If you manage to fill all of the empty positions, your total reward is multiplied by 2x.
Free Spins
The second bonus feature is the Free Spins round. Activated by landing the bonus symbol anywhere on the three middle reels, the feature awards you 8 Free Spins to start with. However, there is the potential for unlimited retriggers, so this round can drastically increase your winnings if you land the right symbols. All the lower value symbols are removed from this round, so you'll only be playing with the premium icons.
Unfortunately, the Wilds are removed from this round too, which is disappointing. While playing a Free Spins round with no low paying symbols sounds great at first, the lack of the Wild symbol and the Money and Bonus symbols being there to halter your wins is a bit of an anticlimax. If you're lucky enough to land a full grid of the top paying symbol, you'll instantly win 4,860x your stake. Obviously, this is amazing. However, the chances of this happening are exceptionally slim. Because of this, the 6000x your stake win that's advertised is a bit of a stretch, so don't let this fool you into investing a lot of money.
Verdict
Monkey Warrior is a well designed, medium variance slot that offers a decent chance of winning. That being said, it's very similar to other Pragmatic slots out there, so it may be disappointing for frequent slot gamers. While the slot is relatively easy to play, the story behind the theme isn't very clear unless you take the time to read up on it. If you're not familiar with the 16th-century novel, the whole thing is slightly overwhelming. If you're looking for a slot that requires minimal brain-power, this probably isn't the slot for you. However, if you're looking to invest your time into something, Monkey Warrior is a well-crafted game with stellar graphics and decent winning potential.