Shaman's Dream

The Brisbane-based game designer Eyecon unveils a slot based on American Indians in Shaman’s Dream. Though the racial elements of this game are problematic enough on their own, gameplay and design are also quite disappointing. For those just getting to know Eyecon’s work, this title is not a terribly promising introduction.

Theme

The history of native peoples in North America is astonishingly varied and rich – different peoples organized their communities in profoundly different ways, and resisted white encroachment, land theft, and genocide with different tactics and varying degrees of success. This slot, however, erases all of those differences, opting instead for the highly streamlined, commercialized version of “redness” that seems to be perennially popular among white consumers. Though slot’s visual design is rather basic, the series of natural sky backgrounds is very beautiful. The five reels are encased in a wooden frame, where available gaming symbols include many animals and items with significance in some Native American history. Among them are tipis, buffalo, eagles, bears hunting salmon, hand axes, beaded jewelry, a holstered rifle, and aa pipe, as well as three Indian characters – an elder, a younger man holding a weapon of war, and a younger woman with a striking face. A white wolf acts as wild symbol, adding a double multiplier when taking part in a win, while a dreamcatcher acts as scatter. Strangely enough, there is no background music available, and the sound effects that punctuate play are wildly unsophisticated. Player controls are gaudily arranged in massive buttons to the side of the game screen, though actually accessing game information and player options remains frustratingly difficult.

Betting Options and Functions

Eyecon has been around since 1997, and has no doubt produced many titles that are far superior to Shamans Dream. Nevertheless, the basic quality found in this game’s visual design is found in its finer points as well. There are 25 adjustable pay lines; bet per line can be set from 0.01-0.50, for a somewhat narrow overall per-spin bet range of 0.01–12.50 times the betting currency. Autoplay is available for as many as 100 spins at a time, with none of the more sophisticated limits for total bankroll swings found in most other modern slots. The overall theoretical return to player ratio, at least, is acceptable at 95.4%.

Features

When it comes to bonus features, the Eyecon design team has again done the bare minimum to remain competitive. A gamble bonus feature is available, during which players can choose to play double-or-nothing on any win. The mini game can be played as many as five times, up to a limit of 16,000.00 times the betting currency.

The appearances of three or more dreamcatcher scatter symbols anywhere on the reels trigger the free games feature. All wins are tripled during the feature, which lasts for fifteen free spins of the reels. The feature can be retriggered up to a maximum of 15 times, for a theoretical max of 225 free spins all in all.

Our Take

Aside from a decent RTP, it’s difficult to find anything to recommend about Shaman’s Dream. Eyecon’s longevity in the industry suggests that this poor title is an outlier in terms of their overall quality, but if they keep releasing titles like this one, players shouldn’t expect to see their work around much longer.