NetEnt's creations are not only teeming with high entertainment value and, quite often, mind-boggling jackpots. They also quite frequently move the boundaries of what's generally regarded a suitable theme for a slot game. Where other developers may not spot a potential, NetEnt ventures bravely and comes up with an exhilarating outcome. Case in points: The Legend of Shangri-La: Cluster Pays, a six-reel, five-rows video slot whose subject matter is so for ahead and that is, in its very core, a pinnacle of out-of-the-box creativity.
Theme
In this game, we trace our way back into the age of Zen Enlightenment, all the way to the majestic pastures green of old Japan. This game is a cocktail of fairy tale graphics, spiritual elements and the actual legend from a James Hilton novel about a valley where human lifespan is prolonged for quite a long time.
With such thoughtful and sophisticated theme, it was required that the visual and sound portions of the game compliment in in the finest way possible – and, in the end, that's what we got. All of the principal ingredients of sublime Japanese aesthetics are taken into account. Mellow breeze shakes the cherry blossom trees in the background ever so gently. The wooden pillars holding the reels are ornate with intricate details and carvings akin to Far East. The settings change when the Extra Spin mode is triggered, becoming a winter landscape with the monk mascot and a sinister dragon battling. Ancient temples and pagodas complete the wonderful environment, along with a host of Zen master animals on the reels, taking up two slots each. The monkey in green, elephant in purple, a Himalayan wild cat in red and free spins symbol will be your best friends. The symbols of high value ilk are butterflies, dragonflies, koi fish and various types of flowers. The wild symbol does not exist per se, but a question mark will appear now and then which will turn the slot into a symbol needed for big win to take place.
Gentle music provides the soothing sound element, along with occasional grunts of approval from the guru standing by for your progress as an apprentice.
Betting Options and Functions
You notice that we didn't mention the amount of paylines here yet – that;s because there are none, as this game doesn't operate in the way we're used to. There is no need to make matches from left to right or vice versa, or to make any symbolic patterns. Just make sure you have numerous symbols of the same type near each other. It's all about making clusters in order to win - clusters of at least nine identical symbols create big wins. The maximum payout for covering all of 30 slots with one singular symbol is 10000 coins.
Setting the betting range is easy as clicking the “-” and “+” signs at the bottom of the game's screen where player interface is. The coin value goes from 0.01 to 0.2. Autoplay option allows for the adjustment of the amount of times player would like for reels to be spun automatically. Ten is the maximum amount of coins per line and one is the required minimum.
Features
The Extra Spins feature is triggered once the more than three Free Spins symbols are landed anywhere on reels. Five to eight extra spins can be awarded, and each spins comes with supplementary substitute symbol on every spin.
Sticky Re-Spins feature works as follows: if you happen to get two same symbols adjacent after a spin, this can potentially trigger this feature where you get another extra re-spin with those symbols locked. Then if another of those symbols lands, you get another re-spin and so on and so on. A Random Substitution works in a similar way, where substitute symbols get added to clusters.
So what are the substitute symbols? As there are no wild symbols as such, The Legend of Shangri-La: Cluster Pays makes up for it by adding the substitute symbols in the form of a question mark, that will turn into whatever is needed the most at the specific moment.
Our Take
As gurus and shamans will repeat times and times again, there is no shortcut on the road to enlightenment. With an estimated RTP of 96.5%, this slot game definitely pays off and makes your time count. This is by no means a traditionalist's game – delivering something totally unique and off-beat, The Legend of Shangri-La: Cluster Pays is a victory of innovation and inventiveness.
Video Slot game data and features
- 6Reels
- $200,000.00Max cash jackpot
- 96.59Payout Percent
- YesWild Symbol
- NoMultiplier
- $0.1 - $200Betting Range
- 0.01 - 2.0Coin bet range
- 10Coins per line
- NoProgressive
- 100000Max coins jackpot
- NoScatter Symbol
- YesFree spins available
- YesBonus Game
- NoBuy feature
- Animals , Chinese Game theme
- Mid-low Volatility
