Many first-time users of Tiki Reward will feel like they’ve seen the game before. It seems like All41 Studios is reverting to its old ways of ‘borrowing’ concepts from other studios and then reworking them into a derivative, unoriginal product. They had just moved away from that type of behavior, but the pull back toward it must have been too much. Like Gameburger Studio’s 9 Masks of Fire, Tiki Reward has flaming tribal artwork and randomly triggered jackpots. On the other hand, maybe it’s just a coincidence. I say we find out.
Tiki Reward, a 5-reel, 50-payline slot machine powered by Microgaming, aims for an exotic vibe by setting the action on a beach as the sun goes down. The contrast has been turned up by All41 Studios, with the sinking sun casting a rich blaze of reds and oranges across the area. Or from the fallout of previous nuclear tests done on remote Pacific atolls. While sipping on a Mai Tai, it’s easy to picture mushroom clouds erupting in the horizon. As the symbols appear in a ‘Book of Ra’ fashion, a tribal melody plays in the background, occasionally accented by bursts of singing.
Tiki Reward is mobile-friendly, with betting options between 20 p/c and $100/€100 each spin. Underneath the tanned exterior is a very volatile mathematical model that generates a decent RTP of 96.32%. Maintaining momentum requires a success rate of 25.75 percent, or little more than one success for every four tries. The functionality also frequently fails. Free spins supposedly occur once every 163 spins, yet in testing they appeared more frequently. Tiki Jackpots occur once every 45 spins.
All 12 standard pay symbols employ purple, making this a great game for fans of the color. There are six 9-A royals that don’t pay much and six island pictures that do. Flowers, rays, hammerheads, lizards, and turtles fill the landscape from the ground up. In a variation on the standard payout structure, a winning hand in the low pays requires four of a kind, while a winning hand in the high pays just requires three of a kind. The payouts range from 1.2x for five flowers to 2.5x for a whole line of turtles, so the stakes are minimal.
The middle three reels are wild for regular payouts thanks to the appearance of four Tiki symbols. It’s also possible for them to drop x2 multipliers, which will be added to any wins they contribute to.
Tiki Bonus – Slot Game Mechanics
Banners placed adjacent to each slot machine show the current values of the four progressive jackpots, of which the Tiki reward is the most prominent. In addition, if you get three scatter symbols anywhere on the screen, you’ll receive seven free spins.
Tiki’s color changes from red to blue to green at random during free spins. A blazing border surrounding reels 2, 3, and 4 in the selected Tiki color serves as an indicator. You may increase your chances of winning large since reels 2, 3, and 4 are filled only with Golden Tiki symbols and Tiki symbols of your selected color. In addition, any further scatter symbols that appear throughout this bonus round will provide an additional one additional free spin.
We’ll be playing Tiki Jackpot as the main event. If you manage to land three Tiki symbols of the same color, you win the corresponding amount. The jackpot values are re-rolled after a successful spin on red, green, or blue, which sounds more thrilling than it actually is. The total of the Red, Green, and Blue Jackpots is always 30 times the wager. The minimum amount for a single jackpot is 2 times the wager. In addition to substituting for any other symbol (including the other Tikis, which can be Red, Green, or Blue), a combination of three Golden Tikis pays out 1,000 times the wager.
Slot Win with a Tiki Tally!
There are a number of Tiki-themed slot machines out there currently, and most software makers have at least one or two in their back catalogues. Now you see why. The exotic setting, the pulsating music, and the sweltering climate all work well for a slot. It’s too bad All41 Studios wasn’t able to better use the Polynesian setting. A smaller, less polished version of the 9 Masks of Fire bell can be heard when Tiki symbols and jackpots are combined. Even if 9 Masks isn’t exactly a child’s play, Tiki Reward makes it seem like something out of a museum.
Some players may also be frustrated by the combination of extreme volatility and poor payoff. The maximum payout is just around 1,030 times the wager, making it neither incredibly entertaining nor, for some, worth the significant risk involved. However, the maximum payout appears more attainable, occurring about once every 10,700 spins.
A bit of cultural theft has occurred, but I doubt most punters will worry too much about that. A cursory examination of the internet indicates that the Maori culture has no parallels to the one shown in Tiki Reward. All41 Studios either didn’t notice or care enough to look that up. Whatever the situation may be, it adds to the whole image of a slot that was constructed without much effort. It sounds like the team took concepts and elements from the Microgaming database, threw in some Maori culture for good measure, and then shipped the whole thing off.
Tiki Reward is a paper-thin experience, a watered-down replica of other more entertaining slots, due to its shoddy design and lack of personality during gameplay.
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