With AvatarUX’s latest release, MonkeyPop, the PopWins train speeds past the decade mark. If we count the licensed work of Stakelogic, the mechanism has technically already reached this point. From an Avatar User Experience perspective, however, MonkeyPop represents the eleventh release of these new reels and approaches. They’ve come full circle, much like the doughnut-shaped cosmos of scientific theory. To clarify, we mean that MonkeyPop, like the original PopWins slot PopRocks, has been given an Asian makeover, although a very different one.
In reality, MonkeyPop has a really distinctive physical design. The AvatarUX art team clearly practiced their watercolor techniques for this project. The end product is strikingly different from the studio’s previous work while being aesthetically pleasing. PopRocks was vaguely Asian in a Big Trouble in Little China sense, as if activating the proper function would place David Lo Pan on the reels to perform some form of magic. The presentation here is somewhat French-inspired by the Great Wave off Kanagawa.
Alright, enough raving about the scenery; let’s have a look at the engine. To begin, please be aware that MonkeyPop is hardly the most tense, butt-kicking, big-win slot machine around. AvatarUX has designed a game with a return value of 96.33%, however the volatility is set rather high. While MonkeyPop’s potential isn’t terrible, it pales in comparison to those of its PopWins brothers. Bets ranging from 20 percent to £/€100 per spin are locked in at any device, proving that there is more to life than striving to reach the top of the highest peak.
PopWins slots share a number of characteristics, including the aforementioned constructible reels and ways to win. Starting on a 5-reel, 3-row panel that pays both left to right and right to left, players of MonkeyPop receive the best of both worlds. Tens and Aces written in calligraphy are worth half to a third of the wager for a full house. Five monkey symbols of any sort result in a payout of 1-2.5x the wager. Wilds are useful here since they may stand in for any other symbol outside the bonus.
Slot Featured in “MonkeyPop”
Almost single MonkeyPop bonus revolves on or is a part of PopWins, the game’s central feature. When a winning combination appears, the corresponding symbols on the grid are swapped out for two new ones. Naturally, this leads to bigger reels and more possibilities to win. If all the reels are seven symbols high, then there are 33,614 ways to win (when the pay both ways feature is taken into account). If no additional wins occur while PopWins is active, the grid will shrink back to its original size.
Free the Basics
When all of the reels reach 7 rows high in the main game, you’ll get 2 free spins and a random number of low pay symbols will be eliminated. The multiplier for free spins starts at x1, x2, or x3, and it grows by +1 or +2 with each spin.
Bonus Round of Free Spins
The free spins bonus is activated when three or more bonus symbols appear in view at the conclusion of a base game spin. A Reward Reel screen is presented to players before the game begins. There are four potential bonuses displayed here, including:
There can be up to ten initial free rotations.
Possible beginnings include: 486, 2,048, and 6,250.
Choice of initial multiplier: 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5.
Scale up by a factor of one, two, three, four, or five.
During free games, the multiplier increases with each spin, and the reels don’t reset between rounds, instead decreasing in height to the level of the lowest reel. When all 5 reels are filled with 7 symbols, you win +2 free games and a random number of low-paying symbols are eliminated for the rest of the round. The fact that MonkeyPop was the first portfolio game to use a scatter collection mechanic is its only real claim to fame. Collecting Bonus Symbols That Fall During Free Spins. Once you get 3, one of the high-pay symbols will be transformed into a gilded version, increasing its worth by a factor of 5. When a symbol with gold accents is clicked again, it is given the x10 treatment.
Freebie Get
The bonus round only activates at a natural rate of once every 410 spins, thus some players may desire to speed up this process. When available, gamers can make use of the bonus buy option. The Buy Bonus, Buy Bonus Plus, and Buy Bonus Max are your choices, and their corresponding prices are 100x, 250x, and 500x your original wager.
Slot Decision in MonkeyPop
MonkeyPop is as near as an online slot machine can go to capturing the spirit of the yin and yang symbolism so fundamental to Asian culture. The designs have been reimagined by AvatarUX, and the novel style of MonkeyPop succeeds well in drawing your focus. It’s a lot more understated than some East Asian-themed online slot games, which may be so stuffed with sycees, dragons, and dynasty décor that you might as well be smoking away in a vintage opium den. That’s not how MonkeyPop works, and that’s for the best.
Putting the monkey-centric premise to one side, MonkeyPop really has quite generic gameplay. After using PopWins for 10 games, we’ve got the routine down. That’s not to suggest that MonkeyPop isn’t a good time. When all five reels reach 7 cells high, you trigger a bonus round where you gain a handful of free spins with multipliers and enjoy the bursting symbols feature.
If maximum rewards are your first priority, MonkeyPop is the one to choose. The maximum win on MonkeyPop is around 197,500 times the wager. The pre-feature gambling choice is not an all-or-nothing bet, which may be missed by certain players. Although it has great potential, MonkeyPop is a low-key slot from PopWins that tests your patience by making you wait through what may be a significant number of basic game spins before awarding a bonus.
Expect to be less impressed with MonkeyPop’s gameplay, which is fairly standard PopWins stuff, once the game’s pleasant visual glow has worn off a notch or two. MonkeyPop was a fun slot machine demo, and it might serve as a good introduction to the AvatarUX genre for some gamers.