Panthera Pardus Slots
Anyone who likes big cats will want to get their claws into the Panthera Pardus video slot from Malaysian-based casino games developer GamingSoft, as it’s filled with a number of different images of beautiful spotted panthers. They make up the high-paying symbols in this 5-reel, 50-payline slot machine, while a paw print triggers a bonus free spins game and a pick-a-panther side game awards players with any of the 4 progressive jackpots on show above the reels.
An eerie purple light fills the forest behind the reels, and even some of the big cats are in a purple hue, which is a little unusual but looks good anyway. A unique rock-like edging to the reels, where we can see bright lights and animated panthers growling into the darkness, makes this whole game look very distinctive, although the inclusion of plain high-card symbols brings it all back down to earth a bit.
Because it comes with 50 paylines, the low limit bet is a comparatively high 0.50 per spin, although it’s a reliable game with a high return to player percentage. Anyone still unsure about playing an unknown game can paws for a bit and practice free Panthera Pardus video slots at online casinos which carry the GamingSoft range.
Into the Jungle
The standard playing card icons 10, J, Q, K and A will create most winning combinations, with lines of 3 or more across a payline on adjacent reels from the left side needed to claim a prize. The amount won depends on which symbol turns up, ranging from a maximum of 24x the line bet for the 10, to 60x for the A.
A couple of yellow and orange panthers return prizes of up to 120x or 180x and the purple cats are the top-paying symbols which only need to be on reels 1 and 2 across a payline. Full lines of these are valued at 240x, or 300x the line stake, while a special wild symbol returns by far the best prizes, while also substituting for any of those above if it’s then able to complete a winning combination. The wild is simply the game logo, and when this is on reels 1 and 2, spinners become winners, with a prize equal to 20x the line bet, while seeing this right across all 5 reels on a line is worth 2,000x.
Although symbols are arranged in 4 rows, rather than the more common 3 rows, they can often appear staked on the reels, so it’s a little easier to land a real cash win that it would first appear to be. This becomes especially important in the free spins bonus round.
Paw Prints Claw Back Winnings
The purple paw print symbol is another stacked icon, and although it’s not worth anything on its own, when the paw fills the middle 3 reels at once, players are given a choice of free spins games, where they can pick the number of bonus spins, and any high-value panther symbol that will be stacked throughout them.
The options are for the top-paying purple panther to be stacked during 5 spins, the second-placed panther to be stacked in 6 games, or the orange cats will fill reels in either 8, or 10 free spins, depending on which is chosen.
Once the free spins feature is done, players are returned to the base game, as there’s no option to retrigger the round, but having high-value stacks of cats should see at least a couple of win-lines created before the end of them.
Diamond Progressive Jackpot Feature
Although it has no obvious connection to the theme, other than its colour, a big purple diamond is still a very welcome addition to this slot game, as seeing it land on reels 1, 2 and 3 at once takes players to a lovely image of 6 panthers basking in the strange light that fills their jungle.
It’s a progressive jackpot feature that couldn’t be easier if it tried, as all that’s needed is a click on any panther to reveal which of the 4 jackpots has been won. The Mini, Minor, Major and Grand prizes are seen above the reels, although punters will win between 10% and 100% of any prize depending on how much the triggering stake was for.
Does This Slot Have Real Bite, or is it Just a Pussycat?
Although we’ve not seen many purple panthers before, the colour palette of this online casino slot machine makes it stand out and apart from the inclusion of standard playing card icons, we really can’t criticise the way to looks.
The Panthera Pardus video slot gameplay is also of a high standard, with stacked symbols turning into a low-volatility slot, where frequent win-lines are spun up, helped in no small way by the wild symbol that seems to turn up in the right places to complete lines quite often.
The free spins bonus round may consist of relatively few games, but having panthers filling whole reels at a time will hopefully lead to some big winnings before they end, and while the progressive jackpot feature may only pay out percentages of a prize to most players, these can still be substantial wins, especially at the Major and Grand levels.
