Wild Mantra (Yggdrasil Gaming): Review
Developed by Yggdrasil Gaming as part of the
LeoVegas Originals series, Wild Mantra is a 5x4, 25 payline slot with a spiritual aura
that involves Mantra Respins with potential to land you wild reels. The very same
feature applies in the Free Spins round as well with the added benefit of full wild
reels awarding you extra free spins. You can play it on all devices from between 10
cents and 125 Euros per spin.
There is a Buddhist feel to Wild Mantra, a religion that,
with over 520 million followers (7% of the population), is the fourth-largest in the
world. More specifically, it's the Tibetan Buddhist doctrine that is central to the
narrative here. Set in the Himalayas, you'll see majestic mountain peaks under a crisp
blue sky in the backdrop while the actual reels are set inside a stone temple ruin
flanked by brass bells. Of course, it comes complete with meditative music to set the
mood which doesn't exactly come as a surprise.
Instead of reels spinning vertically,
you get cylindrical wheels where the symbols spin laterally, which is a bit strange at
first. As a matter of fact, the game was originally going to be called Prayer Wheels,
as we've found out, but it's possible that the developers felt the connection to
Buddhism would be unnecessarily evident if allowed to speculate. Either way, you will
come across lower value hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades as you spin the wheels, all
of the same value. The 4 premium symbols, which are represented by various signs, are
also of the same value and will give you 4 times your stake for 5 on a payline.
Wild
Mantra (Yggdrasil Gaming): Features
Central to the action here is the wild which is the
only symbol that can appear fully stacked. When a wild lands on the reels in the base
game, it triggers the Mantra Respins feature. The original wild(s) remains in place
while the other reels respin. Should more wilds appear during the respin, the original
wild(s) will nudge one position to increase in size. The cycle repeats until no new
wilds land on the reels.
It gets better in the Free Spins feature which is played when
you land 3, 4 or 5 scatter symbols anywhere on the reels. If you manage to produce 5
scatters you'll receive 1000 times your stake headstart as well as the standard 10 free
spins. Furthermore, all wilds present when triggering the free spins will be carried
over into the round.
As a token of good will, you get 1 extra wild when the round
starts but the greatest benefit here is the fact that all wilds that land on the reels
become sticky. Aside from this, the Mantra Respins feature also applies and if you
manage to fill a whole reel with wilds you'll receive 1 additional free spins.
Wild
Mantra (Yggdrasil Gaming): Verdict
Although Wild Mantra is a good looking slot, it
seems to have been on a bit of a tight budget and is rather basic for an Yggdrasil
creation. This is not unusual when it comes to exclusive titles, in our experience, and
often all that you will get is a reskin of some other old game in the portfolio. Don't
expect any impressive cut-scenes or nice intros here, it's all as simple and stripped
down as a monk's lifestyle. In fact, even the payouts are modest and the top payer
actually comes from landing 5 scatters. Comparably, a full screen of sticky wilds in
the free spins feature will "only" get you 100 times your stake per spin.
Wild Mantra
is not a slot that we will rush to LeoVegas to play although, we have to admit, it's
always interesting to give Yggdrasil's offerings a try just to see what it's all
about.
