Zillard King Megaways

Zillard King Megaways: Slot Overview

Casino game maker Red Tiger has had an on-again-off-again fling with unlocking reel features for a while now and reacquainted itself with the concept when designing the online slot Zillard King Megaways. Anyone tracking the studio's journey will know this is a follow-up to the non-Megaways slot Zillard King (2022), with monstrous and mechanical links to the Kong-ish slots Primate King and Primate King Megaways. Instead of giant primates, Zillard King Megaways is a giant lizard game, Godzilla-ish in this instance, and one where players unlock the grid while levelling up a full reel wild symbol.

As before, Zillard King Megaways inhabits a stormy world where heavy seas batter a coastline. However, whereas the last coastline could have been practically anywhere, Zillard King Megaways would appear to take place near San Francisco, as the Golden Gate Bridge (or a close look alike) wobbles precariously over on the right. Whilst the two slots are visually comparable, Zillard King Megaways does look sharper and giving the game a recognisable location makes it easier to get lost in its Godzilla, Pacific Rim kaiju-like world.

The original Zillard King slot was, like this one, a 6-reel game, except now, thanks to the power of Megaways, 2 to 7 symbols may land on each reel, creating up to 117,649 ways to win. However, this amount of ways is only possible when the rightmost reel has been unlocked. Till then, from the start of a session, Gold Coin symbols must be collected in order to free the final reel. Progress is saved per bet level, of which 20 c to $/€4 is the stake range. 95.72% is the game's default RTP, while its math model is highly volatile.

Zillard King Megaways swaps the card suits of the previous game for card ranks this time, where the 10 to A symbols award 0.3 to 0.6 times the bet when landing a 6 OAK combination. The high pays consist of a footprinted stone, a compass, a gas mask, a chopper, and an egg, awarding 1 to 15 times the bet when 6-of-a-kinds hit.

Zillard King Megaways: Slot Features

As well as cascading wins, which remove winning symbols and drop symbols down to replace them, Zillard King Megaways has full reel Zillard wilds, Gold Coins which progress the Zillard Evolution bar, Thunder Wilds, and free spins.

Zillard Wild

The Zillard Wild substitutes all paying symbols. It's fully stacked and always lands fully in view. One Zillard Wild may land on a spin on reels 2, 3, 4, or 5 and display a multiplier of x2 to x7. The multiplier value represents the number of symbols the wild symbol counts in win calculations. If the Zillard Wild does not participate in a win when it lands, it locks onto the grid until it forms a win. When the Zillard Wild participates in a win, it does not get destroyed, but instead, its symbol multiplier increases by +1.

Gold Coins and Zillard Evolution

A Zillard Evolution progress bar with 3 stages sits on top of the rightmost reel. Until it is removed, the game plays on 5 reels. When Gold Coin symbols land, they are collected by the Zillard Evolution bar. Collecting 30 Gold Coins completes a stage on the progress bar and evolves the Zillard Wild:

• Stage 1 - adds 1 extra Life Point to the Zillard Wild. For each Life Point added, the Zillard Wild stays 1 spin longer on the reels after it forms a win.
• Stage 2 - adds 1 extra Life Point to the Zillard Wild. In addition, on the next spin, the Zillard Wild adds Thunder Wilds to the reel strips.
• Stage 3 - adds 1 more Life Point to the Zillard Wild and unlocks the chance to trigger free spins.

After the last stage of the progress bar is complete, the bar is removed to reveal the rightmost reel where low value symbols do not appear. Gold Coins do not land on the first 5 reels when the progress bar is filled. Instead, one Gold Coin may land on the rightmost reel.

Thunder Wilds

At random at the end of a non-winning spin, when the Zillard Wild is present on the grid, it may summon Thunder Wilds. Thunder Wilds substitute all paying symbols and may appear on reels 2, 3, 4, and 5. After completing Stage 2 of the Zillard Evolution, Thunder Wilds are also added to the reel strips and may land on any spin.

Free Spins

Landing a Gold Coin on the unlocked rightmost reel when the Zillard Wild is present awards 4 free spins. An extra free spin is awarded for each remaining Life Point on the Zillard Wild at the entering point - up to 7. The Zillard Wild remains locked on the reels for the duration of the free spins round, and it may randomly summon Thunder Wilds at the start of each free spin.

Zillard King Megaways: Slot Verdict

Players who shudder at the thought of playing a game that covers up a reel at the start of a session and are uninterested in collecting symbols to grant access to the full grid best by ducking for cover from Zillard King Megaways. Red Tiger has done enough of these sorts of slots by now that experienced gamblers may know what they're getting themselves into, or avoiding. This approach is unlikely to appeal to all tastes, and while unlocking the rightmost reel might not take an eternity to achieve, there's no real telling how long the process will take. Until then, possible winning combinations are truncated, and Zillard Wild potential is suppressed.

On the other hand, for those interested in this style, evolving the Zillard Wild by collecting Gold Coins is all part of the fun, adding purpose to the game and providing a final level-up objective. The Zillard Wild itself is quite potent, though it didn't land at a great frequency in the base game. This adds to the unlocking mission in some ways, as well, because if you can grind your way into free spins, the Zillard Wild remains on the grid for the bonus duration, while the acquired Thunder Wild feature may or may not land, as well.

A big monster game gets big winning potential, too, with a figure of 24,393.9x the bet as Zillard King Megaways' max multiplier. Just for the record, this is a chunk less than Primate King Megaways' figure, so perhaps the way that game removed low-pay symbols is more effective than the Thunder Wild feature. Either way, Zillard King Megaways is a decent release for players who like this sort of thing, just don't expect to be equipped with advanced tech to take beasts down.