Panda Goes Boom

Panda Goes Boom: Slot Overview

Panda bears are so cute that the Chinese government has loaned them out in acts of soft diplomacy as cuddly ambassadors to cultivate goodwill, or mark the start of major trade deals. However, they also take the pandas back, too, if the relationship is going through a rocky patch, effectively turning the bears into a sort of fuzzy political barometer. Moving from the real world to the realm of online gambling, panda bears are certainly no strangers there, able to bring a monochrome charm wherever they go. In this instance, pandas appear in the Red Tiger slot Panda Goes Boom, a 3-reel number that brings numerical charm via respins and multipliers.

A cute, cuddly animal gets a cute game to reside in. The smaller grid means players get to drink in more of the surrounding countryside, which consists of mountains towering over forests and a water feature. A hammock has been erected by the water, reinforcing a relaxing spirit, and everything on screen has a cartoon agreeableness to it. Unsurprisingly, given the origin of the main character, Panda Goes Boom has a strong Asian theme, expressed through ornamentation hanging off a carved game grid frame, related pay symbols, and an overall Eastern-influenced atmosphere. It's a pleasant one, friendly, welcoming, and easy on the eye.

Panda Goes Boom is one of these neat and tidy pocket slots that is played on a 3x3 gaming area with a mere 5 paylines for evaluating winning combinations. Despite its small stature, Panda Goes Boom is a highly volatile slot, with relatively sizable winning potential, and an RTP of 96.09%. Three feature buys accompany the game, while the base bet range starts at $/€0.10 and goes as high as $/€60.

Six pay symbols appear on the reels. They are gold bars, cups, bamboo, coins, scrolls, and pots of coins. Landing a 3 OAK winning combination of these symbols pays 0.5x to 20x the stake. Wild Pandas may hit on any reel. Wilds substitute for all paying symbols and award 50x the bet if 3 wilds create a winning line.

Panda Goes Boom: Slot Features

Panda Goes Boom fits a fair amount of action onto its diminutive reels set, such as Boom Wins, Fortune Respins, Multiplier Respins, and three feature buys are available on the side.

Boom Win & Fortune Respin

If the grid is filled with winning symbols on all paylines, a win multiplier of x10 is applied to the win. Moreover, at random on a spin, a pay symbol may be chosen. Only the chosen symbol, wilds, or blanks may land hold & win style.

Multiplier Respin

The x5 Respin symbol may land anywhere. When one or more x5 Respin symbols land, a respin is triggered, where the triggering x5 Multipliers are added up and applied to any wins. The previously accumulated multiplier is kept for the respin, and each landed x5 Respin symbol increases the multiplier by +5. For Multiplier Respins, the middle reel is covered with wilds, but wilds cannot land on the two outer reels. If the grid is filled with winning symbols in a Multiplier Respin, the x10 Fortune Win Multiplier is added to the multiplier for the respin.

Fortune Respin With x5 Respin Symbols

The x5 Respin symbol may be chosen for Fortune Respins. When this occurs, only x5 Respin symbols or blanks may land, and wins cannot be formed. Following Fortune Respins, a Multiplier Respin is triggered by the collected x5 Respins symbols.

Feature Buys

Three features may be bought in Panda Goes Boom. Fortune Chase costs 2.5x for 5 times the chance of triggering Fortune and Multiplier Respins. Multiplier Respins can be bought for 20x or Fortune Respins for 35x the stake.

Panda Goes Boom: Slot Verdict

In an age that tends to favour bigger, more complicated slots with freakishly new features, where sprawling grids and technical bonus mechanics dominate casino lobbies, little 3-reelers can sometimes feel like the car has dropped down to a lower gear. Panda Goes Boom does give off that impression, with its pacey, somewhat repetitive gameplay, but there are a few tricks hidden up its sleeve, ready to go. Nothing shocking, perhaps, but Red Tiger has squeezed a certain amount of entertainment onto the mini frame, resulting in a game that comes across quite lively, with a nicely polished exterior, and is able to pop out the occasional exciting spurt of action.

Have to say a lot of the gameplay was close to what Pragmatic Play and Fat Panda have been doing with their Lucky Tiger series of slots. Filling the grid with a win to apply a multiplier to it has been bought over, though here it is an x10 multiplier compared to Lucky Tiger Gold's x100 max value. Fortune Respins are almost a direct copy as well, though they remain a potentially exciting way of filling the grid, thereby activating the Boom Win multi. Multiplier Respins help set Panda Goes Boom apart from its competitors by giving it a dose of individuality, and are theoretically where a solid multi may be built should x5 Respins be stacking.

Lucky Tiger slots have proven to be popular in certain parts of the world, so it comes as little surprise to see a competitor being inspired to do a similar thing. Obviously, avoid if you're searching for major depth or complexity, but those who enjoy compact, fast-moving slots with proven respin-driven excitement may appreciate what Red Tiger has designed. Cute on the outside, fairly energetic underneath, and capable of wins up to 7,115x, Panda Goes Boom succeeds at being a small slot capable of creating relatively big moments.