Sakura Masks

Sakura Masks: Slot Overview

It's masks time, players, and you know what that probably means. Yep, Red Tiger's online slot Sakura Masks is a game where certain symbols, in this case masks and/or the full reel wild, award cash prizes depending on how many of them are in view. Sure, this particular category of slots isn't exactly running low on options, but Sakura Masks manages to avoid major redundancy by mixing in two additional special instant prize symbols alongside what is effectively three locked instant prize symbols during free spins, thereby creating a win spin situation.

Quite where Sakura Masks is located or what it is trying to say visually is a little hard to decipher, but it's not a bad view, necessarily. An emphasis on masks is present, of course, and there is a feminine angle going on as well. Maybe not heroically so, like, say, Quickspin's Sakura Fortune slots, but maybe more theatrically, let's say? Not sure, players possessing a deeper knowledge of Asian culture may have a better interpretation of Sakura Masks. Deep knowledge isn't a prerequisite, though, as anyone interested in the subject matter should be happy with Sakura Masks' somewhat abstract looks.

To get started, a stake of 10 c to $/€6 per spin must be selected, and players are free to individually bet as normal or pick from two feature buys. The default RTP when regular betting is 95.74% (with lower versions being available), while the math model in Sakura Masks is highly volatile. A 5-reel, 3-row grid is where the actual active part of the gaming takes place, and there are 20 paylines for hitting winning combinations on.

Sakura Masks makes use of its 8 pay symbols to reinforce the atmosphere, where brush stroke-style J to A card royals are the low pays, and a bracelet, a fan, a hair accessory, and a pair of shoes are the high pays. When landing winning combinations of 5 matching symbols in length, players collect 1 to 2.5 times their stake for the card ranks or 5 to 30 times their bet for the premium symbols.

Sakura Masks: Slot Features

The Sakura Masks & Prize Ladder combo is one of the main focuses of the game and is joined by free spins with a locking wild, plus feature buys.

Sakura Masks & Prize Ladder

When 3 or more Sakura Mask symbols of any type land on the reels, a cash prize is paid out. The value of the prize depends on the number of visible Sakura Mask symbols, as seen on the prize ladder next to the reels. Hitting 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 masks equals a payout of 1x, 5x, 15x, 40x, 100x, 500x, 2,000x, or 5,000x the bet, respectively. If the Sakura Wild is not present on the reels, it is possible to land up to 10 Sakura Mask symbols on the same spin. There are 3 types of Sakura Mask symbols - a regular Sakura Mask, as well as a Respin Sakura Mask and the Multiplier Sakura Mask.

• Respin Sakura Mask - this mask symbol triggers a respin when it lands, and only 1 may land on a spin. When activated, all Sakura Mask symbols, including the Sakura Wild if present, are held for the respin. Any line wins are paid before a respin takes place. Evaluations of line wins and/or Sakura Mask wins take place after the respin has occurred.
• Multiplier Sakura Mask - this mask symbol lands with a multiplier of x2 or x3. Only 1 Multiplier Sakura Mask may land on a spin, and it applies its value to any prizes achieved from the prize ladder.

Wilds & Sakura Wild

Regular wilds substitute for any paying symbol to help connect winning lines. The Sakura Wild is a special 1x3 super wild that lands fully stacked only on the middle reel. The Sakura Wild also counts as 3 Sakura Mask symbols when determining prizes from the ladder. If the Sakura Wild lands, it is possible to land up to 7 Sakura Mask symbols.

Free Spins

A total of 8 free spins are triggered when 3 scatters land on reels 1, 3, and 5 in the base game. Free spins scatters and the Sakura Wild cannot land together in the base game. During free spins, hitting 2 scatters on reels 1 and 5 triggers an additional +5 free spins. At the start of the free spins feature, the Sakura Wild is locked in place on the middle reel, where it remains until the round ends.

Feature Buys

Sakura Masks has two feature buys, both with RTP values of 96%. One choice is Any Masks, which costs 5 times the bet to land any combination of at least 3 masks on a spin; the other is 50x the bet to buy the free spins round.

Sakura Masks: Slot Verdict

The thought of smashing through another scatter symbol instant prize game with masks might feel like a session of water torture, but Red Tiger has done a decent job of making Sakura Masks turn out better than was initially suspected or feared. It's achieved this by slipping in details that don't often show in games like this, such as the Multiplier Sakura Mask and the Respin Sakura Mask. Shades of this have appeared before in Blazing Mammoth XL, for example, though Pear Fiction Studios' slot is nowhere near the same as Sakura Masks when drilling down on the details.

Another detail, and quite a big one, is the Sakura Wild symbol. As a full reel wild, it's handy enough, but counting it as three Sakura Mask symbols for the purpose of winning cash from the prize ladder makes the Sakura Wild a seriously valuable symbol. In effect, free spins become win spins since players are guaranteed to collect something from the prize ladder on each free spin. Okay, that might only turn out to be the 1x the bet entry-level prize, but the Sakura Wild might also gang with additional Sakura Mask symbols to bump the prize value up the ladder. Another thing about Sakura Masks, which helps elevate it beyond what a lot of these sorts of games offer, at least in some players' eyes, is winning potential of 15,138.5 times the stake. As can be the case, the larger max win has resulted in a reduced range of bets available when compared to other Red Tiger slots offering lower top prizes, broadly speaking.

Wrap it all up in a bow tie, and Red Tiger has made an instant cash prize scatter symbol ladder-type event featuring masks, which possesses a decent level of entertainment value. Some gamblers might be so totally over this sort of thing by now that the thought of tangling with Sakura Masks is as appealing as consuming a box of mouldy berries. However, this is a very popular gaming category, especially amongst slot designers, and Red Tiger's addition in the form of Sakura Masks manages to add some depth to the genre rather than dilute it.