Volcano Goddess

Volcano Goddess: Slot Overview

According to the indigenous religion of Hawaii, Pele is the goddess of lighting, fire, and volcanoes and was, so it is said, the one who created the Hawaiian Islands. In an industry packed to the gills with gods, goddesses, and heroes, the goddess of volcanoes isn't one who appears often. Software provider Pragmatic Play has something to say about that and has designed Volcano Goddess, an online slot erupting with a pick me bonus, a money symbol hold 'n respin round, and free spins with a special Pay It Again feature.

You can pretty much count on a game called Volcano Goddess to have two things - a volcano and a goddess. The former shows up in the background where a cone-shaped volcano lances into the sky, towering over deep blue seawater. It's not smoking or shaking, but there is something a little scary about the way it looks, as if fire, rocks and lava could come pouring forth at any moment. On the topic of looks, Volcano Goddess' pixelation, the jackpot presentation, and the reel area added up to a dated appearance, though one which perfectly matches the features.

Base game rounds land 15 symbols on a 5x3 gaming grid, which create winning combinations from the leftmost reel onwards, evaluated by a 243 ways to win pay system. Players can buy bonus round entry, but there is no ante bet to go with a base stake range of 20 c to $/€240. The game's RTP is the same, topping out at 96.49%, while the volatility is high.

Queen, King, and Ace are the lowest paying symbols in Volcano Goddess, awarding 0.15x the bet for a 5 OAK winning combination. Paying 0.6x to 3x are flowers, birds, turtles, dogs, and presumably, the goddess character symbols. Wilds can link winning combinations together by replacing any regular paying symbol. Wilds hit on reels 2, 3, and 4.

Volcano Goddess: Slot Features

For features, Volcano Goddess has a pick me bonus game, a respins round, free spins, and a bonus buy.

Bonus Game

When a wild symbol hits, there is a chance it randomly triggers the bonus game. When activated, 12 items appear on the screen, and players click on them one at a time. When 3 matching jackpots are revealed, the corresponding jackpot prize is awarded. The jackpots are the 100x Mini, 225x Minor, 1,000x Major, and the 5,000x Grand.

Scatter Features

The scatter symbol lands carrying a value of 0.1x to 1,000x. When 6 or more scatter symbols land, the feature triggers and players choose either Respins or free spins.

Respins

For this feature, the triggering scatters remain in place while all other symbols vanish. Only blanks or scatters may appear on a respin. Any scatter landing in the feature remains in place till the end of the round and can appear in gold or green. Landed gold scatters take the value of all the regular black scatters on the reels that triggered the feature. Green scatters that land take the total value of all scatters currently in view, added from previous respins, including the values of other green scatters. They also randomly grant an extra respin when one lands. In addition, +1 respin may be awarded when a +1 Spin hits. 6 respins are initially awarded, and they end when the respins run out, or all positions on the grid are filled with symbols. At the end, all scatter symbols in view award their values, plus players also win the Grand jackpot on top of the other wins if the reels are filled with symbols.

Free Spins

If this option is chosen, players get 8 free spins, and the total value of all triggering scatters becomes the Pay It Again value. Royal symbols are removed for free spins. Gold scatters may land in free spins and are wild. Each landed gold scatter awards the Pay It Again value. Hitting 3 or more scatters awards a further +3 free spins. Lastly, randomly, on any free spin, the Grand jackpot may be awarded.

Bonus Buy

Players are able to buy the bonus feature at a cost of 100 times the bet.

Volcano Goddess: Slot Verdict

Volcano Goddess is a game that looked exhaustingly generic at first, sort of old-fashioned, and not in a particularly enticing way. The graphics gave off an older-than-they-are vibe; the jackpots and reel area parts, for example, felt as though they had been yanked from a slot a decade older. After reviewing the game, well, that assessment still stands, so players who prefer up-to-the-minute optics might do well to steer clear of Volcano Goddess. They might also want to avoid the game if up-to-the-minute features are a requirement because while the game has nudges of originality, on the whole, this is old-school stuff.

Pick, click, and stick is one way of summing up Volcano Goddess' extras. The pick 'n click bonus game, for instance, is as classic as they come. Tap away on items till 3 of the same prize is revealed before pocketing the value. Not bad values either, from a minimum of 100x to a maximum of 5,000x. Volcano Goddess takes this a step or two further by capping wins at a sizable 20,000x the bet, which was not the expected figure after taking a cursory glance. Having said that, it remains to be seen if this number is actually achievable since it's nearly impossible to imagine how this could happen.

Whatever the reason, Prag has gone quite large on Volcano Goddess and has rolled out a couple of entertaining ways to potentially build a prize pot. One of these ways is the green and gold scatters found in the respins round, turning what could have been a relatively dry feature into something actually quite compelling. The second is the Pay It Again idea in free spins. Both are simple yet effective features that helped make Volcano Goddess a more entertaining game than was assumed after a tepid first impression.