Monkeys Go Bananas MultiMax

Monkeys Go Bananas MultiMax: Slot Overview

Casino game designer Yggdrasil Gaming released its slot Multifly! featuring a smart MultiMax reel multiplier system in 2020, but since then, the studio hasn't really done a whole lot with the mechanic. There was Rock Star Santa MultiMax and Firekick! MultiMax for example, as well as contributions from partner studios, yet it's not a mechanic that's blown up like Gigablox or DoubleMax. After reviewing Monkeys Go Bananas MultiMax, also from Yggdrasil Gaming, sorry to say, it doesn't seem like the mechanic has received the major shot in the arm it might have benefited from. But, readers may think differently; monkey pirates sound fun, after all.

They look cute, too, and there are five of them sitting above the reels in charge of the MultiMax multipliers. Rough seas and barrels make up most of the rest of the view in a game that sits on the shelf alongside salty slots such as Pirates: Smugglers Paradise or Pirates 2: Mutiny, both from Yggdrasil. While hunting for an alternative, partner studio Peter & Sons' Barbarossa DoubleMax is a slot with more of a piraty 'edge' to it if that's what you're after. When moving from visuals to sounds, the music is unusual. It's actually a rather stirring tune, but is it the right fit for a monkey pirate game? Not, really, though maybe it was a placeholder for the demo.

Perhaps the Yggdrasil team used cute monkey swashbucklers to distract from the lower than normal for them max RTP of 94%. The volatility, on the other hand, has been described as 'super-high', which might sound scary, though with solid winning potential on hand, Monkeys Go Bananas MultiMax might turn out alright if the action is bouncing in a favoured direction. Stake selection ranges from 20 cents to $/€25 per spin with a free spins bonus buy available, too.

Monkeys Go Bananas MultiMax is played on a 5-reel, 3-row gaming panel. It has 243 ways to win and pays both ways during free spins. The pay symbols are 9-A royals on the lower side and 5 character symbols on the higher. Hitting a 5 OAK low pay combination awards 0.4 to 0.8 times the bet, or 1.6 to 3.6 times the bet for a 5-matching premium symbol winning way.

Monkeys Go Bananas MultiMax: Slot Features

Monkeys Go Bananas MultiMax keeps features from Multifly! such as Avalanches, Reel Multipliers, and free spins, while adding a pay both ways mechanic in the bonus round as well as Bomb symbols.

Avalanches

Monkeys Go Bananas MultiMax utilizes Avalanche wins, which means winning symbols are removed from the reels, making space for symbols to drop down, providing another chance to win on the same spin. Each time an Avalanche win occurs, a wild symbol is added to a random empty position before the rest of the positions are refilled.

Wilds and Reel Multilpiers

Wild symbols substitute for all regular pay symbols. When a wild is added to the grid after a win, it adds +1 to the reel multiplier on the reel it appeared. The reel multiplier applies to all wins with at least one symbol on the reel. If multiple reel multipliers apply to a win, they are multiplied together, so an x2 and an x8, for example, create a total multiplier of x8. Reel multipliers reset in the base game after a losing Avalanche. The minimum multiplier is x2, and there is no limit to the maximum multiplier.

Free Spins

Landing 3 scatters on the three middle reels awards 8 free spins. Reel multipliers do not reset during the free spins round, and wins pay both ways - left to right and right to left, though 5 OAK wins only pay from left to right. Free spins also have a Bomb feature. Bomb symbols may land anywhere on the reels on any free spins without a win. Bombs have 3 power levels:

• Level 1 Bombs blow up the symbol they land on and trigger an Avalanche;
• Level 2 Bombs do the same and also blow up positions next to it.
• Level 3 Bombs blow up the centre position plus all positions up to 2 away from it.

Bonus Buy

At the bonus buy, it is possible to buy the free spins bonus round for the cost of 95 times the bet.

Monkeys Go Bananas MultiMax: Slot Verdict

As alluded to in the intro, Monkeys Go Bananas MultiMax didn't feel like the game that was going to significantly power up the MultiMax mechanic and push it to the next level. At least it's not a clone of Multifly! like the football game was, but it also isn't an immaculately polished, exciting progression of the mechanic, either. The thing is, the game didn't give off the impression Yggdrasil put its A+ team on the job when creating Monkeys Go Bananas MultiMax. So, while it all went okay during the test session, okay was about as good as things got.

Monkeys Go Bananas MultiMax can likely go, well, bananas when it's firing, though; few doubts there. Multipliers on each reel that multiply each other was an excellent idea when Multifly! popped it on the screens several years ago, and it remains a good idea in Monkeys Go Bananas MultiMax. This edition also benefits from Bombs triggering Avalanches, and the game is able to pay both ways. Both of these effects are free spins only, making reaching the bonus round even more of a focused objective. Neither has affected the max win, though, which stays steady at 10,000 the bet, though the RTP drop created a sour note.

Monkeys Go Bananas MultiMax does an okay job of keeping the MultiMax feature in the online gambling consciousness, lest it fade from memory. It's not a great game, but it gives players who like MultiMax another hit, plus there are a couple of new parts. Still, compared to the original, the presentation lagged, and the game, on the whole, made a less impressive mark.