Play Wild Panda Slot Game - Free Bonus & Spins

Theme: Pandas, Bamboo & Old-world China

There’s no beating around the bush the game does an excellent job of drawing inspiration from Asia. The background image behind the reels is a lush bamboo forest, and as I’m sure you guessed, the giant panda is the star of the show, and the game’s primary graphical symbol. Based upon my research, it appears that Aristocrat put a significant amount of thought into designing this aspect of the game. All of the artwork seems to be multi-layered, and not flat or generic.

Overall, the game has a peaceful, almost spiritual feel to it, which is fitting for an asian setting. Along with the panda, you will also see a variety of card-based symbols and culture-themed symbols. Cards are represented by suits ranging from 10 through Ace. However, Aristocrat added a unique twist to the cards. On occasion, each card will display one of four letters: a, p, N, or D. When you get enough of these letters to form the word panda in any order across the reels, you will enter the free spins mode.

While this may seem like a simplistic mechanic, it adds an exciting element of anticipation to almost every spin, as you’re constantly watching for those letters even when you’re focused on trying to land a straight-up win. Other than the panda and the lettered cards, the remaining symbols include a Chinese Temple, gold coin, Umbrella, fish, Mandolin, lily flower and sprouting bamboo. Similar to the panda, each of these symbols were designed with the same level of detail as the panda itself. Together, they create an immersive environment versus being a collection of random images slapped onto a pay table.

How the game works: reels/pay lines/betting

As mentioned previously, Wild Panda features 5 reels. What sets it apart from many of today’s other slots is its 100 fixed pay lines. The more pay lines equals more opportunities for winning symbols to align in your favor on a single spin. This is one of the reasons why Wild Panda has remained so popular among casual players and hardcore gamers alike. The betting options are flexible to accommodate almost any bankroll. Players can wager as little as $0.01 per spin on the low side and as much as $50.00 per spin at max-bet on all 100 lines.

Therefore, players can enjoy slow-paced sessions or fast-paced sessions depending on their desired style of play. Another option that many experienced slot players enjoy is the Automatic Spin button. This allows players to pre-select anywhere between 5 to 50 consecutive spins based on a predetermined bet-per-line. This way players can relax while letting the reels take care of themselves possibly long enough to recharge their drink.

Remember, prior to beginning an auto-spin sequence players must select their preferred bet-per-line as the auto-spin sequence will use whatever bet-per-line was entered when initiating the auto-spins. Additionally, players can terminate their auto-spin sequence at anytime if they wish to alter their strategy or take a break.

Free spins bonus mode

While Wild Panda is not the only Aristocrat slot game that offers a free-spins feature (it is however an extremely enjoyable one), this is likely the area of the game that has earned Wild Panda its reputation. For those that are unfamiliar with this term – spelling out p-a-N-D-a (in any order) using the lettered card symbols will initiate the free spins bonus feature. Prior to entering this mode all symbols that contributed to forming p-a-N-D-a will immediately turn into wilds for the duration of the feature. Given how frequently these wilds occur across all of the reels during free spins, this typically results in a considerable portion of your reels turning wild simultaneously — greatly enhancing your chances of landing multiple winning lines on a single spin.

The wild symbol used throughout Wild Panda is obviously the panda symbol; however, unlike most other wild symbols featured in Aristocrat slots (the panda only serves as a wild during free-spins mode). In contrast to this behavior during free-spins mode – in the base game mode, the panda behaves like most other high-value symbols in that it only pays out when landed in a winning combination. Once you activate free-spins mode – this behavior changes significantly as the panda now acts as a substitute for virtually all other symbols except for the Gold Coin scatter symbol. The Gold Coin scatter symbol remains unaffected during free-spins mode and therefore retains its ability to award scatter payouts.

Worth mentioning are the payouts awarded when landing multiple pandas during free-spins mode: five pandas awards 2,000 coins; four pandas awards 1,000 coins; three pandas awards 500 coins. Before we continue further – please note that while free-spins mode is an attractive addition to this game – once you begin collecting free-spins – unfortunately neither wild nor scatter symbols can be re-triggered for additional free-spins during the existing free-spins session; therefore you should attempt to maximize your usage of any collected free-spins. It’s also important to mention that your bet-per-line and total credits wager remain constant at whatever amounts initiated free-spins mode and will not change until after all free-spins have been completed.

Pay table & bet options

In regards to payouts awarded by Wild Panda – in terms of base game top-payouts – the Chinese Temple is considered the highest-paying non-wild/non-scatter symbol on Wild Panda’s pay table. Landing five Temple symbols in an active pay line awards you 1,000 coins  which is a respectable payout for a non-wild/non-scatter symbol.

Regarding bet options  individual coin values available for selection range from .01 up to $1.00 and players can wager a maximum total amount of $50.00 per spin when playing at maximum stakes on all 100 lines. Wild Panda also contains a progressive Jackpot valued at 10,000 credits and there are two ways to hit this Jackpot – which both require a player to understand how they can accomplish them.

Jackpot #1: scatters

The first method for hitting the progressive Jackpot requires players to collect five scatter symbols which represent gold coins anywhere across the reels in a single spin. If you happen to be playing at max-coin when you achieve this feat your winnings will be multiplied by 200 resulting in a Jackpot payment of 10,000 credits. Additionally, landing three or four scatter symbols also result in smaller payouts, although not nearly as impressive as landing five scatters.

Jackpot #2: wild combinations during free-spins mode

The second method for achieving Jackpot status also relies on achieving a certain combination involving wilds – but requires that players earn entry into Wild Panda’s free-spins feature first. By earning wild combinations during free-spins mode while playing at max-stakes ($50.00) your winnings will also be multiplied by 200 – placing your winnings firmly within reach of wild-panda’s 10,000 credit progressive Jackpot. Due to the fact that Wild Panda’s free-spins feature creates an environment that heavily favors player success due to numerous wilds present across all reels  this path may provide players with better odds for achieving Jackpot status than attempting to collect five scatters.

Desktop/mobile compatibility

Another benefit of playing Wild Panda is its consistency across platforms. Unlike many modern slot machines that offer inferior experiences on mobile devices, Aristocrat created a mobile version of Wild Panda that matches its desktop counterpart in nearly every respect. Whether you are running Windows on your desktop/laptop computer or os x on your Macintosh computer or if you prefer running Wild Panda on your smartphone, you’ll receive identical reels, identical bonus mechanics and identical pay tables. No mobile compromise exists here all bets placed via mobile devices apply equally to desktop computers vice versa therefore players that prefer mobile gaming will not sacrifice any quality relative to their desktop counterparts.

If you would prefer downloading a standalone mobile application to access Wild Panda – it’s available via the major app stores (i.e., apple app store/google play store) and supports both iOS and Android systems. Alternately many players access Wild Panda via their mobile web browser (via Google Chrome/Safari/Firefox/Opera etc.) and Wild Panda runs flawlessly without requiring users to perform any type of installation/download process whatsoever. In order to start playing Wild Panda on mobile you’ll require a reliable internet/wifi connection along with having established an account at whichever casino platform(s) you plan to utilize and finally possessing the game itself via download/installation or accessed via your mobile browser.

From that point forward it’s merely a matter of adding funds to your casino account if you intend to place wagers for real money stakes. Due to the fact that mobile capabilities mirror desktop capabilities in terms of rules bonus mechanisms symbol values players do not forfeit anything by utilizing a phone/tablet instead of their desktop computer thus providing greater freedom to play regardless of location/time.

Lower value symbols/pay line mechanics

Although the Chinese Temple represents the top payout listed under Wild Panda’s base-game pay table, understanding how lower value symbols fit into the larger picture helps illustrate how the normal flow-of-play develops during sessions. Mid-tier payouts exist primarily in gold fish/Lotus Flower/Mandolin-type symbols and tend to produce relatively predictable but modest payouts when lining up three/four/eight positions. Lower-end payouts generally fall under Umbrella/bamboo sprout-type symbols and serve primarily as filler symbols, while classic playing cards (Ace thru 10) represent lower-paying combinations that appear most frequently across all sessions.

This tiered structure is fairly standard for Aristocrat slots but works effectively here due in-part to producing regular smaller wins that help maintain interest between larger wins. The large number of pay lines found in Wild Panda changes how players perceive winning combinations relative to less complex slot games. Due largely in part to having such an extensive number of pay lines active it is not uncommon for players to obtain several small wins during a single spin even if those wins do not appear spectacular at face value. This contributes to why Wild Panda tends-to-feel generous relative to hit frequency even when players do not successfully activate either the bonus round or achieve a large scatter payout.

Some general advice for maximizing your winnings from Wild Panda

Given that triggering free-spins mode requires spilling p-a-N-D-a using lettered card symbols, it is recommended that players engage with each spin (rather than solely rely on autoplay) as much as possible especially if you are new to Wild Panda and/or still learning when those letters typically appear during each spin. Once you become familiarized with how frequently those letters appear autoplay becomes an excellent tool for allowing you to complete your session with minimal distractions especially when playing with a fixed bet-size.

Please remember that your current bet-per-line (at initiation of free-spins) will remain unchanged throughout the entirety of free-spins mode and will therefore affect whether or not you can ultimately achieve maximum-Jackpot status (described below). When pursuing maximum-Jackpot status (achieving the full 10,000 credit progressive Jackpot) your initial bet-per-line will have a substantial impact due to one of only two methods available for achieving maximum-Jackpot status discussed earlier.

Final Thoughts

It isn’t difficult to see why Wild Panda has endured as one of Aristocrat’s more successful slot titles. The 100 pay line structure provides continuous action; the bamboo forest Theme is depicted with significant visual detail; and perhaps most importantly, the bonus round features numerous wilds which create an environment favorable toward player success. Plus with flexible Betting Limits accommodating cautious players as well as aggressive risk-takers alike combined with two different methods for achieving progressive Jackpot status it becomes clear why Wild Panda appeals toward both casual players and hardcore gamers alike.