Panther Moon Bonus Lines Slot Review

You might have been reading this review and wondering how a slot with just 5 paylines can include the title ‘bonus lines’. Panther Moon Bonus Lines has 5 engaging bonus features, meaning, just like the mysterious panther, there is far more than first meets the eye with this game. The details of each bonus feature are explored below.

Coin Symbols

Coin symbols make up a large chunk of the symbols used in Panther Moon Bonus Lines, all can only appear on the 5th reel and can activate different bonus elements. They can also sometimes split in two and offer two bonuses in one. For their abilities to activate, coin symbols will need to land on the reels on the same spin as a winning combination is achieved. The four coin symbols used in Panther Moon Bonus Lines are as follows:

• Cash Coins: Display various cash values, which represent instant win prizes. These will be 2x, 5x, or 10x.

• Free Games Coins: Unlike other slots, where scatters are used to activate free spins, in Panther Moon Bonus Lines, the free game coin will award free spins. It will appear on the reel with a + and a number written on it (eligible values are +3, +4, +5 or +7.) and this indicates the number of free games which have been won.

• Prize Coin: This symbol has a diamond on it and, when landed on the reels in conjunction with a winning combination it will activate the Bonus Lines feature.

• Mystery Coin: Has a question mark, and when it appears on the reels it will change into one of the coin types above.

Bonus Lines Feature

This feature becomes active when any of the coin symbols are landed on the reels in the same spin that a winning combination is achieved. Firstly, the effects of the coins will be multiplied by the number of winning lines achieved in the spin. Therefore, if you win +5 Free Games on a spin with two winning lines, you will walk away with +10 Free Games, due to the multiplier.

Bonus Lines Free Games Feature

Free Games are triggered by landing a Free Games coin in combination with a winning combination. The Free Games coin will award players with the number of free games displayed on its face unless multiple winning combinations are formed, in which case it will be multiplied.

During Free Games the Panther Wild symbol is locked on reel 3; increasing the odds of winning combinations forming. The Free Games coin is still in play during the bonus, and when it appears it will automatically add 5 more free games to the current tally; still subject to the same multiplier feature as well. This means that the number of free games acquired by the player can grow exponentially as there is no limit to the number of additional free games that can be accrued by the player in this manner. Cash Coins will also appear on the 5th reel during free games, and can be subject to the same multiplier process.

Boost Your Wins! Feature:

This is a modifier that can be randomly triggered during base gameplay. When the Boost Your Wins! modifier becomes active, various outcomes can occur:

• A Panther Wild is added to the reels
• Coin symbols are added to reel 5
• The value of existing Coin symbols on the reels is increased
• Coins split; awarding two features from one coin
• Adds a Mystery Coin to reel 5.

Prize Boost

The Prize Boost feature is triggered when a prize coin is landed on the 5th reel. Players can be awarded one of three prize values, the Minor Prize, worth 20x the player's total bet, the Major Prize, worth 50x the player's total bet, or the Grand Prize worth 100x the total bet. The prize that is selected is randomly awarded and it is possible to win multiple prizes from a single spin (if more than one Prize Coin is landed per spin), and is also subject to the winning lines multiplier too; meaning that the prize awarded can be far higher than its base value.

Each of the prize values is displayed as cash values in boxes above the reels, and their value will change to reflect the bet value which players have selected, so no mental gymnastics are required of the player to calculate payout potential. 

If capturing the mystery of the Panther was the goal of Playtech Origins for the Panther Moon Bonus Lines slot machine, then the developer certainly exceeded expectations, leading to a game that uses smoke and mirrors on the player. What I mean by this, is that on paper, simply looking at the statistics, Panther Moon Bonus Lines seems like a shady cash grab designed to drain players' wallets. 

It has a massive betting range of 5p to £500; one of the largest I have ever seen. The math models used by the game are nothing but dismal, with the best-used percentage being a below-average 95.54%, but with even lower models of 93.52% and 91.01% available too. Usually, these lower values are seldom seen in UK online casino sites, and reputable websites, but during my research, I found that the lower percentages were far more commonly used than the optimal mathematical model; again something I have never encountered before. The slot also has a low hit rate of 19.34%, for winning combinations, and a 3.07% hit rate for bonus features. Throw in a high-volatility rating, and a top payout that, at first glance, seems to be just 100x the players' total wager, and I was left scratching my head, wondering why a developer as experienced as Playtech could get things so wrong.

However, by looking a little deeper, you can start to unlock the mysteries of this slot. First of all, the incredibly low betting requirements mean that a lower hit rate is not such a bad thing, after all, 6 losing spins at 5p per spin is going to cost just 30p, whereas a slot with the same hit rate and a minimum bet of 20p would cost £1.20; which is what 30 spins of Panther Moon Bonus Lines at minimum wager would cost. The paytable has pretty generous symbol values, with the lowest paying symbols awarding 1x for 3 on a payline whereas other games might offer payouts between 0.1-0.5x. A similar logic can be applied to the top payout for the game. At first 100x total bet for a ‘Grand Prize’ seems ludicrous, but this is only the base value of the prize. Factors such as multiple Grand Prizes being able to win each spin, plus the value being able to be multiplier by scoring multiple winning lines during the spin, meaning that lucky players might be able to walk away with far higher prize payouts than expected.

Overall, the bonus features of the Panther Moon Bonus lines slot are standard slots fayre, each with a mysterious twist. The coins feature is a fun component that also benefits from the multiplying feature, which certainly is my favourite element included in the game, and the Free Games bonus has the potential to be seriously lucrative (so long as you can manage to trigger it in the first place) thanks to its limitless free games tally. 

So, as you can see, just like the animal that lends its name, the Panther Moon Bonus Lines game feels mysterious, and elusive, with a surprising amount of power in terms of its bonus features and payouts. While this will not be a game for everyone, I can definitely see this slot developing a loyal fan base. For this reason, I score Panther Moon Bonus Lines a respectable 7/10.

Rating: 7.0