Magic of Sahara from All41 Studios: Slot Review - into the heart of the desert!

Get ready to visit a desert wonderland full of magic and wonder in this new release from up-and-coming developer All41 Studios in partnership with Microgaming! As you might expect from the title of the game, this game takes place in the sandy dunes of the Sahara. Located on the African continent, it is the largest hot desert in the world and incredibly the third largest desert overall just behind Antarctica and the Arctic. The actual name ‘Sahara’ is derived from the Arabic word for “desert”. That’s the history lesson done and dusted, now it is time to join us as we make a lot of sand footprints as we attempt to find the true source of magic and more importantly a whole heap of treasure in this desert paradise.

Magic of Sahara is a 5 reel slot with 9 paylines that includes Stacked Wilds, Multipliers, and a Free Spins bonus round feature.

Special Features

Magic of Sahara comes with a range of interesting symbols that appear on the reels as you play the game. These include a male, a female, a man with a camel, as well as a bunch of classic A – 9 playing card symbols. The most rewarding of these symbols to keep an eye out for is the male symbol. Land 5 of these on an active payline and you’ll be treated to a superb cash payout worth 55.5X your wager.

The Wild symbol in the game is illustrated by an image of the game logo. Like most Wilds, the main job of this symbol is to replace all other symbols except the Scatter to help complete winning combinations. It comes super stacked and only appears on reels 3 and 4 in the main game. It is also the most profitable symbol in the game as if you happen to land 5 Wilds on a winning payline then you’ll receive a cash prize worth a whopping 133X your initial stake!

Like most online slots, this game also features a Free Spins bonus round. You can trigger it in two different ways. The first is to land 3 or more Scatters on the same spin while the second way is to collect 25 tokens via the Blue Merchant symbol. When you have collected 25 tokens then you will receive 25 Free Spins along with a 2X multiplier. If you activate Free Spins via the Scatter symbol then you will receive a number of spins based on how many tokens you have gathered. Both features when triggered award 5 additional Free Spins. During Free Spins, the Wild is even more lucrative as it comes stacked on all 5 reels to further enhance your chances of landing a big cash payout. Pleasingly, you can also retrigger this feature to get up to 34 Free Spins in total.

Theme, Graphics and Sound

Visually, this game is just stunning to look at and more importantly play as the action takes place deep in the heart of the Sahara desert with a clear blue sky overhead along with a distant city in the background. Symbols in the game are nicely polished and consist of a Blue Merchant, a Male, a Female, a Camel, a bowl of Treasure, as well as classic A – 9 icons. The animations are wonderful as symbols speed down the reels and dramatically burst into life when part of a win. A particular highlight is whenever you trigger the Free Spins game as the action moves to the insides of a building filled with lots of trinkets and treasure. It is a neat visual touch as it looks and plays like a completely different game.

Magic of Sahara features an atmospheric soundtrack with a distinctly Arabic flavour. Needless to say, it matches the gameplay extremely well.

Win lines, Payouts and Jackpots

The game has 9 paylines, a reasonable RTP of 95.29%, and a maximum payout worth 2,222X your wager.

Below is a summary taken from the PayOut Table from the game. The amount won for each combination depends on the value of the bet when you spin the reels.

Bet Range: 0.09, 0.18, 0.27, 0.36, 0.45, 0.54, 0.72, 0.90, 1.35, 1.80, 2.25, 2.70, 3.60, 4.50, 5.40, 6.75, 7.20, 9.00, 11.25, 13.50, 18.00, 22.50, 27.00, 36.00, 45.00

Based on a bet of 0.09:

• Magic of Sahara Wild Symbol: 0.60 for 3X, 4.00 for 4X, 12.00 for 5X
• Treasure Scatter Symbol: 0.09 for 2X, 0.27 for 3X, 2.25 for 4X, 9.00 for 5X
• Male Merchant Symbol: 0.50 for 3X, 1.60 for 4X, 5.00 for 5X
• Female Merchant Symbol: 0.40 for 3X, 1.20 for 4X, 4.00 for 5X
• Camel Symbol: 0.30 for 3X, 0.80 for 4X, 2.50 for 5X
• A Symbol: 0.15 for 3X, 0.30 for 3X, 0.80 for 5X
• K Symbol: 0.15 for 3X, 0.30 for 4X, 0.80 for 5X
• Q Symbol: 0.12 for 3X, 0.25 for 4X, 0.60 for 5X
• J Symbol: 0.12 for 3X, 0.25 for 4X, 0.60 for 5X
• 10 Symbol: 0.10 for 3X, 0.20 for 4X, 0.20 for 5X
• 9 Symbol: 0.10 for 3X, 0.20 for 4X, 0.20 for 5X

Our Verdict on Magic of Sahara

Following hot on the heels of their very first game release Le Kaffee Bar, this is the second game produced by newcomer All41 Studios in association with Microgaming. Featuring outstanding graphics, a wonderful matching soundtrack, and a nice range of bonus features, it is definitely one rewarding desert adventure not to be missed! The standout attraction of the game is without a doubt the Free Spins bonus game as it comes with lucrative Stacked Wilds on each reel. It is also highly innovative that you can trigger Free Spins in two very different ways which really adds to the gameplay. The top prize for this slot is a massive 2,222X your stake which can be won in Free Spins via the 2X multiplier. When it comes to variance, I would say this slot is Medium so you will win quite often the more you play. For a slot with a similar Desert theme, check out Golden Caravan.

Uncover lots of treasure on the reels when you experience the Magic of Sahara!