Matsuri from Play'n GO: Slot Review - time to celebrate!

Matsuri is the Japanese word for a type of festival. One of the biggest festivals on the Japanese calendar is the Sapporo Snow Festival that is also known as Hokkaido. It is celebrated in February each year and lasts for one whole week. The festival began in 1950 when a group of high school students built some snow statues in Sapporo. It is now a big celebration where huge sculptures are created along with lots of smaller snow and ice sculptures. There are also other famous festivals involving ice and snow and of course the cherry blossom. This game was created to celebrate and honour these unique events that take place in Japan.

The slot has 5 reels with 25 paylines and comes with features such as Free Spins, Expanding Wilds, and a bonus game: Kingyo Sukui.

Special Features

The first feature that I noticed while playing this game is the Wild symbol. It is depicted by a beautiful ornate paper lantern. It can appear in any position across the 5 reels and it substitutes for all other symbols except the Scatter symbol.

The Scatter symbol is illustrated by an elaborate festival mask. If you land 3 of these symbols on reels 1, 3, and 5 then you will trigger the Free Spins feature. In this game, you’ll be awarded 8 Free Spins and each time you land another Scatter symbol, you’ll be given 2 extra Free Spins. The maximum number of Free Spins you can obtain in this feature is 20. The Wild symbol also comes into play in this game as when it lands on the reels during this feature, it will expand into a huge lamp that will cover an entire reel! The lamp will then walk from the right side all the way to the left side of the screen until it disappears when it reaches reel 1.

The last feature to mention is the Kingyo Sukui bonus game. This is based on a very popular Japanese fish-scooping game. To activate it, you need to land 3 Goldfish symbols on the reels. These symbols will only appear on reels 2, 3, and 4. The object of this game is to gently catch some goldfish by scooping them with a thin paper spoon. Each fish that you pick will reveal a prize but be careful as when your spoon breaks the bonus game will end.

Theme, Graphics and Sound

This game is a loving tribute to some of the famous Japanese festivals and it is full of vibrant colours and detail. The backdrop of this slot features a couple of mountains with a cloudy sky that is filled with a wonderful purple hue. Symbols consist of a variety of Japanese snacks that festival goers like to eat such as Dango dumplings, Takoyaki, and refreshing Kakigori. The symbols run sleekly and there are some really nice animations when you land a win along the reels.

The music is very relaxing and full of soft drums and the chatter of excited festival goers. It complements the theme of the game nicely and immerses you straight into a traditional Japanese festival.

Win lines, Payouts and Jackpots

The game has 25 paylines, a good RTP of 96.17%, and a fantastic maximum payout worth 3,000X your initial stake.

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: 0.25, 0.50, 1.00, 1.50, 2.00, 2.50, 5.00, 10.00, 15.00, 25.00, 50.00, 100.00

Based on a bet of 0.25:

Paper Lantern Wild Symbol: 0.25 for 3X, 1.00 for 4X, 10.00 for 5X
Blue Symbol: 0.15 for 3X, 0.75 for 4X, 3.50 for 5X
Green Symbol: 0.12 for 3X, 0.60 for 4X, 3.00 for 5X
Pink Symbol: 0.10 for 3X, 0.50 for 4X, 2.50 for 5X
Flowers Symbol: 0.07 for 3X, 0.20 for 4X, 1.00 for 5X
Fan Symbol: 0.05 for 3X, 0.15 for 4X, 0.75 for 5X
Takoyaki Symbol: 0.05 for 3X, 0.15 for 4X, 0.75 for 5X
Kakigori Symbol: 0.03 for 3X, 0.10 for 4X, 0.50 for 5X
Dango Dumpling Symbol: 0.03, 0.10 for 4X, 0.50 for 5X

Our Verdict on Matsuri

Matsuri is made by Play'n GO and it's a refreshing take on oriental-themed slots. It is beautiful to look at and a very simple game to play. The Free Spins feature is the standout attraction of this slot and the fact that Wilds can expand while in this feature can lead to some very lucrative payouts. The game is quite volatile so you will need some patience in order to trigger the Free Spins mode but it is definitely worth the wait when you land a big win!

Celebrate the spirit of a true Japanese festival in Matsuri!