Wacky Panda Slot Review
Created by Games Global in 2017, Wacky Panda set itself apart from its competitors in the “classic reel” slot genre with a fun theme and a unique design. To this day it remains one of the most popular online slot games, thanks in part to its appealing style.
To see if the game holds up, our Casinofy.com experts spent more than 4 hours testing Wacky Panda and examining what it has to offer, from its design to its payouts to its RTP rate. After a thorough evaluation, we used the information gathered to create this comprehensive Wacky Panda review.
Wacky Panda Gameplay and Mechanics
Like most classic reel slots, Wacky Panda uses a 3×3 grid, but differentiates itself with its pay structure. Rather than offering between 3 and 10 ways to win, Wacky Panda has a single payline running through the middle of the board.
While the single payline made the game easy to follow when playing at real money online casinos, it quickly became frustrating to play. Finding a row of three symbols above or below the payline was a common source of annoyance, as was the fact that the symbols aren’t even guaranteed to line up with the payline.
Betting Limits of Wacky Panda
Wacky Panda uses a coin-based system to determine its bet size. You choose a bet size, then decide whether to bet 1, 2, or 3 coins per spin. The coin number acts as a multiplier, so if you select a bet size of $1 and choose 3 coins, your final bet size will bet $3.
Wacky Panda is considered a penny slot game, as it has a minimum bet of $0.01. To get this minimum bet, you have to choose the smallest bet size and only bet one coin. The maximum bet size is $15, which can be selected by choosing a wager size of $5 and betting 3 coins.
We like that the minimum bet size is so low, as it keeps the game accessible to low-budget players, but the max bet of $15 may not appeal to high rollers.
Wacky Panda RTP and Volatility
The RTP rate of Wacky Panda is 95.94%, which is just below the industry average of 96%. However, given the age and structure of this slot, an RTP rate of 95.94% is higher than we expected to see!
The game also has a medium volatility rating, which means that it balances the size and frequency of its payouts. If you’re a new player, we recommend only betting a small percentage of your bankroll each spin to account for the potential swings you may experience.
Can you Play Wacky Panda on Mobile?
Wacky Panda is fully compatible with mobile gameplay. The slot was developed using both JS and HTML5 and can be played via your phone’s web browser or by downloading a dedicated casino app.
We tested the mobile performance of Wacky Panda extensively during our review and was impressed with what we saw. The game ran smoothly, and we didn’t experience any lag while playing on either the mobile app or web browser, which was a big positive.
Wacky Panda Max Win
The maximum win available at Wacky Panda is 3,333x your coin bet. However, the maximum will change depending on the number of coins you bet:
- 1 Coin – 1,000x max win
- 2 Coins – 2,000x max win
- 3 Coins – 3,333x max win.
Due to the extra “333x” you can receive, we always recommend playing with the maximum number of coins.
How to Play Wacky Panda
One of the advantages of the single payline structure is its simplicity; there’s only one possible way to win, so it’s easy to understand whether you’ve won or lost. However, the betting and payout structure of Wacky Panda can be a little confusing for beginners, which is disappointing.
To help you get started, we’ve created a helpful walkthrough that you can check out below:
- Click the Wacky Panda icon to load the slot.
- Tap the “3 chip” icon in the bottom right-hand side of the screen to set your wager.
- Use coin icons at the top to choose how many coins you want to bet – 1, 2, or 3.
- Select your bet amount.
- Tap anywhere outside the betting popup to go back to the main slot.
- Click the white circular arrow button on the right-hand side to start the game.
The table on the right-hand side of the online slot game displays the payout you will receive when you find different winning combinations. The number next to the symbol is the multiplier of your base bet, and will change depending on the number of coins in play.
The image below shows the pay table for 1 coin. The bottom combo shows a win of 10x. If you bet $1, hitting this winning combination would yield a payout of $10.
The next image shows the pay table for 3 coins. The same combo shows a win of 30x – but this multiplier applies to your base bet rather than your total bet. So, if your base bet is $1, your total bet with 3 coins will be $3. However, instead of winning 30 x $3, you will win 30 x $1 for hitting that combo, resulting in a payout of $30.
Why it has to be displayed in such a confusing way, we don’t know!
The triple-arrow button brings up the game’s autoplay feature, where you can choose to play 10, 25, 50, or 100 rounds consecutively. Unfortunately, this mechanic does not offer stop limits, so you will have to closely monitor your play to make sure you stay within your budget.
You can also increase the pace of play by enabling the Turbo function via the lightning bolt symbol on the right-hand side.
Bonus Features
By far the most disappointing aspect of Wacky Panda was the lack of gameplay mechanics and bonus features. There are no bonus games or free spin rounds – there aren’t even any Wild symbols!
The closest thing the game has to a bonus feature is the Wacky Panda symbol, which can make a winning combo with only 1 or 2 symbols on the payline.
The lack of bonus features or gameplay mechanics meant that the base game quickly became repetitive, which is not what you want when playing a real money slot game.
Wacky Panda Slot Design
One feature that we really like about Wacky Panda is, unsurprisingly, its theme. The design is a lot of fun and really stands out amongst the dozens of generic classic reel slots. The game board stands out as the best part of the theme, as we love the use of bamboo to separate the reels.
The game’s background design is a little basic and the use of fruit symbols feels a little lazy, but as they conform with the overall theme we’ll let them slide.
While the visual design is generally good, we found the game’s audio to be really hit and miss. We liked the backing track, as the upbeat music helped create the fun atmosphere conveyed by the visual design, but it was overshadowed by an inexcusable audio issue. There is an annoying whirring sound that plays throughout each spin which completely ruins the experience. It got so bad that we had to mute the slot just to get through the rest of the test!
Fixing this issue would go a long way to making the slot fun to play again.
Wacky Panda Review Summary
After completing our Wacky Panda slot review, we find it hard to recommend the game to slots fans. While it features a fun theme and has a good RTP rate for a classic reel slot, it’s let down by audio issues and a lack of bonus features.
While the game may not be to our tastes, we’re sure that some players out there will enjoy the game’s structure and playing style. If you want to find the best online slot casinos offering the Wacky Panda online slot game, check out our honest and unbiased expert reviews.
