Pragmatic Play, renowned for delving into the eerie realms of gaming, has previously explored zombies, ghosts, and skeletons in their slot creations, such as Wild Walker, Mysterious, and Cowboys Gold. Typically, when this studio ventures into darker themes, they execute it masterfully. Now, Pragmatic Play ventures into the enigmatic world of Voodoo with their latest slot, Voodoo Magic. While this slot boasts enticing visuals, it falls short of its potential, despite offering a plethora of features that rival the pins in a voodoo doll.
Embracing the New Orleans Voodoo Tradition
Voodoo, with its origins in Africa and flourishing in the Caribbean, finds its most popular iteration in New Orleans Voodoo, often portrayed in television, literature, and game themes. This unique blend of traditional Voodoo and Catholicism found its way to Louisiana, following the mass migration of Haitians after the 1791 slave revolt. What players encounter in Voodoo Magic is an authentic representation of this mysterious and alluring version, complete with its swampy, paganistic, and somewhat unsettling atmosphere.
The Mysterious Setting of Voodoo Magic
In the world of Voodoo Magic, players are immersed in a 5-reel, 40-payline grid set in the midst of a Mambo’s hut, where a voodoo priestess brews her magic in a cauldron veiled in green mist. The surroundings are adorned with peculiar items like jars of snakes, eyeballs, and eerie dolls. A sultry melody plays in the background, accompanied by the sounds of crickets and the night, transitioning into a lively New Orleans Mardi Gras tune during the bonus rounds. The game’s aesthetics and music create an immersive experience, making it regrettable that the gameplay falls short of these standards.
Gameplay and Features of Voodoo Magic
Voodoo Magic is accessible on all devices, with betting options ranging from MYR0.20 to MUR200 per spin. Mathematically, the game caters to those who relish high volatility gaming. Pragmatic Play has assigned a volatility rating of 4.5 out of 5, which seems at odds with the relatively low potential. The game also boasts a flexible RTP, with a default value of 96.50%, which is notably high.
Achieving a win in Voodoo Magic requires landing three to five matching symbols along a payline. The game offers ten regular pay symbols, including 9-A royals, as well as four picture symbols – goat skulls, grinning skulls, alligators, and a trance-like lady. Combinations of five picture symbols yield payouts ranging from 3.75 to 10 times the stake. The wild symbol is even more valuable, offering a 12.5x payout for five symbols, while it can also substitute for all symbols except the bonus symbol.
Voodoo Magic: Abundant Features
Voodoo Magic boasts an array of features, with the three bonus games being somewhat similar. In addition to free spins, players can benefit from two random spin features and a bonus buy option.
The random features activate when two scatter symbols appear on reels 2 and 3, just shy of triggering the bonus round. Players then select one of two hovering potion bottles to receive a modifier. One is Mystery Curses, which adds a random number of wilds to the reels to aid in forming winning combinations. The other is Fortune Hex, which eliminates low-value symbols and scatter symbols, leaving only high-paying symbols.
Access to the free spins round can be obtained either by purchasing it for 80 times the stake or by landing all three bonus symbols on the middle three reels. During this round, mystery symbols may appear on the reels, transforming into any matching pay symbol. The voodoo priestess may also use her magic to randomly alter these symbols. Prior to the round commencing, players are presented with three cards, each revealing one of the free spins games when selected:
- Voodoo Free Spins – Guarantees a minimum win of 10 times the bet.
- Super Voodoo Free Spins – Guarantees a minimum win of 25 times the bet.
- Mega Voodoo Free Spins – Guarantees a minimum win of 50 times the bet.
All bonus games grant 5 free spins and cannot be retriggered, unless the 25x win guarantee is not met. In that case, 5 additional free spins are awarded, and this process repeats until the minimum win is achieved.
Assessing Voodoo Magic: The Final Verdict
It’s a rarity to encounter a game that frequently triggers a win guarantee during bonus rounds. While having a safety net is nice, relying on it extensively is less appealing, especially during Voodoo Free Spins, where the guarantee is merely 10 times the bet. For instance, despite being awarded Super Free Spins initially, it took four win guarantee triggers before we could escape the boggy mangroves. Bonus rounds should ideally be an enjoyable experience that players want to prolong, rather than feeling like a cumbersome task.
This leads us to the game’s primary drawback: its limited potential. Some players have questioned whether the maximum wins in Pragmatic slots are overly optimistic. In the case of Voodoo Magic, the cap is surprisingly modest at 1,000 times the bet. If this threshold is reached during free spins, the game concludes. Additionally, the number of free spins awarded, whether won or purchased, is relatively low considering the numerous mystery symbols added to the reels. With no opportunity for retriggering unless the win guarantee is not met, the gameplay experience may leave players wanting more.
Despite being a highly volatile game, Voodoo Magic has the potential to captivate a casual audience seeking a taste of the supernatural. It boasts appealing visuals and a captivating soundtrack that contribute to an overall entertaining atmosphere. While there are plenty of features to keep players engaged, the standard spin wins and overall potential are underwhelming. If you crave more than just aesthetics, you might find yourself as disinterested as the voodoo priestess on the side of the screen.