Shadow of the Panther Slots

Game Overview

Shadow of the Panther is a 5-reel, 3-row video slot game with 30 pay lines. The game's state-of-the-art graphics highlight winning combinations with enchanted flares evoking the imagery of the magic behind the theme. The game uses two special symbols. Prizes are paid from left to right. All of the symbols use Super Stacks, so they can fill up an entire reel when the spinning stops.

The game's logo serves as the Wild symbol. It substitutes for all other symbols in the game except the Scatter. When the Wild symbol contributes to a winning combination it flares up. If you look closely you'll see the two glowing eyes of a large cat peeking out from behind the logo. The cat changes color during the flare. You also hear the cat growl.

The Scatter symbol is a picture of a golden man-cat statue. When three of these appear anywhere on the screen the Free Spins Bonus game is triggered.

There are four high-value symbols in the game:

• Young Man
• Panther
• Green Jaguar
• Purple Jaguar

All of these symbols feature split symbol tiles that count as two, so it is possible for a 10-of-a-kind winning combination to occur. The Wild symbol always counts as a split symbol.

The Young Man's highest prize is 300 times your bet per line for 10-of-a-kind. When his tiles contribute to a winning combintion on a pay line he blinks his eyes and they light up with a golden amber glow, revealing his cat-like nature.

The Panther's highest prize is 250 times your bet per line for 10-of-a-kind. When the Panther contributes to a prize magical energy swirls around it and it tilts its head.

The Green Jaguar's highest prize is 175 times your bet per line for 10-of-a-kind. When the Green Jaguar contributes to a winning combination it growls, the picture is tilted at an angle, and magical energy swirls around it.

The Purple Jaguar's highest prize is also 175 times your bet per lin for 10-of-a-kind. When the Purple Jaguar contributes to the prize its picture looms larger and magical energy swirls around it.

The six remaining symbols are all low-value but three of them are imaginative fantasy objects:

• Blue Sapphire ring
• Pink Cats Eye ring
• Green Emerald amulet

Each of these objects has its own little flare video, which you'll see in better detail if you get a big win of 9 adjacent tiles. The video also fills the entire screen if you get a massive win.

The last three symbols are "A", "K", and "Q".

Game Controls

The game controls are the standard High 5 Games set. From left to right you control your betting options, see a credits report, activate game features, and control spins.

You adjust the pay lines with the Lines control. Scroll through the options of 1, 5, 9, 15, and 30 using the up and down arrows.

You adjust the bet per line using the Per Line control to scroll through the following options:

Your total bet (number of active pay lines times bet per line) is displayed above "Bet". Check the betting controls carefully when you sit down at a machine in a casino. Although the online games default to a low-bet setting, the physical machines remain in whatever configuration the last player used. You might accidentally make a $300 bet on your first spin.

The credits report shows you how much you won on your last spin and what your available balance is.

High 5 Games' Replay button is popular with players who like to watch the bonus games again, especially if they are taking pictures for their friends.

Use the Question mark to bring up the help screen system. There are 16 screens that explain how the game works and show you what the pay lines are.

The sound control merely toggles the volume on or off. You cannot adjust the volume in the casino although you can adjust the volume on your phone or computer for the online and mobile games.

Auto Play is a popular feature. It allows you to choose from 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 spins. If you don't have enough credits in your available balance the game stops spinning. You can also interrupt the Auto Play at any time. And the remaining spins are counted down in the Spin button.

The Spin button itself doubles as a Stop feature so you can skip over video animations that you have already seen before. Clicking Stop does not in any way change the outcome of a spin. That was already determined by the random number generator when you initiated the spin.

Triggering the Bonus Round

The Free Spins Bonus game is triggered by the Scatter symbol, which is a picture of a golden man-cat statue. There is a split symbol consisting of two statues and that counts as two Scatters. You need at least 5 statues to initiate the Free Games feature.

The Scatter symbol only appears on reels 2, 3, 4, and 5 so you can only get a maximum of 8 statues. If you get 5 statues you win 5 free spins. 6 statutes gets you 7 free spins, 7 statues gives you 10 free spins, and 8 statues awards you 15 free games.

All of the high-value symbols in the bonus game are split tiles so you only need 2 adjacent reels to win prizes.

Other than that the rules for the Free Games feature are the same as the rules for the regular game.

Conclusion

Cat games are always cool. People love to play them. High 5 Games loves the cat meme but it does a good job of animating the high value tiles and accompanying them with appropriate ambient sounds. There is just something comforting and reassuring about hearing a big cat growl right in your ear, like it's saying, "All, let's win this game." Or maybe it's, "What are you doing in my jungle?"

There are a lot of other games like this one on the market, and High 5 Games put many of them out there. There is no point in asking why any one game does better than another. Shadow of the Panther is popular and that's all we need to know. It's a cool slot game, for sure.

The quality of the artwork is up to High 5 Games' usual standards and that is no doubt a contributing factor to the game's success. The backdrop is a dark jungle plant silhouette and many of the tiles are transparent so you can see the jungle through them. That is just the kind of attention to detail that makes High 5 Games such a standout design company.

And they deserve kudos for the cat artwork, too. Not only did they get the ears right, they made the rosettes clear enough that you can see these are jaguars and not leopards. Even if they only superimposed pictures of real cats over illustrations, the artwork is superb. And that makes playing Shadow of the Panther a visually stimulating game as well as a fun spinner.