Penguin Safari Slot Machine
Africa is the destination of choice when playing Penguin Safari, which may seem odd to those who are aware of where these winged creatures normally live, but allow us to explain. Remember Dreamworks and their film Madagascar? Well, it seems that Capecod Gaming have taken inspiration (a LOT) from the films, and have injected the same sort of backgrounds and story into their slot machine. Even though it means you get an experience far removed from originality, it does mean you’ll be familiar with the iconography and atmosphere of the game.
Presented in a 40-winline, 5-reel matrix, this real cash slot is on the larger side, which should mean a lot of variance. Wrong. This is a low variety game at best, meaning that you won’t get much bang for your buck, though there’s always fun to be had. The best you’ll get here is some high rewarding wilds and free spins, which isn’t great but isn’t bad either; it’s a happy medium of mundanity. If you’re still reading along, and have some semblance of interest left, it’s time you tried it out for yourselves.
Sundrenched Lands
The setting for our online casino fave is on the plains of Africa, where the animals can run wild and free, even penguins. We had expected, initially, to see ice and winter freezing every reel of the grid, but instead we got leafy plants and blazing suns. No matter, these penguins are clearly avid travellers, and are keen to sample different tastes from all around the world.
In all honesty, aside from blatant copying, we like the direction of this slot machine, as it isn’t following a generic convention of the penguin theme. Another unusual twist, at least in our opinion, is the quality of the graphics used - they’re a lot less refined than usual, with the roughness adding a primal and native texture to the piece. This is clearly a modern slot machine, but it hasn’t gone over the top in trying to prove that; a nice and welcomed change of direction.
Busy Bees
Seeing as we’re on the topic of aesthetics and design, we need to talk about how overwhelming the interface is. Capecod Gaming have tried to make this a highly interactive online experience, with animated characters, integrated controls, and a large matrix. It should work, but when put together it means that you have a lot to engage within a short space of time. Truth be told, the end result could have been a lot worse than what it is, but the fact of the matter is that less is normally more, with some exceptions.
Cheap Pastime
Penguin Safari has a lot of fancy graphics, but it doesn’t expect you to pay through your nose to experience them, in fact, the brand have kept betting rates very low; the top bet is only worth 20 credits. Furthermore, for that amount of cash you can get a reasonable return of 2,000 coins from the lion symbol. Sure, you won’t be leaving a high roller, but for what you’re paying in, this seems like a great deal where you can potentially walk away a lot richer.
Duck, Duck… Penguin?
The bonus round is a selection process that happens within the base game rather than moving you into a feature experience, meaning the sense of accomplishment is virtually non-existent. You’ll need to get five of the penguin symbols for this bonus to even begin, the reason being that you then select three out of the five shown on the grid. Each selection reveals a number, with all three then added up to get your free spins total.
As you can see, this is a low impact bonus, with little to no special features - even the expanding wild only triggered in this round can’t overcome the underwhelming nature of the level. Considering how high tech the brand has been in its graphics and layout, you’d think they’d have been able to deliver a more stirring extra for players…
A Day at the Zoo
This is less safari and more zoo like the longer we play, and that isn’t exactly a good thing; when you play to experience the wild, you expect to get just that. Penguin Safari could have been something unique to savor, but instead it’s a knockoff that is far from thrilling. Our advice? Leave well alone and try something with more variety, and more originality.
