Himalayan Wild Slot Review

The Himalayan Wild Slot Game

I’m impressed with Pragmatic Play’s design team’s creativity in using this unpopular destination to grace this new release. If you’d also fancy exploring the new destination, load the game’s demo-play available here and take a free adventure!

As you probably guessed, the Himalayan Wild takes place in the famous Himalayas Mountains located in Southeast Asia. The imposing range forms a natural barrier in Asia and is home to some of the highest peaks, including Mount Everest.

The snowy region completes this slot’s backdrop, taking shape under pastel skies. The visuals show that only a few living creatures and trees can survive the region’s freezing conditions. Yet the 5x3 gameboard sits high at the centre of the screen—it’s as if some spirits or otherworldly beings erected it.      

Ambient animal sounds, a suspenseful soundtrack, and other engaging effects complement the picturesque design.

Symbols and Payouts

Some of the creatures serving as the slot’s symbols may make you think this slot is North American-themed. But it’s a fair presentation with eleven paying symbols and two specials (bonus and wild).

I know you can’t wait to set your eyes on what each symbol pays. While I’m about to show the values shortly, I suggest you also open the slot’s paytable to countercheck the paying combinations alongside their pay. That way, you’ll be up to date with your gameplay, like most experienced players.

Now, all the symbols pay for a specified number of symbols that land simultaneously and on adjacent reels of active paylines from the furthest left column.

All the low-paying playing card signs in Himalayan Wild pay for 3+ of the same as follows:

• 10 and Jack - 1x, 2x, and 5x the bet.
• Queen - 1.4x, 2.4x, and 8x the stake.
• King - 1.4x, 2.4x, and 12x the bet.
• Ace - 1.4x, 2.4x, and 15x the stake.

Then, the high-valued symbols include the following creatures:

• Eagle - 1.8x, 2.4x, 6x, and 20x the bet for 2+.
• Wolf - 3.4x, 4x, 8x, and 30x the stake for 2+.
• Buffalo - 0.2x, 3.6x, 5x, 13x, and 50x for 1+ OAK.
• Bear - 0.2x, 4x, 15x, 80x, and 300x the bet for 1+ OAK.

The Mountain Peak is the bonus symbol, which pays 0.08x to 4x the bet when 2+ of its kind appear from left to right on adjacent reels from the leftmost side. Finally, albeit non-paying, the Snow Leopard wild can land on the three middle reels and substitute for all symbols.

Himalayan Wild Slot Bonus Features

Like Mount Everest, the Free Respins Feature is the centre of attraction in this Himalayas-based video slot.

Free Respins Feature

If you hit a winning combination with any non-special symbol that contains at least one wild, this feature will trigger. If multiple winning combinations of the above kind occur on the same spin, each will trigger a Free Respins round played separately subsequently.

During this Himalayan Wild feature, the bonus symbol will also be the Money symbol with a repeat value. The value equals the feature-triggering winning combination win. This feature starts with 3 respins. Whenever the Money symbol hits, it awards the repeat value and resets to the original value.

Also, the Minor, Major, Mega, and Jackpot symbols can appear during the Free Respins feature. Hit the Jackpot on the leftmost reel alongside the Mega, Major, and Minor symbols on the rightmost column, awards 1000x, 100x, and 30x the bet, respectively! The bonus ends when no more respins remain.

Buy Feature

The Himalayan Wild offers two ways to trigger the Free Respins from the base game instantly. They include:

• Pay 100x the total stake for the Free Respins with a random regular symbol hitting in the triggering winning combination.
• Paying 300x the bet triggers the Free Respins, using a random symbol from the top 4 highest-paying non-special symbols.

How to Win at Himalayan Wild Slot

While scaling the Himalayas Mountains isn’t a simple adventure, this video slot is pretty straightforward to grasp. It’s a bit unusual, though, since, despite its 5 by 3 interface, it only employs 5 paylines to win!  

To win, you must hit a combination of identical symbols from left to right on adjacent reels from the leftmost column to the right on predefined paylines. Surprisingly, the Himalayan Wild can award up to 10,000 times the bet, even with its few features.

But first, it’s noteworthy to master the playing process. First, pick an ideal bet from the €0.25 to €250 levels. Then, typical of online slots, you play a single round using the Spin button or several auto-spins with the Autoplay functionality.

Furthermore, the developer has also offered the option to quicken the reels using the Turbo or Quickspin.   

Himalayan Wild Slot RTP & Volatility

While this slot’s default RTP is 96.51%, it changes to 96.50% when using the buy options. On the other hand, it has a high variance. So, you should play with caution since it has infrequent wins.

The Final Thoughts

I always look at things symbolically. Since Pragmatic Play created a slot based on the Himalayas mountain range, I expected to work with many features and mechanics. But that wasn’t the case. Probably, it’s my critical self overanalysing this game. But while I don’t want to sound cynical, I also don’t want to leave anything to chance.

The Himalayan Wild only offers a Free Respin feature with jackpots and two bonus buy options. So, I’m unsure whether it makes up for the hustle (high volatility) of scaling the range to reach the highest peak and reaching for the sunset from there.

Regardless, its picturesque visuals make it worth embracing. Further, the graphics blend perfectly with the slot’s ambient sounds, making you feel like you’re on the mountain trail.

My only problem was that the design was generic, and it was hard to picture touring the Himalayas without the title. For better clarity, the developer should have included an actual mountain range or the peak of Mount Everest.