Japanese Mask Slot Review

The Japanese Mask Slot Game

Habanero has consistently created online slots that surpass most other online slot developers’ standards. And I’m glad to see the same top-tier quality in this new online casino game.

As the game’s title, Japanese Mask, suggests, players are heading to the East Asian region, aiming to explore its wonders and rich culture. A picturesque traditional village with wooden houses sitting under the night’s darkness makes for this game’s backdrop. But they all have golden lighting, insinuating that people dwell in the cabins.

An upbeat cultural melody accompanied by drum beat sounds and other thematic effects cements the mystique of traditional Japan.

The 9x3 gameboard is in the middle of the screen. Only reels 3-7 are initially active during the base game, unlocking progressively during the cascades. Meanwhile, the control panel sits below the playing field, making it easy for players to navigate when playing.

Symbols and Payouts

If you’re a fan of cultural slots, get ready to be mesmerised by this slot’s symbols, as they’re all thematic. They include four low-paying, four high-paying, and two specials.

As you may have noted from the introduction, the gameplay uses a unique HexaPays technique. It means that all the symbols pay in horizontal, vertical, and diagonal paths, starting from any position. However, identical symbols must be in succession and a single direction.

For clarity, all the symbols pay for 3+ of the same, with their paytable values based on the currently selected stake!

The low-paying symbols in Japanese Mask include Takeda, Water & Waves, Lotus Flower, and Tomoe. These are worth 0.2-5x, 0.2-10x, 0.3-15x, and 0.3-20x the bet, respectively, for 3 or more of the same.

The high-ranking symbols include the Redhead, Old Chubby Lady, Samurai Helmet, and Devil. They pay significantly higher for at least 3 of a kind: 0.5-72x, 0.5-120x, 1-300x, and 3-600x the stake, respectively.

The Japanese Ktsune Mask is the slot’s wild, which substitutes for all non-special symbols. It also pays 3x to 600x the bet when 3+ wilds complete a HexaPays path.

Japanese Mask Slot Bonus Features

The slot’s backbone is the HexaPays engine, which triggers a cascading feature. Further, the game has free spins, a buy feature, a super bet, and a Jackpot Race!

Cascade Feature

All the winning symbols disappear from the reels and become replaced by existing and/or new symbols dropped from above. Any cascade in Japanese Mask unlocks 2 locked positions, increasing the number of payout combinations and possibly the payout values.

The cascades continue as long as new wins occur. Also, the Drum scatters aren’t part of the cascades and only pay (1x to 600x bet) after the cascades have ended.

Free Games Feature

You can trigger this feature in two ways. First, hit 3 to 9 scatters anywhere on the reels to activate 5, 8, 12, 15, 20, 28, or 38 free spins, respectively. Alternatively, unlocking all the 12 locked positions awards 8 free spins.

The entire 9x3 grid remains active throughout the feature, offering more winning chances and potentially more significant payouts. Unfortunately, the free spins cannot be retriggered.

Bonus Buy & Super Bet

Japanese Mask lets you instantly buy the free spins from the base game for 29.9x the stake. After confirming the purchase, 3-5 scatters will appear and play per the bonus rules.

Meanwhile, the Super Bet doubles your bet when toggled on. As a result, it increases the odds of triggering the free games, and the wild is guaranteed to appear on the 5th reel in every free game. However, the wild isn’t guaranteed in subsequent cascades.

Jackpot Race

The Jackpot Race involves three phases:

• Accumulation - the jackpot starts at €1,000. However, it can’t be triggered during this phase.

• Race - the jackpot runs for 60 minutes and is guaranteed to trigger before the end of this phase.

• Payout - starts when the jackpot is triggered, with players who placed a bet closest to the jackpot’s trigger getting finish positions.

A portion of every bet placed accumulates into the jackpot, and the minimum qualifying bet is €0.10. The progressive jackpot has no ceiling and triggers at random.

How to Win at Japanese Mask Slot

Many online slot players adore simplistic gameplay. Despite this slot’s unconventional gameboard with 9 reels and 3 rows, it’s pretty easy to understand and play.

You start by picking an ideal bet level (1-10) and/or coin amount (€0.01 to €20) to wager between €0.10 and €2,000 per spin. Once you’ve picked ideal amounts, hit the Play button to trigger a single game round.

The game also includes an Autoplay function, which you can use to gamble many preselected spins automatically.

Japanese Mask uses a distinct HexaPays winning technique. During an ongoing spin, count yourself lucky when 3+ matching symbols align diagonally, horizontally, or vertically from any position. 

You can boost the reel spin speeds when you toggle on the Turbo mode. Further, use the Rotary sign to access the paytable and payout rules.

Japanese Mask Slot RTP & Volatility

The theoretical RTP for this slot is 96.41%. However, when the super bet and feature buy are active, it changes to 96.64% and 96.57%, respectively. Also, this is a high-volatility game.

The Final Thoughts 

Just as there are several things to like about this game, there are also things that may not impress some players. So, let’s decrypt which is which.

First, the audiovisuals caught my eye right off the bat. While the design is somewhat mysterious, it also has plenty of visual components that reveal its Japanese cultural side. Undoubtedly, Habanero has endeavoured to include top-quality craft in all its games.

Now, as for the gameplay, Japanese Mask was lukewarm. Its HexaPays system was interesting, considering it’s uncommon. Furthermore, it triggered cascades that unlocked the grid, providing more winning chances.

However, that was all I experienced in the base game and free spins. In fact, I didn’t see any reason for the super bet or bonus buy since the free spins’ only advantage was a fully active 9x3 reel set. And even though the Jackpot Race could guarantee a significant reward if you’re lucky, I couldn’t comprehend the possibility of unlocking the jackpot reward.

So, after completing my analysis, I think this game is innovative, but it could have been better if the bonus features had offered more action.