African Dream Slot

Africa is a huge continent and many dream of being on a safari in the dusty lands. African Dream video slot keeps that dream alive with exquisite 3D design in software by Rabcat. It's a classic online slot with a 5 reel grid to watch the fauna strolling by, and stunning landscapes to escape into. It has 25 adjustable paylines to place bets on getting animals to form matching rows. Clicking on the betting selections at the foot of the screen, will tailor bets from 25 coins for the max bet playing the full 25 paylines, down to 0.01 for just 1 line.

It plays with medium variance so playing at the higher end will make the prizes that little bit better. Good when playing for real cash going into the free games feature and it has to be said that Rabat certainly doesn’t scrimp on that as it triggers quite often. As this an African themed slot, it's to be expected that some of the symbols will play host to the creatures from that magical land. These are led by the high paying lion, elephant, gorilla, hippopotamus, giraffe, zebra, flamingo and finally the meerkat.

Wild Life

There are many trees that grow in the grasslands of Africa and one type in particular is the poster boy of all of them; the Umbrella Thorn tree. Its distinctive look is the embodiment of what is typically thought of as African scenery. It’s this tree that is used as the wild symbol and besides looking pretty, will replace other basic symbols to forge winning rows on paylines. Whenever there is a payout, the player is given the opportunity to click the gamble button for a double or nothing gamble feature.

Another screen opens with two mounds of earth. Also shown are how much is being gambled and the option to collect without playing to keep the winning wager intact. The object is to find which one contains the meerkat by clicking on one of the mounds. If the choice is right, the meerkat stands up and the wager is doubled. If it’s wrong, dust is expelled from the hole, all is lost and it's back to the main game, empty handed.

Choosing a Beast

Free games features are usually exciting with each different slot that include one, using unique ways of tying it into its theme. African Dream has a scatter symbol to trigger the feature that is designed using a snappy designed map of Africa. The scatter has great payout values for appearing, but 3 or more will trigger the free games round. A new congratulations screen opens before moving onto a choice. Players are invited to pick one of the 3 options of beast given, or click on the selector to make the choice randomly.

All of the beasts offer a number of free spins but two of them offer extras thrown in. The elephant will give the highest number of spins at 16, but offers no extras. The lion awards a multiplier of x2 plus 8 free spins. The gorilla will place fixed wilds on the reels and give 8 spins if picked. Free spins can retrigger and the beasts will queue patiently to wait their turn. The last symbol to mention is the Jackpot symbol which is a euro sign. Getting 3 of these on a payline will award a jackpot as a percentage as defined in the pay table.

Going on a Safari

Big 5 Safari by Nektan is another trip to the wildlands of Africa. A mix of superb 3D graphics and real images bring this game to life. The animals living free include lions, leopards, elephants, bison and rhinos. It has free spins to give a real boost to the coin balance with a nice scene transition from day to night as it rolls. It has 5 x 3 reels and a special spin button as the wheel of a jeep to get them moving, and 20 fixed win lines in place.

There is a zebra wild symbol to help establish wins, and there is also an additional sticky wild of a gazelle. The bonus is a fun round to grab the camera, and start taking snaps of the local wildlife by picking a bush and capturing the animal to print as it peers out. Each animal has a prize to keep, but pick an empty bush and the round is over.  

Big Cats and Meerkats

African themed slots are generally well received because of the beauty of the beasts and splendour of the countryside. When there are good features and a solid pay table, the game developer is on to a winner. It’s clear to see that Rabcat have a winner with African Dream. The frequency of the free games triggering was refreshing, as was seeing the scenery changes to showcase the beauty of Africa for each animal showcased.

The gamble feature in not using playing cards, and keeping it true to the theme by using meerkats, was a pure pleasure to see. The sounds and effects, like the visuals aspects, were on target by using real animal sounds, crickets, birds and traditional African music featuring drums and the balafon. If looking to relax a while and take a leisurely spin on the reels, we can suggest setting sail for Africa. You may just cash out with a beast of your own.