Exotic Cats Slot Review

Exotic Cats is a video slot from Microgaming with 5 reels and 243 ways to win. That means any three matching symbols on adjacent reels from left to right, will yield a win. In the case of this slot, two matching high value will already yield a win as well. You’ll be able to play Exotic Cats at LeoVegas, Casino Room or Rizk Casino.

Theme and game basics

We’re getting a jungle theme with this game. Wild animals make their appearances on the reels. In fact, we’re talking about exotic cats such as lions, tigers, panthers, leopards and cougars. Big cats, wild and beautiful, but somehow still cats.

The jungle setting is lush and green, quite dark, almost as if the exotic cats are lurking in the greenery. Well, they are lurking, above the reels, as it were. The detail in the drawing is beautifully done and each reel is dedicated to one of the big cats, with the reels even framed in the colour of each cat’s fur. Additionally, a pretty girl makes an appearance, though we don’t quite know what her role is supposed to be, a cat’s paw print and, lastly, we find the card suit symbols as gems on the reels as well.

The four exotic cats are the most valuable symbol, each of them giving us 10x our bet for a 5-of-a-kind win. Five scatters will pay out 20x our bet if you get five of them, and five wilds will pay out 14.6x our bet. As already mentioned, all wild cats already pay out when only two of them appear on adjacent reels. That is also true for wild symbols and the girl. You need three of every other symbol to create a winning combination.

Gameplay and features

The main feature in the base game are the wild reels that will be added to the reels whenever one of the exotic cats land on their dedicated reels. It’s then that the lurking cats will make an appearance from above the reels, as they strike the reel with their paws to leave it completely wild. It’s a neat feature and it is quite funny to watch the big cats poke their heads above their reels.

Alas, this is about the only interesting and worthwhile feature in the game. The cats tend to strike regularly enough to add a little extra to your funds, but when it comes to the free spins, you’ll be disappointed.

You need at least three scatters anywhere on the reels to trigger 10 free spins. The only notably difference now is that the big cats will already be sitting on top of the reels, ready to strike whenever a matching cat stops on their reels. That doesn’t happen with any more frequency than it does during the base game, which means during the free spins you may not get more than three or four wild reels, if you’re lucky.

Conclusion

The theoretical RTP (Return to Player) of Exotic Cats is 96.43%, which is good value. This slot is of medium volatility, meaning you won’t see wins too often, despite getting 243 ways to win. Bigger wins are possible but rare. And it took us a little while to trigger the free spins eventually.

Considering how little difference the free spins made to our budget, it hardly mattered, however. You won’t be playing this game in the hopes of getting some free spins. You’ll playing it for the lush scenery and the lurking cats that will add wild reels to your reels every once in a while. It’s entertaining enough, but the free spins are disappointing and eventually you’ll move on to more interesting slots.