Here's a question, what do prehistoric animals have in common with the Day of the Dead celebration? The answer wouldn't really be forthcoming for us until Mammoth Gold Megaways from software provider Pragmatic Play had come our way. It could be said that one way of keeping a foot on the production gas is by cloning prior games, and in this case, Pragmatic Play has reskinned Muertos Multiplier Megaways, giving it a brrr Ice Age covering in place of a festive one. A whole lot has stayed the same, from features, and gameplay, to stats, meaning pretty much just the visuals and audio have changed.
Well, the theme's different too, and for Mammoth Gold Megaways, we go back thousands of years when the planet was a lot colder than it is today, and different animals roamed the earth. Snow, ice, jagged rocks, mountains, and icicles make up the base game background, a far cry from the warmth of Muertos Multiplier Megaways' gaming space. Perhaps that was the point, to somehow draw attention away from the fact everything else is the same. Another possible bone of contention is the clash between the natural setting and a set of land-based-like jingle jangle sound effects. The juxtaposition might not be a deal breaker, but it felt odd at times.
All stats, as far as we could make out, are the same as they were before, so players get a highly volatile slot with three RTP models, topping out at 96.03%. That's when playing in regular mode, betting 20 p/c to $/€100 per spin, whereas buying free spins has a lower return value of 96% instead. Mammoth Gold Megaways uses a grid consisting of 6 reels plus a top 4-cell tracker reel, with a maximum number of ways to win of 117,649. The number of ways may vary from spin to spin since the six main reels can land different numbers of symbols on each spin. On each spin, when a win lands, its constituent symbols are removed from the grid and replaced with symbols falling from above. If a new win results, the tumble feature repeats until no more wins appear.
All pay symbols award a win when they land left to right from the first reel onwards over adjacent reels. Diamonds, clubs, hearts, and spades are the low lot, while a dodo, bear, warthog, wolf, sabre tooth tiger, and mammoth are the premium symbols. Hit a six-of-a-kind winning way to collect a payout of 0.5 to 06 times the bet for the card suits or 0.75 to 5 times the bet for the animal tiles. Appearing only on the top row is the erupting volcano wild. Wilds substitute for all symbols in Mammoth Gold Megaways except its scatter symbol.
Mammoth Gold Megaways comes with a set of interlinking features, such as wild multipliers, free spins with a gamble option, and, where available a bonus buy.
When wild symbols land, they have a multiplier of x2 or x3. The multiplier is collected in a meter which is applied to wins. When more wilds land in the current tumble sequence, they multiply the meter by their values. The multiplier meter resets to x1 when tumbles end.
Chunks of crystal are the scatter symbol, appearing on all reels. Landing 3 or more scatter symbols awards free spins. Before the bonus round begins, a random number of free spins is selected; 3, 4, 5 or 6 scatter symbols randomly award 5-14, 6-14, 7-14, or 8-14 free spins, respectively. If the number awarded is less than 14, players can choose to gamble for more on a red and green segmented wheel. Winning gambles increase free spins (up to 14), and losing gambles lose the lot.
In free spins, the total multiplier meter does not reset until the round ends, and wilds increase it as they do in the base game. Also, every tumble in the round increases the meter by +1 as well. The multiplier from the meter is held and used for every win. Free spins can be retriggered when 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 bonus symbols land, adding 1, 2, 3, 4, or 6 additional free spins. Last but not least, where available, players can buy the bonus round for the cost of 100 times the bet.
It's funny, a game about the celebration of death somehow had more life to it than one filled with wildlife. Perhaps it's because Muertos Multipliers Megaways was the original game, and the cloning process in general smacks of convenience over creativity, or maybe the Day of the Dead celebration simply creates a warmer reaction than an icy wasteland like the one presented in Mammoth Gold Megaways. Whatever the reason, playing the same sort of game the second time around wasn't as thrillingly exciting as it was the first.
It could be another matter if prehistoric animals create a stronger resonance or for those who haven't had the chance to catch Muertos Multipliers Megaways yet. Those going in fresh might be able to get more out of Mammoth Gold Megaways than players who have witnessed its gameplay already. As before, the simplicity is a highlight rather than a hindrance, with the wild multiplier feature padding out the base game. In saying that, though, since the theme is debatably less lively than it was before, it might have been nice if the studio had sprinkled a new modifier or two in there to increase the novelty quotient a notch, maybe even two notches. How Mammoth Gold Megaways performs isn't bad, though, and the contributions made by wild multiplier values and/or building the win multiplier from tumbles in free spins can technically lead to wins as high as 10,000x the bet.
So a solid Megaways game, but if it came down to picking Mammoth Gold Megaways or its progenitor, preference leaned towards the older game. Mammoth Gold Megaways did supply a lashing of entertainment, though with arguably less playful zing than there was in the previous slot.
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