It’s a new year which means that it’s time for us to take a look at some of the new slots of 2020. Out with the old, in with the new!
So our first new game post of the year is going to be a new addition to our NetEnt slots list. Because you can only play IGT in the UK, Microgaming is being super secretive, and Scientific Games now own so many games it’s hard to know what is going to be good or bad.
But we know where we stand with NetEnt. They may have bought Red Tiger Gaming, but they are still, at heart, the casino game studio from Sweden who brings out more good games than bad ones on average.
What is the Rise of Maya slot all about?
Rise of Maya will be released on the 4th of February 2020 to all good NetEnt casinos like Casumo Casino. So of course, we have a quick 2-minute video preview.
The theme is not exactly earth-shatteringly unique. Granted, they’ve moved from the South American Aztec Jungles of Gonzo’s Quest slot review to the… South American Mayan Jungles.
So same jungles, different times, similar look. At least Gonzo had a little bit of personality. This feels as empty as, well, the last time they did this with the Temple of Nudges slot game.
In short, it looks good, but we’re not exactly jumping up and down in joy at a fairly standard casino slot theme.
But you know what? We’ll give them a pass this time on the basis that there are only so many themes out there in the world. After all – there’s a reason why we have a million Ancient Egypt online slots right?
Related: Find slots to play online by theme
The quick stats on the Rise of Maya slot:
So what is the Rise of Maya slot? It’s a 5×3 reel video slot with 10 fixed paylines, wilds, scatters and free spins created by NetEntertainment.
- 5 reels and 3 rows of Ancient Mayan symbols
- 10 fixed paylines with a minimum bet of 0.10 a spin / 0.20 if you use the bonus bet
- Bonus bet doubles your bet spin but gives you a second chance re-spin if you get 2 scatters
- A second chance re-spin means that when you get two scatters, the other reels will re-spin so you can catch more scatters.
- Max bet: 75 / 150 with bonus bet
- RTP: 96.12% / With Bonus bet: 96.42%
- 3 wild symbols: single wild, expanding wild and stacked wild.
- 3/4/5 wild/scatter symbols triggers 10, 15 or 20 free spins. The Serpent stack symbol is now added, and the 3 or more reels become ‘hot’ so the expanded wild will always expand.
- Max win on a single line: 37,500 in cash on a 75 or 150 bet.
That’s a fair amount to unpack. Let’s start with an obvious elephant in the room: what exactly is that bonus bet for?
Get up to €300 in bonus money on your first deposit plsu 20 free spins on sign up
Wait… I’m paying twice my bet for a simple re-spin? What?!
Here’s where things quickly went wrong for us. It’s not a quarter or half your bet. It’s double your bet. And for what?
Basically for double the price, you increase your chance of triggering the free spins. By how much? by 0.3%.
Yeap. That’s it. We’re not going to do the maths here, but we’re not sure that double your bet is quite worth the slight increase in the overall RTP of this Rise of Maya slot machine.
It just means that when two scatters show up, the other reels re-spin, giving you a second chance at catching more scatters and triggering the free spins.
Sure, sounds, nice, but those free spins better be hiding actual Mayan gold for this game to get anything above a 3 star slot review.
Will we be playing on this Rise of Maya slot?
Of course we will. It’s a new NetEnt game. It’s also our job. But if it wasn’t we probably would anyway, because NetEnt have a habit of surprising us.
We thought the Dead or Alive 2 slot game was a waste of time, and then it turned out to be one of the best games of 2020. We thought The Wolfs Bane slot game would be wonderfully creepy for Halloween, and it turned out to be a fairly bland affair.
So who knows? Maybe our skeptical outlook for this upcoming game may mean that NetEntertainment will pull something incredible out of the bag.
If so, then you’re welcome.
With no wagering free spins, this welcome package offers you a great way to test out all that GUTS casino has to offer
Why there’s hope:
If the bonus bet isn’t a must-play to enjoy this game, if the free spins come often enough that you can maybe skip it, or if the bonus bet almost guarantees that you get free spins on 2 scatters…
Well, then we think there’s potential in this Rise of Maya slot game. Mostly because the highest paid symbol, on all 10 paylines would pay out a handsome 5,000 times your bet – without the bonus bet.
With the bonus bet, the max win is significantly lowered to 2,500x your bet. Still not bad, let’s be honest, but not exactly enough to give it a 4 star or 5 star slot review. Especially as this is a volatile game.
What we are saying is that if we are going to pump in money into a volatile game, it needs to be worth our while.
The ball is in your course NetEnt. Let’s see what you bring come February 4th 2020.
Till then, why not check out one of our recommended NetEnt mobile casinos? With clear terms, frequent promotions.
