MonkeyPop (AvatarUX) Slot Review

MonkeyPop is a video slot from AvatarUX which it released under the Yggdrasil banner. What we have here is another online slot with the PopWins engine.

It rumbles into town with a jackpot of 10,744x your stake and it’s medium variance to boot.

The previous releases with the PopWins mechanic are PopRocks and LolliPop.

The online slots community raved about it and so did the Whizz team. Now, AvatarUX further dresses MonkeyPop with a unique oriental look.

Let’s just say the graphical display is out of this world! Yet, it’s not the graphics that make a slot a winner, slotters play slots to win money, right?

Moreover, the grid displays a 5×3 reel set is nothing to write home about.

Anyhow, the rest of the stuff such as the hit frequency of 27.62% is okay.

Moreover, the bonus rounds include PopWins and Free Spins with growing multipliers.

You can spin the reels of MonkeyPop from $0.20 to $100 at our top real money online casinos.

RTP

The RTP of MonkeyPop is well within the range of 96.30%. There might be RTP ranges, check the paytable before you fire away.

Symbols

A landscape with snow serves as the backdrop for the reels. We have reason to believe it’s those monkeys that enjoy the hot water springs.

The symbols on the reels start with the low-value cards from 10 to Ace. They offer payouts of up to 0.6x for 5, not much to be honest.

The high-value symbols are the 5 monkey symbols. At least they pay more, catch 5 and you’ll pocket wins of up to 2.5x.

The wild subs symbols adjacent to it during a winning combination. The final symbol on the paytable is the Bonus symbol.

You need a bunch of them to unlock the free spins feature. More about them later.

MonkeyPop Slot Bonus Rounds

PopWins

The PopWins engine rules the roost or shall we say the monkeys. It’s similar to the Tumble Reel feature.

When winning symbols appear, the engine removes the winners from the grid and replaces them with two new symbols.

Aside from paying spins, the grid increases as well as the ways to win. Interestingly, the reels can explode to 7 symbols high up to 33,614 ways to win.

Note that the slot pays both ways if it hits the maximum number of ways to win. When winning symbols no longer pitch, the PopWins feature ends.

Base Game Unlock

If you’re lucky to play with reels that hit the max 7 rows. The game’s engine removes a certain number of low-value symbols from the grid.

Besides, you’ll also receive 2 free spins for the trouble. The starting multiplier is 1x, 2x, or 3x.

On top of that, the value of the multipliers increases by 1+ or 2+ with each spin.

Free Spins MonkeyPop

The free spins feature is also an interesting one.

You need 3 or more scatters in any position on the reels in the base game.

A Reward Reel screen opens that awards a random free spins feature:

• You’ll either start with 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 free spins.
• The starting ways are 486, 2,048, or 6,250.
• Furthermore, the multiplier’s value can be 1x up to 5x.
• The multiplier can grow from 1+ up to a maximum of 5+.

It’s a decent free spins feature because the value of the multiplier keeps on growing.

Besides, they don’t reset in between free spins. When the reels reach 7 symbols high you’ll bag an extra 2 or more free spins.

Furthermore, the game’s engine also gets rid of a bunch of low-value symbols. Above all, MonkeyPop drops another gem.

And, that’s its Scatter Collection feature. You’ll collect all the Bonus symbols that pitch during the free spins.

When a high-value symbol pops up and you collect 3 scatters. It upgrades the symbols to a Gilded symbol along with a 5x multiplier win.

Collect another Gilden symbol the multiplier’s value shoots up to 10x.

Bonus Buy Option

A cautionary note when it comes to the feature buy option; don’t go ape with it. We mean it as a pun of course.

That said, we don’t blame you if you use it. The average free spin trigger takes place on every 410th spin. That’s rich!

Therefore, the buy option is a great way to cut out all those base game spins. Keep in mind, that there are 3x Bonus Buy Options:

• Buy Bonus costs 100x.
• Buy Bonus Plus will set you back 250x your stake.
• The Buy Bonus Max costs a whopping 500x the stake.

Tips and Strategy MonkeyPop

After 100 spins MonkeyPop did nada for us. The biggest win we received was 25x our stake.

On the back of those results, we’re not keen on playing it again.

Moreover, we find it hard to see what all the raucus about the slot is.

Play it in demo mode for at least 100 spins. Then decide if you’re brave enough to play it with real money.

Verdict

To get straight to the point, AvatarUX delivers a top-notch slot with MonekyPop. AvatarUX expertly channels the PopWins engine into something special.

The audio and the graphical display are fantastic. They don’t necessarily make a great online slot, even though they help a bit.

What matters is, is how the slot pays, and is it worth the slog? What concerns us though is that the average free spin trigger pops after around 400 spins.

That doesn’t make for an entertaining romp but turns it into a grind.

In addition, AvatarUX advertises MonkeyPop as a medium variance slot. So, the slot demands a lot from the onset which makes it tense and challenging.

If we circle back to the free spins and the average trigger, it’s a high variance slot. Perhaps we missed something.

We do like the extra free spins on offer when the reels are 7 cells high. And, the top cash prize of 10,744x is huge.

This begs the question, will players be brave enough to play it with those stats?

If you’re looking for a slot that’s easier on the pocket, we suggest Microgaming’s Itero slot.

At least here you know what you’re letting yourself into. The volatility is sharp, and there are progressive multipliers during the bonus rounds.

The jackpot is a cracking 10,000x the stake along with an RTP of 96.18%.