Shaolin Crew Game Details
Software Provider : Expanse Studio
RTP : 97.14
Volatility : High
Type of Casino Game : Slots
Reels : 6
Paylines : Up to 117,649
Minimum Bet : 0.10
maximum bet : 200
maximum payout : 5,000x
wild : YES
scatter : YES
Free Spins : YES
Multiplier : YES
INTRODUCTION
One of the more interesting slots in the Expanse Studio portfolio, Shaloin Crew takes multiple interesting game features and wraps them up into one big, accessible, high-RTP package. That’s a great premise as far as we’re concerned – the 97.14% RTP alone was enough to get our attention.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though. As the name suggests, Shaolin Crew takes you to a kung-fu-filled land of colourful characters. Acting as high-paying symbols, these furry friends sort of remind us of Kung Fu Panda thanks to their cartoony appearance and the overall vibe of the game. It’s a great look, but the graphics are not the focus of our review.
Instead, we’re more focused on the thrilling combination of popular slot features. More experienced slot players will immediately recognize game mechanics such as Megaways or Tumbling Reels. The Shaolin Crew slot combines the two to great effect. However, Expanse Studio also made the decision not to include any flashy bonus rounds or similar features. The focus is on a player-friendly math model that provides excellent RTP and solid, consistent returns. That said, there is also a free spin round with some interesting twists. If you’re not quite sure what any of that means, no worries – we’ll break down how Shaolin Crew works in the tutorial below.
HOW TO PLAY SHAOLIN CREW
The game uses a fairly large grid with 6 reels and a variable number of symbols per reel. Every time you hit spin, the number of symbols on every reel changes, ranging from 2 to 7. If you’re familiar with Megaways slots, this works exactly like that, also it’s not actually branded as such.
To win, you need to hit three or more matching symbols in an uninterrupted line from left to right, starting at the leftmost reel. However, the position of your symbol on the reel itself doesn’t matter when making winning lines. As long as you have 3 or more of them on the first three or more reels, you’re good to go. Obviously, the more winning symbols you connect this way, the better your payout.
In practice, this also means that the more symbols you get on the reels, the more likely you are to win. If you’re lucky enough to see all 6 reels appear with all 7 symbols each, it adds up to 117,649 ways to win in total.
There are also two special symbols in Shaloin Crew slots:
- Wilds can substitute for any other regular symbol, like always
- Scatters win anywhere on the table, regardless of which reel or position they appear on. Hitting 3 or more will award the player free spins, depending on how many you got in a single spin.
Tumbling Reels
A crucial part of Shaolin Crew is the tumbling reels, sometimes also called cascades.
Every time you win, all of the symbols on the winning line are removed from the game. Symbols positioned above them on their reels tumble down into their position, and new ones appear from above to replace them. These new symbols and positions can then make new winning lines.
This allows you to string together multiple wins in a single spin. In fact, multiple wins on a single spin is the most consistent way you’ll see big payouts in Shaolin Crew.
Shaolin Crew Free Spins
Hitting 3 or more Scatters awards the player free spins. You can get 6, 9, 12, or 15 free spins for 3, 4, 5, or 6 Scatters. They can also be re-triggered during a free spin. You can also buy 6 Free Spins for 1,000x the bet using the Bonus Buy button at the bottom of the screen.
In addition to the spins being free, two additional features are activated. First of all, all payouts are doubled, indicated by the 2x multiplier at the top left.
Moreover, Wilds during Free Spins in Shaolin Crew appear in stacks. Basically, every time you hit a Wild anywhere on the board, it covers the entire reel it appears on. This can be anywhere from 2 to 7 Wilds on a reel, depending on how the reel turned out.
Casino Bloke Best tips for Shaolin Crew
- 1Buying free spins in Shalin Crew has no tangable effect on the game’s RTP, so it’s a viable strategy. However, we found the bonus round to be quite volatile, so we wouldn’t recommend it.
- 2The fact that Wilds appear stacked during Free Spins in more useful than it seems. Any winning lines that use those wilds will take into account all of the Wilds on the reel, which typically results in high payouts.
- 3The game mostly relies on strings of small payouts, but it also offers a high hit rate.
PAYOUTS & RTP
In classic slot fashion, card royals including 10, Ace, Jack, Queen, and King act as low-paying symbols. They’re generally identical in terms of how rewarding they are, paying 0.2x, 0.3x, and 0.6x for lines of 3, 4, or 5 symbols. 6-symbol combinations are the exception, with higher card ranks paying more. Also, King symbols are an outlier, paying 3x, 4x, 8x, and 15x, respectively.
On the other hand, the Shaolin Crew animal characters are your high-paying symbols. Each of these offers entirely different rewards, which you can see on the in-game paytable. In order of lowest to highest-paying, they are the Lizard, Stork, Monkey, Tiger, and Fox. Although they’re stronger symbols, you’ll still generally need at least 5 on a line to win more than your initial stake. The Fox is the exception, paying 1x for 3 symbols, 2x for 4, 4x for 5, and 7.5x for 6.
Shaolin Crew RTP is 97.14%, which is exceptionally high for an online slot game. It’s one of the main advantages of this game – offering excellent average returns despite being volatile and relatively full of special features.
what we like
- Combines Megaways-like gameplay with Tumbling Reels
- Free Spins with Stacked Wilds and a win multiplier
- Exceptionally high RTP
what we don’t like
- Low base payouts
SHAOLIN CREW BY EXPANSE STUDIO – CASINO BLOKE’S VERDICT
Shaolin Crew by Expanse Studio offers an exciting, dynamic experience thanks to its base game features. You’re bound to see a lot of wins thanks to its tumbling reels and the fact that no fixed paylines are necessary. Of course, this means that the average payout will be quite small, but it still feels great to play with a 5,000x max payout.
More importantly, the game boasts an excellent RTP rate of 97.14%. This puts it in stark contrast to many competing games. Usually, slots that veer away from standard slot machine mechanics tend to offer mediocre RTP at best. Expanse Studio managed to make Shaolion Crew offer both atypical gameplay and decent long-term returns, which is a big win in our book.
The worst thing we can say is that none of these features are anything we haven’t seen before, and combining them isn’t terribly original either. However, what this title lacks in innovation it more than makes us for in execution. If you’re looking for good Megaways slots, Shaolin Crew is basically the best in the market based on RTP alone.
Shaolin Crew total score:
83%
Game developed by:
Release year:2023
Available on:Desktop, Mobile