Guardians of the Monastery Slots
In the high mountains of the Himalayas, magnificent temples filled with priceless treasures are protected by a band of brave monks. That’s the idea behind the Guardians of the Monastery video slot from Merkur that we will review to discover the secrets of these sacred places for ourselves.
As soon as you open this game up on a PC, Android, or Apple-powered mobile device, it’s apparent that what you will find hidden within the monastery is out of the ordinary.
A few questions are immediately raised. What are the numbered meters to either side of the reels? Why are the bottom right and top left symbol positions surrounded in a gold frame? And what on earth has the jingling soundtrack got to do with Tibetan monks? The answer to the last question is simply nothing, but the others have far more interesting and rewarding answers.
Guardians of the Monastery is a five-reel game, where 20 fixed paylines run from left to right. The developer has been known to release slot machines with a no-frills style and solid, if un-original, gameplay.
But Merkur have clearly been affected by the high mountain air and packed this game full of unique features and impressive animations. If you want to review how the Guardians of the Monastery slot machine works, read on to see what we thought of the game.
Take a Trip to Tibetan-Style Reels
The game is laid out in the traditional 5x3 format and you win in the standard way by matching symbols across a payline from left to right, so no surprises so far.
The first surprise is the quality of the graphics, which are above and beyond many other Merkur online slot machines. The reels are in a dramatic mountain setting, where the peaks are dotted with pagoda-roofed temples, and the smiling sun logo of Merkur is ideally placed next to the title at the top of the screen.
If you have played games from this developer before, our reviewers agree that you will be pleasantly surprised by the high-quality graphics featured on the Guardians of the Monastery slot.
Gamblers stake 40 coins on a spin of the reels, winning up to 100 coins when the lowest-value diamond, J, and Q symbols land right across a payline. The K and A pay up to 200 coins and are richly decorated to blend in with the overall Tibetan style. Bells, scrolls, bottles of green potion, and a temple will pay out some of the higher prizes, and they are joined by two warrior monks, who both have special powers.
These guys are the Guardians, protecting their temple from an unknown foe, using beautifully animated sword attacks whenever they appear. Although the monks are not worth anything directly, both are wild symbols who can act as all others if needed. If either of them stops in the special framed symbol positions, the mysteries of the meters to either side of the game will be revealed.
Taking Your Path to Free Games and Multipliers
The path to enlightenment starts as soon as a Guardian appears. The meter to the left of the reels is numbered 5, 8, 12, 16, and 20, representing a number of free spins. The one to the right side has multiplier values from 1x to 5x on it.
Each time you see a Guardian landing in the bottom right symbol position, the numbered meter rises, which tells you how many free spins you will be able to claim. Any Guardian in the top right-side position will increase the multiplier that will be applied to wins during the free spins.
The bonus games start as soon as either meter is filled, meaning that the number of games and multiplier values will vary depending on which is filled first. You could get just five spins, but a 5x multiplier in them, or 20 spins with just a 1x multiplier. It’s even possible to reach the top of both meters in a single spin and have 20 free games play out, with any wins during them multiplied by five times over!
During any bonus spins, a special crystal symbol can appear on the middle reel and each time it’s seen, an extra free spin is added on, although the feature can’t be retriggered in full until you have filled up a meter again.
Our review experts thought that this was the highlight of the Guardians of the Monastery online slot. It’s an exciting feature that grabs your attention each time a character stops in the special symbol positions, and with the potential to claim wins of up to 250x the total bet, it can be a highly lucrative one as well.
Easy Setup and Control Options
You have the choice of playing Guardians of the Monastery on iPhones, iPads, Windows, or Android mobile devices, or on a desktop PC. Very simple control options are available, with just eight bet levels, from 0.20 per spin up to a high limit of 40.00.
Between five and 100 spins can be set off automatically, although they will stop when the free games begin, and you also have the choice of gambling wins.
If you want to take a little more risk, then you can try to double a prize by correctly picking the color of a playing card, or there’s also a ladder gamble option, which our reviewers thought is the more interesting of those offered by the Guardians of the Monastery slot machine.
Either way, you can boost a win several times over, but just as easily lose it by making the wrong picks, so we would suggest only gambling small prizes that won’t be missed.
More Monks to Visit
Among the many slot machines with an Asian theme, you will find several that feature monks and monasteries. Check out Red Temple, from Fuga Gaming to see what we mean. This game has temples, masks, katanas, and of course monks over the five reels. Features include free spins and a multi-level bonus round that can take you on the path to the Nirvana of big wins.
The Verdict: A Marvellous Monastery
The Guardians of the Monastery slot is a medium-volatility game that our review team all enjoyed. It looks good, and the Asian influence is sure to appeal to a huge number of players.
The high return to players percentage of over 96% and the innovative, not to mention exciting, way that free games are triggered make this a highly recommended game. Free Guardians of the Monastery video slots are available but if you want to win real cash, head over to a Merkur-powered online casino and see if these monks can bring you some moolah.
