Eye of the Panda

Eye of the Panda Casinos

Thanks to Survivor’s iconic theme song from Rocky III, most of us are familiar with the “Eye of the Tiger.”

But Eye of the Panda? That’s a new one.

Enter Eye of the Panda, an online slot from developer Hacksaw Gaming that shifts the spotlight from fierce tigers to their more laid-back panda cousins. However, don’t be fooled by the panda’s typically placid reputation—this being a Hacksaw Gaming slot means players should brace themselves for a wild ride filled with all sorts of exciting twists involving wilds, wild multipliers, and even jumping wild multipliers.

Eye of the Panda is a quintessential Hacksaw Gaming slot, using the studio’s signature blend of drab monochrome tones contrasted with vivid neon highlights, similar to titles like Chaos Crew, Chaos Crew 2, RIP City, and Break Bones. The game’s visuals set the stage for a uniquely compelling atmosphere. A grumpy-looking panda character, arms crossed, stands next to the game grid, occasionally taking a break to chow down on some fast food. It’s an amusing contrast that adds personality to the game, creating an oddly captivating scene.

A special mention must go to the slot’s soundtrack. The Asian-influenced electronica not only fits the theme perfectly but also enhances the intensity of those adrenal-fueled moments when the action heats up. The combination of quirky visuals and an adrenaline-pumping soundtrack makes Eye of the Panda an experience that’s as immersive as it is entertaining. While it might present itself with a calm exterior, just like the panda itself, the game is anything but—ready to unleash an exciting and potentially lucrative gaming experience when you least expect it.

Eye of the Panda: How it plays

When you dive into Eye of the Panda, you start by selecting a bet between 10 cents and $/€100 per spin. For those eager to jump straight into the action, there are four feature buy options available, adding flexibility to how you want to experience the game. As a medium volatile slot with a volatility rating of 3 out of 5, Eye of the Panda offers a balanced risk-reward ratio. The default RTP sits at 96.26%, although this can vary slightly depending on which features are purchased.

The game is played on a 5×5 grid matrix with 27 paylines, and wins are awarded from left to right starting from the first reel. The pay symbols in Eye of the Panda are a mix of standard 10 to A card royals and various junk food items that our panda pal seems to enjoy. These include ice cream, bubble tea, doughnuts, fries, and hamburgers. The payouts vary depending on the symbols you land:

• Card Royals (10 to A): A 5-of-a-kind win with these symbols awards 1x your bet.
• Picture Symbols (Junk Food Items): Landing 5 of these symbols in a row can earn you between 5x and 10x your bet.

The panda, who is the star of the show, also serves as the wild symbol. The wild substitutes for all pay symbols, making it a crucial part of forming winning combinations. If you manage to land 5 wilds on a payline, you’ll receive a payout of 10x your bet, making it one of the most valuable symbols in the game.

The combination of quirky symbols and a 5×5 grid setup gives Eye of the Panda a unique feel, blending fun visuals with a solid payout structure that keeps the gameplay engaging and potentially rewarding.

Eye of the Panda: Slot Features

Eye of the Panda is packed with features that elevate the gameplay beyond your typical slot, blending quirky themes with intriguing mechanics that can lead to some serious wins. Here’s a breakdown of the features that make this slot unique:

Super Cascade

The Super Cascade feature enhances the cascading mechanic by removing all instances of the winning symbol types from the reels after a win, allowing new symbols to drop in and fill the gaps. This can potentially trigger additional wins in a single spin, increasing the excitement and payout possibilities.

Wild Panda Multipliers

The Wild Panda symbol isn’t just a regular wild—it comes with a multiplier that can be x2, x3, x4, x5, or x10. When a Wild Panda is part of a winning combination, its multiplier is applied to the win. If multiple Wild Pandas are involved in a win, their multipliers are multiplied together before being applied to the payout, creating the potential for significant multipliers. However, these Wild Panda Multipliers are persistent only until they’re part of a win, at which point they’re removed along with the winning symbols in the cascade.

Never Say No To Panda!

Triggered by landing 3 FS scatter symbols in the base game, this feature awards 10 free spins. During these spins, when a Wild Panda symbol lands but isn’t part of a win, it gets saved in one of the 5 Panda Collector spaces. If all spaces are full, no more Wild Pandas can be saved. When a winning combination occurs, the saved Wild Pandas jump onto random positions within the win, applying their multipliers. Only as many Wild Pandas as can fit within the win are deployed. On the last spin, any saved Wild Pandas that haven’t yet been part of a win jump onto random reel positions, potentially creating additional wins.

Jumping Panda Bonus

Landing 4 FS scatters in the base game triggers this feature, which also awards 10 free spins. In this bonus round, the first 5 Wild Pandas that land become sticky, staying on the reels for the remainder of the feature. These Sticky Wild Pandas jump to new random positions with each free spin and cascade, and they receive a new multiplier value with every jump, adding a dynamic element to the free spins and increasing the potential for big wins.

Bonus Buy Options

For players who prefer to get straight to the action, Eye of the Panda offers several Bonus Buy options:

• BonusHunt FeatureSpins – Costs 3x the bet and makes each spin 5 times more likely to trigger a bonus game. This option is highly volatile with an RTP of 96.34%.
• Panda-licious FeatureSpins – Costs 50x the bet and guarantees that at least 5 Panda symbols will land on each spin. This option is highly volatile with an RTP of 96.28%.
• Never Say No To Panda! – Costs 100x the bet and offers high volatility with an RTP of 96.27%. This option directly triggers the Never Say No To Panda! feature.
• Jumping Pandas – Costs 200x the bet and is very highly volatile with an RTP of 96.33%. This option directly triggers the Jumping Panda Bonus feature.

Eye of the Panda: Slot Verdict

Eye of the Panda certainly takes players on an emotional roller coaster from start to finish. Initially, the promise of wild multipliers on the paytable might seem like standard Hacksaw Gaming fare, but as you dig deeper, the game reveals a blend of originality and familiar mechanics that keeps things interesting. The first bonus round, with its collection mechanic, offers a fresh twist, only to swing back into familiar territory with the Jammin’ Jars-esque Jumping Panda Bonus round.

This mix of new and borrowed elements might have been more jarring if Eye of the Panda wasn’t so stylishly executed. The game’s graphics are quintessential Hacksaw Gaming, pulling players into an urban jungle where hidden gems await discovery in gritty, neon-lit alleys, inhabited by characters with a cool, slightly edgy demeanor. It’s a world that might be wary of newcomers, but those who venture in are rewarded with a unique and captivating experience.

As with Chaos Crew 2, the BonusHunt Feature Spins stand out as particularly engaging, offering a more dynamic experience than regular spins. Not only do they trigger the Never Say No To Panda! round more frequently, but they also occasionally sneak in the Jumping Pandas feature, which plays similarly to Jammin’ Jars. Despite the clear influence from Push Gaming’s classic, it’s hard to resist the charm of roaming multiplier wilds that can combine to create massive wins when they land just right. The other bonus round, while perhaps a warm-up to the main event, also delivers its own thrills. Collecting wild multipliers for future use becomes all the more exciting when those wilds are added directly onto winning combinations rather than just being scattered randomly across the reels.

Rounding out the experience is Eye of the Panda’s impressive 10,000x the bet max win, a potential payout that can be hit in any phase of the game. While Eye of the Panda might not reach the status of an all-time classic for Hacksaw Gaming, it’s a solid entry that showcases the studio’s ability to craft some of the most compelling slots on the market. Whether they’re building on new ideas, borrowing from others, or mixing both, Hacksaw Gaming continues to deliver slots that are as stylish as they are entertaining. Like a restaurant that lets you build your own rice bowl, Eye of the Panda offers a satisfying mix of flavors that will appeal to a wide range of players.