Spirited Wonders

Spirited Wonders Review

Spirited Wonders has six reels, although the middle four are taller than the two on the sides. This gives us a 4-5-5-5-5-4 setup, with between 256 and 10,000 ways to win. Some symbols can also occupy two, three or four positions on the reels. The setting comes from Japanese folklore, so yokai make up much of the cast.

Regular symbols include playing-card values and several yokai characters. The Wild is limited to reels 2, 3, 4 and 5, while Scatter and Mystery symbols have separate jobs. Wins collapse from the grid and new symbols fall into the gaps. Get another win and the process continues, this time with a higher multiplier.

Spirited Wonders - Game Screen

The numbers are quite straightforward. RTP is 96.70%, volatility is medium and the overall hit rate is 27.25%. The default bets run from €0.20 to €20. There is a 50,000x advertised maximum win as well, although PG Soft recorded 7,388x as the highest exposure in its simulation of one billion spins.

I liked the fact that Spirited Wonders doesn't throw feature after feature onto the screen. Most of the base game revolves around the collapses, changing number of ways and that multiplier sitting above the reels. Mystery Symbols occasionally change the picture, and Free Spins take the multiplier further. In the Spirited Wonders demo, this made it easy to understand what was happening without the game feeling completely static.

Spirited Wonders Features

Most of the action in Spirited Wonders comes from what can happen after the first win. Symbols collapse, the multiplier moves up and the number of ways can change along the way. There are Mystery Symbols in the mix too, while Free Spins give the multiplier a much bigger range.

Collapsing Reels

A win clears the matching symbols from the grid. The symbols above drop down, new ones arrive and, if there's another combination, you get another win without starting a new spin. This can happen several times in a row.

256 to 10,000 Ways

Spirited Wonders doesn't stick to one number of ways, with between 256 and 10,000 available. Some regular symbols can stretch across two, three or four spaces on a reel. Even when one covers several positions, it still counts as a single symbol when the payout is calculated.

Mystery Symbols

Mystery Symbols don't reveal themselves straight away. They wait until the current chain has no more wins left, then every Mystery on the screen changes into the same regular symbol.

I found this one more interesting when several Mysteries were left on different reels. They all become the same symbol, so what looked like the end of a cascade can still produce another combination.

Spirited Wonders - Cascading Win Screen

Wild Symbol

The Wild is much simpler. You'll only find it on reels 2 to 5, where it can stand in for the regular paying symbols. Scatter and Mystery symbols are the exceptions.

Win Multiplier

The small meter above the reels is worth watching during a good cascade. You start at 1x. One win puts 2x on the board, and if the symbols keep connecting after the collapses, you'll see 3x and eventually 5x. Any further wins in that sequence stay at 5x.

Once the cascade is over, you're back at the beginning on the next spin.

Free Spins

Three Scatters bring in 10 Free Spins. Four would give you 12, as every Scatter beyond the first three adds another two spins. Scatters can also retrigger the feature once you're inside it.

The bigger change is above the reels. Here, the four multiplier stages are 3x, 6x, 9x and 15x rather than the 1x to 5x range used in the base game. So the Spirited Wonders Free spins feature doesn't introduce a completely different mechanic. It takes the cascades and multiplier you've already been using and gives the latter considerably more room to grow.

Theme & Graphics

Spirited Wonders goes straight for Japanese folklore rather than using Japan as a loose backdrop. Yokai are everywhere, and each of the main symbols has its own strange look. Some are funny, others a little creepy. I like that mix, especially since the lower-paying symbols are much simpler and don't compete for attention.

The reels sit in what looks like an old Japanese village at night. There are lanterns, wooden buildings and a lot of purple in the sky, with mountains visible further back. It isn't particularly realistic, but that's not really the point here. The whole game has an illustrated, almost storybook look.

Wins make the screen considerably busier. Symbols vanish during the collapses, new ones drop in and the multiplier above the reels changes as the sequence continues. I found it easy enough to keep track of, even when several things happened quickly.

The music is fairly quiet during normal spins and picks up around wins and features. It works with the supernatural theme without becoming the main thing you notice while playing.

Spirited Wonders Free Play

You can play Spirited Wonders free play without putting any money into the game. The demo uses the same reels and features as the real-money version, so you can see how the collapses work, how quickly the multiplier moves through its different levels and what happens when Mystery Symbols appear.

I'd spend some time on the Spirited Wonders demo before moving on to real play, mainly because the game is easier to understand once you've seen a few longer cascades. Free Spins can also be triggered normally in demo mode, including the higher 3x, 6x, 9x and 15x multipliers.

Pros And Cons Of Spirited Wonders Slot

There are things I liked on both sides of the game. Cascades can run for a while and Mystery Symbols sometimes give them an extra push, especially when several land together. Free Spins are where I'd rather see a long sequence, though, as the multiplier can get much higher there.

Our Verdict

I've played enough cascading slots to know that more features don't necessarily make them better. Spirited Wonders is actually quite restrained.A lot depends on how long a win keeps going after the symbols collapse. Sometimes it's over straight away; other times I managed to keep it going long enough to get the multiplier up to 5x. When it doesn't, the spin is over quickly.

Mystery Symbols were probably my favourite part of the base game. They only reveal themselves after the regular wins are done, and having several of them left on the reels gives you one last chance to keep things going. I enjoyed that more than the Wild, which is useful but otherwise pretty standard.

The 5x multiplier isn't much by current standards. Free Spins take it to 15x, and that's where I'd want the longer cascades to happen. I wouldn't expect a completely different bonus game, though. You're still playing Spirited Wonders in much the same way, just with better multiplier values.

There are other PG Soft slots you can look at if this style works for you. Mystical Spirits also mixes collapsing reels, changing ways and multipliers, although there is more to keep track of there. Lucky Neko is another possible comparison for players who enjoy PG Soft's take on dynamic ways.

Would I play Spirited Wonders for the 50,000x figure alone? No. That's not really what kept me interested. I preferred the little moments when a fairly ordinary win turned into three or four collapses, or when the Mystery Symbols gave a spin that looked finished another go. Add the 96.70% RTP and medium volatility, and I'd say this is one of those slots I'd play for the mechanics first and the headline maximum win second.