Portal Master

Overview Portal Master

Ever wanted to teleport to faraway magical landscapes which resemble only your wildest fantasies? Well, this is the premise for this amazing new slot game from Mancala Gaming. According to the studio, this game’s narrative is completely original. In fairness to them, the game’s theme and characters do feel fresh and exciting. If you were forced to make a comparison however, you could say that this game is a bit like a hybrid of Avatar and the card game Magic The Gathering. Generally though, everything from the main character to the crazy floating boulders background feels original.

In terms of features, Portal Master has a useful wild bonus as well as two other bonuses which revolve around the use of the various crystal and the energy sphere symbols. Their interactions can mean transformations that can help score wins at the lowest end of the spectrum. However, there are 3 levels of energy spheres, each one comes with its ability. The most potent of which activates the free spins round.

Theme and Symbols

The theme for this game is an original one created by those at Mancala Gaming. It is built around the central character: the Portal Master (the tall blonde wizard) who is also the wild symbol for this game. In this new game, it seems that players have been transported to an alien world where magic abounds, and mystical portals are summoned to assist the master in her goal of making a fortune from precious gems and stones. Basically, it is a fantasy magic theme, which you should wrap your head around pretty quickly.

The background for this slot is incredibly intriguing. It looks like a dream landscape where obelisks float through the sky in strange formations. These large tooth-like rocks are levitating in some sort of purple cloud, that feels as though it is in a dark recess of space. The entire visual is very Final Fantasy. Some of the blocks even move gently up and down, giving the background a dynamic feel.

The board on the other hand feels very sturdy and solid. This is probably because it is rooted to the ground beneath it by some sort of strange triffid-like plant. The thick roots and vines crawl and twist across the playing window, giving the sense that the board is somehow magically alive. This effect is compounded by the glowing light effects that are constantly being used to draw attention to the various reels where the action is.

This game features 8 basic symbols. The first of these is the low-paying card suits symbols, typical of almost all online slot games. These are the orange club, the blue spade, the green diamond and the pink heart. Landing 5 of any of these pays out at 0.3x your stake. The other four symbols comprise the animal symbols. These are the bull, the stingray, the owl and the dragon. Out of these, the dragon is the most valuable, paying out at 250x your bet for 5 on a pay line. In addition to these 8 symbols, there is also the wild symbol which is the Portal Master herself and the scatter symbols which are the crystals.

Game Play

Portal Master is played on a 5-reel, 4-row playing window with 1,024 pay lines. To create winners in this game, players must match a minimum of 3 symbols across a pay line starting on reel 1. To change your betting level per spin, use the bet adjuster tool located at the bottom of the playing window. The betting range is 10p to £100 per spin.

Further information regarding the slot, including a display of the paytable, can be accessed by clicking on the settings menu. The spin button is located on the right-hand side of the reels. You can set up auto spins in the game’s menu. The volatility for Portal Master is rated in the low end of the spectrum. The return to player percentage for Portal Master is 95%, which is a touch under average. The biggest payout that players can win on one spin is 250x your total bet.

Features

The first feature that players will be aware of for this game is the wild bonus. The wild for this game as we have discussed is the Portal Master character. She only lands on the middle reel. Whenever she lands, she expands to fill the entire reel. She can substitute in for any other normal symbol to help form wins. Her landing also grants you one energy sphere.

The energy spheres in this game come in the form of various crystals. When you collect one it is added to the collection stone which can be seen to the left-hand side of the reels. You can either use these energy spheres to transform scatters immediately into random symbols (which can help form wins) or you can save and trade them up to become more powerful. The 3 potencies of the energy sphere are explained below:

• Low-powered spheres- These occupy 3 slots on the stone and can be used to transform scatters into random regular symbols. Mid-level Spheres – These occupy 2 slots on the collection stone but can only be acquired by trading all of your 3 low-level spheres. These can be used to transform the scatter as well as five other symbols into the same symbol, guaranteeing a win.
• High-level spheres – These can be attained by trading 2 of your mid-level spheres. You can only have one of these spheres at any one time. This sphere awards a random number of free spins.

In the free spins round players can land expanding wilds on reels 2 and 4, however no normal wilds will award energy spheres in this bonus round. Every wild landed does however add one more spin to your tally.

Conclusion

Crazy fantasy thrills await all players who are tempted by the Portal Master’s game. The energy spheres are a really fun new dynamic that we haven’t encountered before. They create a cool new dimension to the gameplay. With free spins, transforming symbols and expanding wilds active, there is also plenty of bonus content to get stuck into. This being said, the top pay might be a little low for some player’s tastes.