Mayan Blocks

Overview Mayan Blocks

Mayan Civilisation as you may well know, was famous for its sophisticated mathematics, intriguing architecture, and their incredible range of colourful deities. Playtech Games studio has done their very best to bring you into this varied and exciting world with one of their best-loved creations – Mayan Blocks. Playtech has combined all the visual interest and thematic splendour of the Mayan culture with the exciting game mechanics of a modern online slot game.

The features that Playtech include in this game are both varied and plentiful. They comprise cascading reels, multipliers, mystery wilds, colossal symbols and the most attractive of all: The Free Games feature. It is in this latter multi-layered bonus, where thanks to generous multipliers, you could be walking away with the top prize for this game – a massive 10,000x your stake. For more details on this slot, including the important gaming statistics, read on.

Theme and Symbols

Playtech has gone for a very vibrant and colourful interpretation of the Mayan theme with this game, incorporating technicolour elements into every square inch of the screen. This starts with the background, which is a sun-drenched glade in the middle of the Central American jungle. To the right of the game window are a few hints of the native flora growing in and around what looks to be an old Mayan totem. To the left is the game’s logo in bright green and gold.

Playtech has not just considered the visual appeal of this game, however. They have put some thought into the soundscape that they want to use too. With plenty of ambient jungle sounds blended with traditional panpipe music and the satisfying stone-slamming sound of the symbols, Playtech has a created a thoroughly enjoyable audio experience.

When it comes to the symbols, the lower value icons are represented by dark stone slabs with a simple design on them. The higher paying symbols on the other hand, are a whole block of colour with one of the Mayan gods or legendary animals depicted on them. The highest value symbol among them is the golden block with the imprint of the Mayan warrior. There is also a wild symbol, which is a stone slab with a golden ‘W’ on it. Finally, the crystal symbol is the scatter, collecting these will trigger the Free Spins round.

Game Play

Mayan Blocks is a cluster pay dynamic slot, meaning that it behaves both like a conventional slot and a little like the block destroying game Tetris. Creating wins in this game is a little different to how standard slot machines work. To land a win, players need to land symbols in a cluster of five or more matching symbols on the board. The winning clusters must line up either on the vertical or horizontal axis to count. The larger the cluster, the larger the win and the larger the pay-out. The betting range for this game is between 10p and £500 per spin.

To adjust your bet level, players can use the plus and minus buttons located on the righthand side of the screen. The volatility for Mayan Blocks is described by Playtech as sitting in between the medium and high levels. The return to player percentage is 95.35%, a little under average for a typical online slot. The top payout, as mentioned in the introduction, is a stunning 10,000 x your total stake per spin. This is achievable via the 20x multiplier which comes as part of the Free Spins game.

Features

Mayan Blocks has a lot to offer when it comes to features, with each adding its own flavour to the gaming experience.
The first and probably most noticeable feature is the cascading reels dynamic. Every time that you create a win by matching a cluster on the board, the winning symbols which triggered that win are immediately destroyed and replaced by a new set that descends into their place. With every cascade, a new payout is triggered. This process repeats until the new set does not create a win.

For each cascade that you manage to trigger when in the base game, you will grow the Win Multiplier. Your current win multiplier can be seen on the left-hand side of the screen. Every consecutive win increases the multiplier by 1. If a new set does not create a win, the multiplier reverts to zero.

This game also comes with colossal symbols – symbols that are in oversized formations. They can come in either 2x2 or 3x3 formats. They payout as the same symbol for every space that they cover.

Next is the Mystery Random Wilds feature. When the reels have ended a period of cascades, these special mystery wilds can be added to the reels. With their introduction, more wins can be generated as they can help clusters match up and explode. This is the game’s way of giving you one last chance of continuing a hot streak of cascades and adding to your win multiplier.
The best bonus for Mayan Blocks however, is the Free Spins bonus. To activate this special feature, players need to land a minimum of four of the crystal scatters on the grid on the same spin. They don’t have to be close to each other, they just must be present somewhere on the board. The feature starts with awarding the player 8 free spins.

If you are lucky enough to land additional crystals whilst within the bonus game, Mayan Blocks will reward you with an extra spin for each crystal you land. As in the base game, the win multiplier feature will be in play. However, unlike the base game, a winless cascade will not revert the multiplier to zero. There is no upper limit for the multiplier feature.
On the last spin of the Free Spins round, Playtech gives you one last boost to try and make the most of the feature. The last spin activates what the game calls the ‘Multiplier Boost Spin Feature’. This applies a random multiplier to the combined wins that you have accrued throughout the Free Spins round. The max random multiplier is 20x your stake. This is how players go about winning the top pay-out.

Conclusion

Collapsing cluster pay slots can be satisfying, especially when combined with the level of detail and the multiple bonus features included here. The Mayan theme also lends a dimension of stimulating colour which keeps things fun and visually engrossing. All of this, plus the excellent top pay-out, makes for an online slot that few gamers are likely to turn down.