Banana Odyssey

First appearing at the London iGaming conference in 2019, this game springs out of Microgaming studio. A studio that sadly had a weak presence at the conference, but also has been releasing weak games in general. Banana Odyssey to them is not only the flagship for future titles but also an attempt to bring gamblers back in their favour. Unfortunately, this game isn’t going to be cutting it for fans. That much is clear when you focus on the numbers.

Video Banana Odyssey™ – Microgaming

The numbers overall are standard for slot games you find anywhere. Banana Odyssey features 5 reels and 10 pay lines. Your RTP is 96.31%. There is an expanded reel where that particular reel offers a whole set of wilds. Furthermore, on free spins the wild reels are sticky.

In terms of symbols, they are standard fare as well. You have lower value card suits (represented by letters). The unique symbols are zap guns, the two chimps, and Astro nuts.

As for Banana Odyssey’s story, it’s also quite standard. We follow two chimps — Chip and Buck — who get shot into space and are set to find Banana World. This world has an abundance of bananas.

While you’d think this is a work of fiction, we have shot animals into space in the past. Some of the more covered stories revolve around chimps or monkeys. However, the Smithsonian Magazine revealed they’ve launched frogs, rabbits, reptiles, guinea pigs, and even a dog.

So a chimp or two in space is nothing that new or exciting.

Your wild symbol is the Banana planet and it only shows up on the three middle reels. By getting this, you activate the Expanding Wilds feature which not only locks that reel in place but cover the reel too.

Read also: Banana Rock

You also get a respin out of it and another chance of getting another wild. If by chance you get that wild, this cycle repeats. The max amount of times that can happen is three times.

The other feature available in this game is the Free Spins feature. This feature is standard across any slot game you play. In order for this feature to be activated, you need three scatter symbols on three reels: reel 2, 3, and 4. Once you do, you get 10 free spins.

On top of that, if there is a wild symbol in one of the reels, it’ll expand when you activate this feature as well.

• The game was produced by Slingshot Studios and looking at the overall appearance it looks stunning. The pictures are memorable and delightful to look at.
• This game is unique in that while you’re playing there are all kinds of other sounds going on. From monkey sounds to zap guns. There is also a funky soundtrack playing in the background which is unlike other slots.

• While slick graphics are nice, this isn’t the reason most people gamble. Microgaming is stuck in a slump thinking that their fans only care about the shiny graphics. But graphics can only do so much to cover up the many downsides of weak gambling games.
• The biggest win you can make is only 400 times your stake. This is laughably weak compared to other games where larger payouts are usually in the 1,000+ range. To put it in perspective, if you manage to win ten times your stake, the game sees it as a huge win.
• Most fans see these lacklustre features as disappointing, associating the game more to modern-day video games that have loot box mechanics.