Happy Bamboo Slot Review
Push Gaming has us returning to the zen forest for some much-needed peace & tranquillity in Happy Bamboo. Find your inner peace in the latest addition to the Bamboo series, with reimagined mechanics & pleasing visuals.
After watching this iconic Panda at work in Big Bamboo and Bamboo Ways, we find ourselves back in the company of this loving bamboo-chomping bear, but what can we expect to see the third time around?
Listed under their ‘Reel Hot Games‘ sub-brand, Push Gaming brings a fresh perspective to classic mechanics by pairing them with polished designs & modernised aesthetics. Power Vault, which falls under the same sub-brand, is another that combines classic elements with modern features for maximum impact & appeal.
Push Gaming is always finding ways to build upon popular mechanics & features, including the ‘3 Pots’ mechanic from Wild Swarm Triple Hive, as well as the Hold & Win & Cash Collect features from others in their portfolio.
Touching base with classic formats, Happy Bamboo is fitted with 3 reels & 3 rows, with the addition of a modern Collection Pot. With a fixed RTP of 96.31% and a medium volatility score, this game can produce wins worth up to 6,060x your bet.
Happy Bamboo looks to be a simple, exciting, and fun-filled slot that classic slot players will find particularly pleasing, as will fans of the previous ‘Bamboo’ instalments…potentially.
Base Game & Features
Happy Bamboo is a 3-reel, 3-row video slot from Push Gaming, fitted with 5 fixed pay lines. Each spin can reveal winning combinations when 3 identical symbols land on adjacent reels, starting from reel 1.
Although the reels are limited, there are 8 paytable symbols available, with the Panda Icon being the highest-paying overall. Other symbols include a Monkey, Scroll, Potion, and Spade, Heart, Club, & Diamond card suits.
Once the reels settle, all winning combinations apply payouts of 0.5x to 100x your bet, where applicable. Furthermore, Wild symbols appear on all reels, substituting for all symbols when part of a winning combination. Wilds award a fixed payout of 100x your bet for a 3-of-a-kind win line.
Mystery Bamboo
During gameplay, Mystery Bamboo symbols can appear anywhere on the reels. Once in view, each Mystery Bamboo symbol will reveal the same type of symbol from the following options:
- Wilds
- High or Low-paying symbols
- Golden Mystery Bamboo
When Golden Mystery Bamboo symbols are revealed from regular Mystery Bamboo symbols, they will spin through a series of symbols, awarding the following outcomes:
- Coin symbols: Between 1x and 100x your bet
- Collector symbols: Gathers the value of all visible Coin/Jackpot symbols in view, causing all empty cell positions to spin again, while Collector symbols remain in view during this time.
- Multiplier symbols: Award a random Multiplier between x2 and x10, which is applied to all Collector, Coin, & Jackpot symbols available on the reels. Once active, the Multiplier Icon is removed, allowing a new symbol to take its position.
- Mystery Jackpot symbols: Reveals 1 of 4 Jackpot Prizes, consisting of Mini (10x), Minor (25x), Mega (100x), and Grand (500x).
Swapper Feature
At any given time, the Panda above the reels may attack the top of the reels, causing 2 random symbols to swap positions, for the chance to create a winning combination.
Happy Bamboo Hold & Respin Bonus
Each time a Golden Coin is added to the Collection Pot above the reels, there’s a chance of triggering the Hold & Respin Bonus. Once active, a special Multiplier Wheel spins through x2, x3, x4, x5, and x10 Multipliers until it stops on one at random.
Once the Multiplier is selected, the Hold & Respin Bonus can begin, where all 9 cell positions will spin together until they stop in a staggered manner, revealing Mystery Bamboo or Dud symbols.
Each cell position that reveals a Mystery Bamboo symbol will remain locked in position until the end of the feature. The session ends when all cell positions are filled with Mystery Bamboo symbols or no additional ones land.
Once the reels have settled, each Mystery Bamboo symbol will reveal a high/low-paying symbol or Golden Mystery Bamboo. Once the Hold & Respin Bonus is complete, the total win is multiplied by the end-of-round Multiplier.
Our Honest Verdict
With two successful ‘Bamboo’ releases under their belt, Push Gaming felt it necessary to dive into the tranquil atmosphere of our bamboo-loving fella once more, upgrading its status from sequel to series, this time, with the inclusion of Push Gaming’s ‘Hot Reel Games’ sub-brand, but was it any good?
It’s got to a point where Push Gaming is focused more on diverse features & mechanics rather than chart-topping volatility & max win potential, and we can’t really blame them.
Just like the change in fashion trends, the iGaming industry switches between popular themes, features, & mechanics. It wasn’t so long ago that Fishing slots had us ‘hook, line, & sinker’, and now it seems that the ‘3 pots’ mechanic is all the rage. Maybe there’s a chance for the Megaways mechanic to make an epic comeback? Who knows.
Due to the ‘Hot Reel Games’ sub-brand, Happy Bambo adopts a classic 3-reel format with limited pay lines & Jackpot Prizes. At Fruity Slots, we never turn our backs on a classic, fruit-machine slot, but they don’t quite hold up against titan slots from Nolimit City, Shady Lady, etc. Thanks to Push Gaming & other providers, we’re seeing classic slot mechanics make a return, touched by modern optics & features.
In Happy Bamboo, Mystery Bamboo symbols are at the forefront of gameplay, with the opportunity to trigger Golden Mystery Bamboo features within them. The standard Mystery Bamboo symbols are much appreciated on the reels, offering an equal amount of excitement and potential each time they land; however, it’s the Golden Mystery Bamboo symbols you’ll want to aim for.
When Golden Mystery Bamboo symbols trigger, they spin through a series of Coin Prizes, Collector symbols, Multipliers, & Jackpots. While this feature has become the star of the show in several Push Gaming releases, it’s one that never gets old, and is particularly welcome in a game such as this with limited pay lines & reels.
To further its appeal, Push Gaming has introduced a Swapper Feature, whereby the Panda will choose 2 random symbols to swap places, in an attempt to create winning combinations throughout spins, but this doesn’t happen very often, so blink, and you may miss it.
At the start of the Hold & Respin Bonus, a special Wheel determines the end-of-round Multiplier, up to a maximum of x10. Each Mystery Bamboo symbol will continue to trigger Respins, but the minute you miss one, the feature ends, almost as quickly as it started.
When comparing Happy Bamboo to its predecessors, its 6,060x maximum win potential barely scratches the surface. Realistically, Happy Bamboo is more along the lines of a pocket edition than a full-blown series instalment, so if you were hoping for another 25,000x to 50,000x your bet in potential, you certainly won’t find it here.
*The images found in this slot review are currently from Demo Play. On average, our reviews are written prior to the initial release date and before real play is available.
