Monkey: Battle for the Scrolls Slot Review
Play’n GO have invested in a genuinely fascinating premise with Monkey: Battle for the Scrolls, drawing inspiration from the legendary Chinese tale “Journey to the West” and its iconic Monkey King character. Released in October 2023, this slot combines a culturally rich theme with a mechanics-first approach that puts the player in control during bonus rounds. The visual execution is exactly what you’d expect from Play’n GO—polished, immersive, and thoroughly engaging. What makes this release noteworthy is the character-selection system during free spins, where your choice between Monkey King, Pigsy, Sandy, or Tripitaka Monk directly shapes your risk-and-reward profile. It’s a slot that rewards strategy and appeals strongly to players seeking high volatility with genuine win potential.
Base Game & Features
The foundation of Monkey: Battle for the Scrolls operates on a 5×3 grid with 243 ways to win in the base game, expanding dynamically to 432 ways to win through certain features. This dynamic payline system is particularly active during Pigsy’s Fortune’s Rake feature, which splits regular symbols and creates additional winning combinations. The betting range spans €0.10 to €100 per spin, making the game accessible across different stake preferences.
Character Features
The standout mechanic in the base game involves four Character Icons positioned above the reels: Monkey King, Pigsy, Sandy, and Tripitaka. When a Demon symbol lands directly below any character, that character’s special feature triggers. These aren’t simple cosmetic additions—each character unlocks a distinct mechanic that materially affects your winning potential.
- Monkey King’s Ruyi Bang: Stacked Wild symbols appear on the reels, significantly improving the chance of connecting multiple symbols for higher-value combinations.
- Pigsy’s Fortune’s Rake: Regular symbols split in view, creating duplicate symbols and pushing the payline count toward the 432-way maximum.
- Sandy’s Wild Waters: Random Wild symbols are added to the reels, directly enhancing win frequency during that spin.
- Tripitaka Monk’s Spirit: Random symbols transform into a single matching type, effectively creating synchronised symbols across the grid.
Instant Prizes Feature
The base game also includes an Instant Prizes mechanic triggered by Bonus symbols landing on reels 2, 3, or 4. Landing exactly 2 Bonus symbols awards a Minor Prize of 100x your bet, whilst 3 symbols trigger the Major Prize of 500x your bet. This feature doesn’t activate during free spins, ensuring the bonus round remains the primary driver of larger wins.
Bonus Features & Free Spins
Triggering the Free Spins Bonus
Landing 3 Closed Scroll Scatter symbols triggers the free spins bonus, at which point you’re presented with four distinct character options, each offering a different balance of spins and multipliers. This selection mechanism transforms what could be a passive bonus into an active strategic decision—do you chase raw spin count, higher multipliers, or an unpredictable mystery option?
Character-Based Free Spins Options
Each character provides a fundamentally different free spins experience. Your chosen character persists above the reels throughout the bonus round, and their associated modifier triggers whenever an Open Scroll scatter symbol lands beneath them during free spins.
- Monkey King Option: 7 free spins with a ×12 multiplier on all wins. This is the aggressive choice—fewer spins but maximum multiplier power. Requires the Demon-to-Character alignment to activate Monkey King’s Ruyi Bang stacked wilds.
- Pigsy Option: 24 free spins with a ×7 multiplier. The endurance play. Pigsy’s Fortune’s Rake triggers frequently, with symbol splitting dramatically expanding your payline count towards 432 ways.
- Sandy Option: 20 free spins with a ×5 multiplier. The middle-ground choice. Sandy’s Wild Waters provides consistent wild additions with moderate multiplier support.
- Tripitaka Mystery Option: A wildcard offering 3–15 free spins with multipliers ranging from ×5 to ×100. The risk-reward outlier. Most players either love the unpredictability or avoid it entirely.
During the free spins round, all wins are multiplied by the chosen character’s multiplier value. The character’s special modifier activates whenever an Open Scroll appears, making feature triggers significantly more frequent and rewarding than the base game.
Our Honest Verdict
Overall Verdict: 7.5/10
Monkey: Battle for the Scrolls is a solidly executed mid-tier slot from Play’n GO that delivers exactly what it promises: engaging visuals, high volatility, and meaningful strategic choices during the bonus round. The character selection system is the real standout—it’s rare to see free spins options that meaningfully differentiate the experience and let players choose their risk appetite.
Play’n GO’s visual design is beyond reproach. The lush, inviting setting populated by interesting characters and animations delivers excellent audiovisual production across both base game and bonus rounds. The Chinese mythology theme feels authentic rather than superficial, which will resonate strongly with theme enthusiasts. The game’s 96.21% RTP is competitive, and the available RTP configurations (84.27%, 87.25%, 91.25%, 94.22%) provide casinos and players flexibility in value selection.
Where this slot loses momentum is in feature innovation. The character-linked modifiers are well-designed—Pigsy’s symbol splitting is particularly clever—but they’re iterative rather than groundbreaking. Experienced slot players will recognise the mechanical patterns, and the base game features can feel formulaic when Demon-Character alignments don’t fire regularly. Additionally, the high volatility (7 out of 10) creates extended dry spells that won’t appeal to players preferring consistent payouts.
The 10,000x maximum win is genuinely impressive theoretically but practically difficult to achieve. It requires all 4 Character Icons active simultaneously with a decent multiplier, which is a rare convergence. Community feedback suggests this maximum is frequently discussed but rarely reached, which may leave some players feeling the marketed potential doesn’t reflect realistic gameplay.
Best for: High-volatility seekers, Play’n GO fans, players interested in Asian mythology themes, and anyone who values feature-rich games with strategic decision-making. Skip if: You prefer low-volatility gameplay, consistent payouts, or genuinely innovative mechanics you’ve not encountered in recent releases.
Monkey: Battle for the Scrolls FAQs
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What is the RTP of Monkey: Battle for the Scrolls?
The default RTP of Monkey: Battle for the Scrolls is 96.21%, which represents average performance in the slot market. The game offers five RTP configurations: 84.27%, 87.25%, 91.25%, 94.22%, and 96.21%. Which version you encounter depends on your casino operator, as different casinos may offer different RTP settings. -
What is the maximum win in Monkey: Battle for the Scrolls?
The maximum win potential is 10,000x your bet. Reaching this requires an optimal setup with all 4 Character Icons active simultaneously combined with solid multiplier values and multiple Open Scroll symbols in view. Whilst theoretically possible, this maximum is challenging to achieve during regular gameplay. -
What is the volatility of Monkey: Battle for the Scrolls?
Monkey: Battle for the Scrolls features high volatility, rated 7 out of 10. High volatility means the game produces less frequent but significantly larger wins. This makes it a high-risk, high-reward game better suited to experienced players seeking larger payouts and comfortable with extended play sessions without wins. -
How do you trigger the free spins bonus in Monkey: Battle for the Scrolls?
Land 3 Closed Scroll scatters to trigger the free spins feature. You’ll then select from four character options—Monkey King (7 spins, ×12 multiplier), Pigsy (24 spins, ×7 multiplier), Sandy (20 spins, ×5 multiplier), or Tripitaka Monk (mystery 3–15 spins, ×5 to ×100 multiplier). Your chosen character remains active above the reels and triggers its special feature when an Open Scroll appears. -
What are the character features in Monkey: Battle for the Scrolls?
Four character-linked modifiers define the gameplay: Monkey King’s Ruyi Bang creates stacked Wilds; Pigsy’s Fortune’s Rake splits symbols; Sandy’s Wild Waters adds random wilds; and Tripitaka Monk’s Spirit transforms random symbols into matching types. In the base game, these activate when a Demon symbol lands below the character. During free spins, they trigger when an Open Scroll appears beneath your selected character. -
What are the betting limits for Monkey: Battle for the Scrolls?
Players can wager from a minimum of €0.10 per spin to a maximum of €100 per spin. This wide betting range accommodates both casual players seeking low-stakes gameplay and high-roller players interested in larger wagered amounts, making the game accessible across different player segments. -
How many paylines does Monkey: Battle for the Scrolls have?
The game features 243 ways to win in the base game, expanding to 432 ways to win through active features. The dynamic expansion is particularly triggered by Pigsy’s Fortune’s Rake feature, which splits symbols and creates additional winning combinations, effectively increasing your payline count during gameplay. -
Is Monkey: Battle for the Scrolls a new game from Play’n GO?
Yes, Monkey: Battle for the Scrolls is a relatively recent Play’n GO release from October 2023. The game showcases character-linked modifiers and free spins mechanics that represent novel additions to the Play’n GO portfolio, drawing inspiration from the legendary Chinese tale “Journey to the West” and featuring the iconic Monkey King character.
