Voodoo Magic

Voodoo Magic Slot Review

Most slots dare you to lose; Voodoo Magic is built to stop you losing too badly. Inside a swamp hut lit green by the cauldron in the corner, Pragmatic Play have done something odd with the maths: a low volatility game whose free spins round can’t finish until it has paid you a guaranteed minimum. Safety nets are usually boring. Here, watching the round grind its way to the floor is the whole point.

It runs on a 5×4 grid with 36 paylines, at 96.50% RTP, with wins capped at 1,000x the bet. That cap is modest by modern standards, but the free spins round promises a floor rather than a ceiling, and that’s the interesting part. Fans of the studio’s darker output, like Madame Destiny Megaways or Curse of the Werewolf Megaways, will recognise the register. Bets run from 0.20 to 240.00 per spin, and there’s a hex or two waiting in the base game.

Base Game & Features

Wins pay left to right across the 36 fixed paylines, with only the highest combination counting on each line and multiple line wins adding together. All wins are multiplied by the bet per line. It’s a conventional setup. The reel scaffold lashed together with rope, the straw doll swaying in the shadows and the candle guttering below do the work of making it feel like somewhere rather than nowhere.

The paytable scales as multiples of the total bet:

• WILD: 1.25x for three, 5x for four, 12.5x for five
• Purple-haired woman: 1x, 2.5x, 10x
• Green snake/alligator: 0.5x, 2x, 5x
• Skull mask and green lizard: 0.5x, 1.5x, 3.75x
• A and K: 0.2x, 1x, 2.5x
• Q and J: 0.2x, 0.5x, 2x
• 10 and 9: 0.1x, 0.25x, 1x

Notice that the wild is the richest symbol on the board, out-paying the priestess’s purple-haired counterpart at every step. It appears on all five reels and substitutes for everything except the bonus symbol. Because the wild is also the top payer, a line of five wilds beats any other combination the grid can produce.

The gap between tiers is steep at the top and flat at the bottom. Five wilds pay twelve and a half times what five royals manage, while the four lower rungs sit within 2.5x of each other at the top of their range. Low value symbols do most of the winning in a game like this, so the royals matter more than their modest numbers suggest.

The BONUS symbol only lands on reels 2, 3 and 4, and three of them trigger the free spins round. The MYSTERY symbol appears on all reels as part of features. Every mystery symbol on screen transforms into the same random symbol, never a bonus symbol, which means a cluster of them landing together all becomes one thing.

Two bonus symbols on reels 2 and 3, without a third on reel 4, set off something else entirely. A choice of two potions appears, and whichever you pick decides which random feature fires. It’s a consolation mechanic: two-thirds of a trigger doesn’t go unrewarded. The third reel landing empty is the only way in, so every near miss on the middle reels carries a second chance with it.

Voodoo Magic Free Spins & Curses

Three bonus symbols award the free spins round, but not directly. First you pick one of three cards, and the card decides which of three versions you’ve actually won: Mega Voodoo, Super Voodoo or plain Voodoo Free Spins. Each awards five free spins, and each carries a minimum win guarantee for the whole round.

• Mega Voodoo Free Spins: 5 spins, minimum win guaranteed 50x total bet
• Super Voodoo Free Spins: 5 spins, minimum win guaranteed 25x total bet
• Voodoo Free Spins: 5 spins, minimum win guaranteed 10x total bet

Mystery symbols are added to the reel strips for the round and transform throughout it. If the spins run out before the guarantee is met, the round retriggers for five more spins, and keeps doing so until the minimum is reached or exceeded. There’s no upper limit on how many times that loop can run, in theory.

Bonus symbols don’t appear during the round at all, so that guarantee is the only retrigger path. Special reels are in play throughout. The free spins win is added to any payline win from the triggering spin, and the whole cycle’s total is paid out once the round completes.

Mystery Curses

When Mystery Curses fires, a random number of wild symbols is scattered across the screen in random positions once the spin has settled. All winning combinations are then paid. Simple, and on a 36-line grid a screen seeded with wilds can connect in a lot of places at once.

Fortune Hex

Fortune Hex is the flashier potion. After the spin ends, every low value symbol and bonus symbol on screen disappears, and new symbols fall in until only high value symbols remain. Once the tumble sequence finishes, all winning combinations are paid. It’s a strip-down mechanic, and it’s where the game’s biggest single spins come from.

One hard limit applies to everything: the maximum win is capped at 1,000x the bet. Cross that line mid-round and everything stops at once, the win is banked and any free spins still owed are gone.

Buy Free Spins

From the base game you can skip the wait and pay 80x the total bet to trigger the round on demand, with all three versions in the draw. The RTP when buying is 96.49%, a hair under the standard 96.50%.

Worth doing the sums before you press it. The guarantees run from 10x to 50x, so an 80x outlay needs the right version and some help from the mystery symbols to get ahead.

Our Honest Verdict

Overall Rating: 7.3/10

This is a game about not losing. The reels turn, the wilds stack, and every bonus round ends with the cauldron handing you something, even if it had to retrigger twice to do it. You’d choose it for that feeling: the swamp never quite swallows you.

The guarantee system is its best idea. A round that loops until it pays 10x, 25x or 50x removes the dead bonus entirely, and the card pick means you never know which floor you’re fighting for until the last moment. Fortune Hex, clearing the cheap symbols and letting the good ones fall in, is the one true thrill on offer.

The ceiling is the problem. With wins stopping dead at 1,000x and low volatility underneath, the ceiling is close enough that the big win never really feels in play. It’s a fine choice for long, gentle sessions with the lights low, and the wrong one for anyone who plays for the number that changes the evening.

Voodoo Magic FAQs

• What is the RTP of Voodoo Magic?

  The RTP is 96.50% in the standard game, and 96.49% when playing via the Buy Free Spins option.
• Is Voodoo Magic high volatility?

  No, it’s a low volatility game. Wins tend to come more often and in smaller amounts, though the free spins round carries guaranteed minimum wins of between 10x and 50x the bet.
• How do you trigger free spins in Voodoo Magic?

  Hit three BONUS symbols on reels 2, 3 and 4. You then pick one of three cards to determine which free spins version you’ve won: Mega Voodoo, Super Voodoo or Voodoo Free Spins, each awarding five spins.
• Can you buy the bonus on Voodoo Magic?

  Yes. The round can be bought from the base game for 80x the total bet, with any of the three versions in the draw. The RTP when buying is 96.49%.
• Do the free spins in Voodoo Magic retrigger?

  Yes, but only through the minimum win guarantee. If the five spins run out before the round’s guaranteed minimum (10x, 25x or 50x depending on the version) is reached, the round retriggers for five more spins until it is.
• What is the maximum win on Voodoo Magic?

  The maximum win is capped at 1,000x your bet. Hitting the cap during a free spins round ends it at once, banks the win and forfeits whatever spins remain.
• What do the potions do in Voodoo Magic?

  When two BONUS symbols land on reels 2 and 3 without a third on reel 4, you pick one of two potions. Mystery Curses adds a random number of wilds to the screen; Fortune Hex clears all low value and bonus symbols and lets new ones fall in until only high value symbols remain.
• What is the minimum and maximum bet on Voodoo Magic?

  Bets run from 0.20 to 240.00 per spin.
• Who makes Voodoo Magic?

  Voodoo Magic is made by Pragmatic Play, running on a 5×4 grid with 36 fixed paylines. Its release date is 7 January 2021.