Africa Untamed Slot Review

The Africa Untamed video slot has been around since the beginning of 2017, when it was released by software developer Barcrest. It features a 3×3 slot layout with just five paylines and a medium level of variance. It’s one of many safari-and-adventure-themed slots on the market, providing a mix between the classic pokie -style game and a more advanced feature-based slot.

There’s lots going on in terms of bonus activity, tumbling reels, locked symbols and wild reels. You’ll meet all the animals you might come across on safari, but without any of the long-haul travel, jet lag, expense and peril of camping out close to big cats and rhinos.

In the background of the reels, you’ll find an impressive, exotic Southern Hemisphere landscape with trees, grasslands, and giraffes wandering about in search of some leaves to munch on. If you yearn for Africa, then this slot will effortlessly transport you to these beautiful wildlands.

Combinations and Community Cash

Barcrest is the creator of the African-themed slot Africa Untamed. The brand has been around since its inception in Manchester, England in the 1960s. Barcrest originally made fruit machines for clubs, arcades and pubs, then moved on to online casinos. Since then, it has undergone many changes – International Game Technology bought the company out in the 1990s (keeping the original name in the mix), after which it was sold on again in 2011.

This time, it was acquired by Scientific Games – also owners of Bally Wulff, which is why you’ll see many similarities in the two software houses’ tech on the more recent games. Barcrest’s big hitter is Rainbow Riches, the lucky leprechaun-themed slot with big jackpots.

For some reason, software by Barcrest doesn’t like practice play, so you won’t find any Africa Untamed free slots. But we’ve saved you the trouble looking. This is one slot in which you’ll have to just dive straight in and play for real money.

Into the Wild

The symbols on the reels here consist of playing cards with African designs, tribal weaponry, and armoury including shields and masks. Choose how many active paylines you’d like and ensure the appropriate icon is lit to take part in the community cash award. The main difference in this slot compared to others is that you don’t receive a payment from winning combinations as such. Instead, these combos give you bonus spins, and this is where you make your money.

The J gives you two spins while K gives you three. A gives you four spins and the mask provides ten. The picture of a tree with the sun setting in the background gives a whopping 25 extra games. Land three shields on a win line to get access to the hallowed bonus games. Alternatively, try for bongo drums filling a payline. This will afford you the option of even more free spins, or a share in the community cash pot (a shared prize pool from which every qualifying player gets the opportunity to land a share, even if you don’t achieve a winning combination).

In this game, the wild symbol is no use on its own, but it substitutes for other symbols to help get your combination numbers up and break into the bonus section.

27 Ways to Win

The big talking point of this game is the four bonus features. Trigger the bonus round to be able to pick from four cards on display, which feature animals that trigger their own games. The Leaping Lion guarantees a winning line with each spin. Elephant Tumbling Wins make use of tumbling reels, where any symbols making up a combination disappear. This allows new ones to drop into the void, offering the opportunity for additional cash from further combos. With the Greedy Gorilla and its free games, any winning lines are locked in place. This enables the reels to fill up with more and more of the same symbol, in this way achieving numerous wins. If the Raging Rhino is chosen, one or two reels become filled with the wild on every spin, easing you towards winning combinations.

Together, these rounds provide 27 ways to win – this is where you make your cash. If you opt for auto play (allowing the the game spin without having to keep pressing a button), don’t worry. The spins will stop automatically when a feature is triggered, making sure you’re not missing out on those lucrative extras. It may be tricky to know which of the cards to pick when it’s time to choose your animal, so a tip for play would be to simply select them in turn, as the anticipated return on these rounds generally works out to be fairly equal. To start, perhaps pick the one with which you identify as your spirit animal.

Other Wild Slots

Another developer coming under the “scientific games” umbrella is big hitter WMS. This brand has another safari-themed slot, Raging Rhino, which differs a great deal in terms of functionality. A 4096-ways-to-win slot, it also features multiplying wilds, free spins and a classic or special play option. While having a high level of volatility, it also offers a relatively high return to player at 95%, as well as between eight to 23 spins and 1x to 81x free spin win multipliers.

If you like African-themed games, play the free African Sunset slot, giving you the opportunity to practice the safe way (without dropping any coins). The game has plenty of features including a gamble feature, free spins, plus more sights and sounds from the savannah. It’s available to play on mobile and desktop devices with no download needed to get going, and its software is provided by Game Art.

Out of Africa

This is a non-standard 3-reel slot with the added unusual bonus of having a community cash prize – ideal if you’re always unlucky when it comes to landing combinations. The fact it’s not available to try for free will deter some gamblers, especially as the return to player is unknown (although Barcrest games usually pay out fairly steadily, and feedback from Africa Untamed players seems to confirm this).

It may not be the most ubiquitous game on the market, probably because of its quirky design. But then again, if you’re looking for that unique factor, this will be right up your street (or African plain). Have fun playing!