Introduction to Going Ape
Going Ape is a casino slot from Big Daddy Gaming, taking you far away to a tropical wilderness, where monkeys rule a secluded natural sanctuary. The studio decided to get in touch with its primal side, starring mighty apes as the main heroes of this production, albeit rather subtly, as they appear only as Bonus symbols and pop up on the screen to congratulate you on big wins. Nevertheless, their little piece of the world is quite a welcoming place, full of vibrant fauna and energetic vibes. On the reels of a grid carved into a massive stone slab, you'll be creating combinations in a scatter-pays manner, while hoping for the Multiplier Symbols to land and boost your payouts by up to x500. Gather as many as you can, until the jungle explodes with a max win of 5,000x the bet.
To get more acquainted with the apes and their habits, you can try the demo mode at the top of the page, where gameplay is risk-free.
Theme, Gameplay & Payouts
Going Ape is a video slot from Big Daddy Gaming with 6 reels, 5 rows, and a scatter-pays win system, where 8+ matching symbols anywhere on the grid award a payout. In the bet selection panel, you can choose your active stake from multiple options, starting from a Min.bet of 0.1 up to a Max.bet of 200, which can grow to 300 with the use of the Ante Bet function. With the game's default RTP of 96.00%, you can expect steady long-term returns, although two alternative variants of 94.00% and 92.00% are also released, so keep an eye on the version you're playing. Wins might be less frequent but more valuable due to high volatility, while the top prize from a single spin may reach 5,000x the bet. The bonus game triggers at a rate of 1 in 211 spins, with an average win of 64x the bet. The base hit frequency is 30%.
In the middle of a tropical landscape, with mountain ranges spanning the view far in the background and jungle fauna looming in from the sides, you'll find a massive slab of stone. It's crude and unrefined, as if carved by primitive tools by the first men for an unknown purpose. Luckily, the modern world has found a use for it, and now, colourful symbols in the form of gems and fruit roll through its surface to award lucrative payouts. With a soft but upbeat soundtrack intertwined with the sounds of nature, the atmosphere is more than welcoming for engaging in some reel spinning. If you're ready, you can launch the game on any modern device, whether it's a desktop, smartphone, or tablet, thanks to its universal, responsive design.
In the paytable, two distinct sets of symbols form the payout hierarchy, where you need at least 8 matching ones anywhere on the board to create a win. Among the low-paying icons, you'll recognise various colourful fruit, such as a mango, a pomegranate, a dragonfruit, a pineapple, and a banana, awarding from 2x to 10x the bet for a set of 12 or more matching units on the grid. Blue, green, orange, and red gemstones in various shapes represent the high-paying symbols, delivering payouts of between 12x and 50x the bet for a collection containing 12+ identical instances. Alongside regular icons, there are also Multipliers represented by a gold badge and Scatters appearing as a flaming ape.
Special Features & Slot Mechanics
What is the max win in the slot Going Ape?
You can win up to 5,000x the bet.
What features are available in the slot Going Ape?
The features are Cascading, Multipliers, Free Spins, Random Bonus Symbols, Blast, and Feature Buy.
Cascading
Every winning set of symbols will burst and disappear from the grid. Next, all remaining icons will fall into available spaces, and new instances will populate the area to complete the view and potentially award further hits. The sequence continues until no new wins can be obtained.
Multipliers
Multiplier symbols may land randomly on all reels, carrying values up to x500. Whenever there's at least one win present during a game round, all Multiplier symbols present on the grid will be added together at the end of the cascading sequence, and their total value will multiply the final payout from that spin.
Free Spins
Landing 3, 4, 5, or 6 Scatters throughout a single base game round activates 11, 15, 19, or 23 Free Spins, respectively. Before the game starts, you will have a possibility to gamble your won amount of Free Spins for a higher one, but at a risk of losing the bonus altogether. Any multipliers present on the triggering spin will be added together to form the starting value of the progressive multiplier. During the bonus, any new Multiplier symbols activated by wins are also added to the progressive multiplier, which then boosts all qualifying wins.
Random Bonus Symbols
At the beginning of any base game spin, 2 Bonus symbols can be randomly added to the grid, thus increasing the chances of triggering Free Spins.
Blast
The Blast feature allows you to play out hundreds of spins instantly without having to watch every round on the screen. You can choose between 10 and 1,000 spins, and the sequence will go through them quickly, highlighting any wins that occur.
Feature Buy
The game offers several Feature Buy options that enhance base game spins and allow for triggering Free Spins instantly.
1.5x = Bonus Boost, increasing the chance of triggering Free Spins.
60x = trigger 11 Free Spins.
100x = trigger 15 Free Spins.
150x = trigger 19 Free Spins.
Final Thoughts on Going Ape
Going Ape is Big Daddy Gaming's second release, which shows a little bit more promise that the studio is striving to deliver quality compared to the rather unimpressive debut of BonBon Boom! Perhaps it's only due to the game's setup, which requires a larger grid and thus makes the scene somewhat fuller, but we can't deny that the creators have also delivered a richer environment on this occasion. It doesn't push any creative boundaries, but at least makes the surroundings more lively and the overall look more eye-pleasing. On the whole, it's a straightforward tropical setting, with lots of colour to enhance the exotic vibe, keeping things simple and to the point to focus entirely on what's happening on the grid.
As for the technical side, the game confirms the studio's strategy of replicating the online slots world's most trending mechanics. It started from a copy of Starburst, and now we get a straight-up clone of Gates of Olympus by Pragmatic Play. If you're not familiar with the mythological scatter-pays hit, let us just highlight that the gameplay revolves around hunting Multiplier symbols that combine together on winning rounds and multiply the final payout. The format has already been recreated dozens of times by most studios, and Going Ape is another rendition that doesn't bring anything new to the table. The only slightly redeeming quality is the fact that the Free Spins trigger rate is much higher in this case, allowing entry to the bonus once in 211 spins on average, compared to 1 in 448 in Gates of Olympus. Otherwise, there are identical symbol payouts, the same multiplier range, and an equal max win of 5,000x the bet. It makes us wonder if the game's title is the provider's intentional self-burn, given that 'to ape' means to imitate something.
Going Ape is a fine-looking exotic game that mirrors the industry's popular playstyle based on scatter pays and multipliers.
