Gorilla Mayhem
We had a great time testing Gorilla Mayhem in this complete review for players that are based in New Zealand. The design of this pokie is outstanding with a background that fits the rest of the theme. The symbols in Gorilla Mayhem are what you’d expect from an adventurous game like this and immediately make clear what this pokie is all about. The betting range is very wide, allowing Kiwis of all experience to take their chances with a maximum potential win of 5,000x the bet potentially giving you a nice prize. Whether all of this is enough for our review team to recommend this new game to our fellow Kiwis? You’re about to find out.
Gorilla Mayhem Review
Players are dropped somewhere in the deep bush, the kind of place a big knife would come in handy as they’ll need to hack their way through the undergrowth. They’ll need to bring their repellent too which is needed at all times to keep the thousands of mosquitos away. Don’t pack your bags yet as there are also different majestic animals that rule this land, with the most notable being the mighty gorilla. Luckily the gorilla’s intention isn’t to cause too much mayhem in the beginning so you’ll have some time to breathe and adapt to this new world. Activating free spins, however, will get something of a rage on, but as this is also where the prizes are to be found, we believe that most players won’t mind.
Gorilla Mayhem is developed by Pragmatic Play as is one of the many highly volatile pokies on the market in New Zealand. The jungle-themed visuals of the game are not very unusual, and neither are the maximum potential win or the special features that are part of this production. It is still a decent game for the average player, as the standard Return to Player is high enough. You’re going to find all the action on the 5×4 reels and there will be 40 paylines formed on your screen. With a max prize of 5,000x the stake, and a maximum RTP of 96.50%, this is what you’d probably expect from a typical Pragmatic Play pokie.
Nice to know
| Launched | July 28, 2022 |
| RTP | 96.50%, 95.50%, 94.50% |
| Volatility | High |
| Software | Pragmatic Play |
| Features | Buy Feature, Expanding Wilds, Free Spins, Multiplier, Scatter Symbols, Wild |
| Theme | Gorilla, animals |
| Paylines | 40 |
| Grid Layout | 5-4 |
| Min. bet/line | $0.20 |
| Max win | x5000 |
| Jackpot | N/A |
Positive points
- ✅ Adequate Base RTP
- ✅ Outstanding Graphics And Sound Effects
- ✅ Buy Feature
- ✅ Innovative Base Game
Negative points
- ❌ Ranging RTP
- ❌ Low Max Bet
Gorilla Mayhem
We find it somewhat difficult to imagine that it is widely believed that people evolved from these jungle creatures, although the gorilla must just be the strongest one among the apes. Gorilla Mayhem takes you to the middle of a jungle, without making it too scary for players who don’t want to be confronted by a powerful gorilla. Yet, the different animal symbols come alive when they are part of a winning combination, giving the game lots of extra thrills. The spin pace is outstanding, make sure to prepare yourself for special golden gorilla wilds that connect with the top-tier gorilla to give you multiplier boosted wins. Gorilla Mayhem’s bonus round comes with 3 tiers and a maximum potential of 5,000x the bet.
This isn’t the first time Pragmatic Play comes with a gorilla theme as they seem to be having a strong interest in our gorilla cousins. The good news about their fascination for the most powerful ape on the planet is that their latest games about the creature seem to be getting better, as Gorilla Mayhem is a major step up from the last gorilla related title we crossed paths with, Jungle Gorilla. The new launch Gorilla Mayhem doesn’t yet get to alpha level, but let’s just say that it surely has its good moments.
How to Play
The action in Gorilla Mayhem kicks off once you press the transparent circle with a white outline, a crown, and arrows as this is how you activate the 5×4 grid. Pressing the minus and play icons next to the play button gives you the flexibility to regulate your bet. Each user can choose between a total of 10 different bet levels (1 to 10). They can also pick a coin value that suits them ranging from $0.01 to $0.5. At the end of the column, there’s a chance to adjust the total bet which can be done from $0.2 to $100. There is also an autoplay feature which can be enabled by clicking on the autoplay sign. Doing this gives players the opportunity to launch up to 1,000 automated spins. The info sign on your left side will reveal the different symbols and payouts. Pressing the three lines will give you access to the general settings.
Symbol Wins
The Gorilla Mayhem pokie takes players from New Zealand and elsewhere into the heart of the jungle. As we’re talking about mountain gorillas, the setting is Africa which means the foliage is pretty dense. The audio fits the rest of the game and features African drum music which adds a level of intensity to the gameplay. The reels are surrounded by vines and include different low symbols: A, K, Q, J and 10 royals. The 5 high value symbols include snakes, parrots, hippos, crocodiles, leopards and, of course, gorillas. The king of the “real king of the jungle” is the game’s best paying symbol with 2, 3, 4 or 5 in combination giving players 0.5, 1.5, 3 or 4 x your total bet. The game also comes with 2 wild symbols: a standard wild symbol that appears on all reels bar reel 1 while there is also a Golden Gorilla wild. More on the different symbols below:
| Symbol | Payout for 3 | Payout for 4 | Payout for 5 |
| 10 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 1 |
| J | 0.2 | 0.5 | 1 |
| Q | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.2 |
| K | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.2 |
| A | 0.5 | 1 | 1.5 |
| Snake | 0.5 | 1 | 1.5 |
| Parrot | 0.8 | 1.5 | 2.5 |
| Hippo | 0.8 | 1.5 | 2.5 |
| Crocodile | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Leopard | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Gorilla | 0.5 | 1.5 | 3 or 4 |
| Wild | Substitutes for all symbols | ||
| Golden Gorilla Wild | 2 or 3 give 2x or 3x wild multiplier | ||
| Crystal Scatter | 3 or more trigger Free Spins feature | ||
Bonus Features
From a game as powerful as Gorilla Mayhem, the number of features may be a bit disappointing. There are only a few features and all of them are built around the wild symbol.
Wild Symbols
In Gorilla Mayhem there is not 1 wild symbol, but there are two of them. Both symbols only appear on reels 2 to 5. The first wild symbol is easy to recognise thanks to the word Wild. This wild symbol can substitute for any symbol except the scatter if that produces a winning combination. Then there is the golden gorilla wild symbol. This wild can only replace the high Gorilla symbols. In addition, the golden gorilla wild carries a multiplier. This amounts to x1 if there is 1 gorilla on the symbol, x2 for 2 gorillas and x3 for 3 gorillas. This multiplier is applied to the prize when the golden gorilla wild is part of a combination.
Free Spins
To reach the Gorilla Mayhem free spins round, you need to spin at least three of the pink diamond scatters. The more scatters, the more free spins you earn:
- 3 scatters award 10 free spins.
- 4 scatters award 15 free spins.
- 5 scatters award 20 free spins.
During the free spins, a so-called progressive collect feature is active. This feature collects the gorilla heads that land on the grid. Collecting 40 of these heads will make you level up. This means that the golden gorilla wilds now only show x2 and x3 multipliers. When you reach the third and final level, these symbols always have a x3 multiplier with them. Every time you level up, you also get 3 extra free spins. Spinning 2 or more scatters during the bonus round will also give you extra free spins:
- 2 scatters = 5 extra free spins
- 3 scatters = 10 extra free spins
- 4 scatters = 15 extra free spins
- 5 scatters = 20 extra free spins
Bonus Buy Feature
Activating the free spins feature succeeds on average once every 220 spins. Fortunately, if you think that takes too long, you can still use the Bonus Buy option in Gorilla Mayhem. For 80x your stake you can expect 3, 4 or 5 scatters on the next spin.
Payout Metrics
Thanks to some of the game’s features such as the Free Spins, you can win 5,000 times your stake in Gorilla Mayhem. To play the game you need to bet a minimum of at least $0.20 whilst the maximum bet is set at $100 per spin. The biggest wins in Gorilla Mayhem will come from the Golden Gorilla Wilds which happen with random multipliers up to 3x. In the free spins feature, collecting gorillas will boost your level and only allow the higher value multipliers to land on the reels. The Progressive feature looks like the one in Pragmatic’s Gems Bonanza where collecting symbols increases the multiplier up to 10x.
Summary
This is Pragmatic Play’s third gorilla themed pokie after Congo Cash and Jungle Gorilla and this might just be our favourite one so far. Gorilla Mayhem may not be the most surprising or innovative online pokie we’ve ever seen, yet this game manages to offer a fun and complete game experience which is all that is needed every once in a while. The game’s design is of a high level and the jungle in which the game takes place seems so lifelike that it sometimes becomes frightening when you face the gorilla. In order to make the big wins you’ll need some help from the big fella, so make sure you embrace his gesture. The gameplay is diverse and the overall statistics are good. Reaching the bonus round makes sure the progressive collectible feature gets triggered which is when Gorilla Mayhem becomes a really exciting game. If that sounds good to you, then grab your bag as the jungle is right this way.
