Shangri La Slot
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Shangri La is the name of a mystical place in the Himalayas, featured in James Hilton’s famous 1933 novel, Lost Horizon. It has had many incarnations over the years in works of fiction and film, but there are none more entertaining and enchanting than the Shangri La Slot. This five reel, 15 pay-line Nextgen/NYX Gaming Group release that sees our adventurous heroine guide us through this mythical land in the hope of landing magical prizes.
Gameplay
Hilton painted Shangri La as a harmonious earthly paradise, an isolated, permanently happy land, which is just what we’re hoping to achieve should we scoop big wins from Shangri La’s 15 pay-lines. The game-play is accompanied by a gentle tabla beat, the backdrop a temple glistening in the Himalayan sunshine as a waterfall beckons us to dip our toes. Nextgen’s artwork is sublime, with even our low-paying Hearts through Spades game symbols looking ornate and resplendent. A Sword, Lotus and Temple fill out the middle while a gold-bedecked Elephant and Rhino and our Girl Adventurer’s Tiger companion see us up to the top table as Shangri La’s highest payers.
The Girl Adventurer – looking a little Lara Croft, may we say – makes a fitting appearance as our Wild symbol. Though she only appears on reels 2, 3 and 4, she makes it worthwhile by doubling any win in which she forms a winning combo. She substitutes for all symbols except Scatters, and can appear on any spin in Nextgen’s Added Wilds feature and even make whole reels Wild in the game’s Wild Reels feature. Wow, that’s wild.
Bonuses
For an online slot adventure this epic, Nextgen has fittingly come up with an epic bonus system. Scatters appear across the reels, shining golden Wheels that spin to reveal one of four bonus features when we land three or more of them anywhere on our five reels.
- Free Games awards 8 free games, with Special Wild features more readily occurring.
- Super Free Games delivers 12 free spins, with Special Wild features guaranteed to occur.
- The Chest Bonus isn’t a comment on our Girl Adventurer’s attire, but a pick ‘em style bonus that can see us win up to 15x our total bet.
- The Trail Bonus is the Nirvana of Shangri La’s bonus rounds. We seek enlightenment by spinning a wheel to head into the Himalayas, achieving multipliers as we go. The ultimate prize? 100x our total bet.
Summary
With sumptuous graphics, an ethereal theme and superbly devised bonus features, Nextgen’s Shangri La online slot bears all the hallmarks of an epic. Will we achieve the kind of inner peace, love and sense of purpose enjoyed by Hugh Conway in Hilton’s original book? Who knows. But we might bag the kind of winnings that could see us on our way to our very own trip to the Himalayas.