Magic Journey from Pragmatic Play

Published: fri 7 feb 2020 | Updated: wed 18 nov 2020

Join the Monkey King on his Magic Journey

The Monkey King, originally known as Sun Wukong, is a character who was made famous in the novel Journey to the West, which was published in China in the 16th century. The character became better known in the 20th century thanks to the television show Monkey, which ran in the late seventies, and he has also started showing much more recently up in a handful of online slot games. Magic Journey is the latest title to feature the Monkey King, and as the title suggests, it gives players the chance to join him on his adventure and maybe win some useful cash prizes on the way.

Eight Lines of Enlightened Entertainment

Magic Journey is an eight-line slot, and when you first launch it you might well assume that it focuses on a three-by-three grid of symbols which occupies the top two-thirds of the play area. Surprisingly, such an assumption would be wrong, because the action is primarily focused on a five-reel single row of symbols situated below that grid. Confused yet? So were we when we first started playing this game, but whilst the format of Magic Journey is highly unusual, it is also quite easy to get used to and delivers a very entertaining gaming experience.

The symbols used in this game are nine different characters from the Journey to the West story, and all of them are beautifully illustrated even though their presentation is fairly light-hearted. The three-by-three grid stand on top of the five-reel single row below it, creating a temple-like structure, whilst the background portrays an almost mystical landscape which puts you right in the middle of the spiritual adventure.

The upper grid shows nine symbols, but when you press the spin button only the five-reel single row below that main grid will actually spin. When the reels come to rest, any symbol shown will highlight the corresponding symbol on the upper grid, and if the highlighted symbols enable you to make one or more winning lines, you will win accordingly.

It is easy to see which character symbols have been highlighted because they will come to life via simple yet elegant animations. The more symbols that come to life, the better, but you won’t have to worry at all about which symbols come to life because they all have the same value.

Yes, you read that right. In Magic Journey, none of the symbols is worth more than any other, and that’s because you will be paid according to the number of winning lines that you get, as follows:

• 1 winning line pays 2 times your bet
• 2 winning lines pay 5 times your bet
• 3 winning lines pay 10 times your bet
• 4 winning lines pays 15 times your bet
• 5 winning lines pays 30 times your bet
• 6 winning lines pays 100 times your bet
• 8 winning lines pays 400 times your bet

In this respect, playing Magic Journey is a little like playing a game of online bingo, where you don’t particularly care about which numbers are called, but are only concerned with where they appear on the bingo card. In this game, you won’t care about which particular character symbols are highlighted, as long as they help you to land one or more winning lines.

Respin Magic

The only special feature in this game is a Respin, which is awarded whenever you manage to make a winning line. When that happens, a respin of the five-reel row will take place, giving you a chance to highlight more symbols and make more winning lines. You will continue to get an extra respin every time you add winning lines to the upper grid, so it is possible to fill the grid even if you start with no more than a single line win.

Although all symbols have equal value in this game, one symbol is a little more special than the rest, and that is the Monkey King himself. When he appears on the five-reel row at any time in the base game, he will award a respin, even if no winning lines have been made. This obviously makes it easier to trigger the respin feature and increases the excitement factor even further.

Refreshingly Different

Magic Journey is a refreshingly different slot which, despite lacking features such as wild symbols and free spins, delivers a surprisingly powerful punch. Look out for its arrival from 16th January at venues which offer Pragmatic Play titles, and may your quest for enlightenment be profitable!