The Chinese tale featuring the legendary ruler Sun Wukong dates back to the 16th tale and has now been given a fresh re-telling from IGT in The Monkey Prince video slot. Played using a 5 reel, 60 payline game engine, it comes with a trio of extras that deliver added, stacked and surrounding wilds. There’s also a bonus feature that awards between 5 and 50 free spins with special wild extras. Play on all devices from between 60p and £1,800 per spin.

IGT has created a strong visual look in The Monkey Prince. The lower value playing card symbols feature a jade statue. More lucrative is the selection of jewellery and the golden lion and dragon statues. The latter 2 each award 200 coins if you land 5 in combination. More rewarding is the wild – it replaces everything bar the scatter and 3 facemask symbols and pays 50, 120 or 1,000 coins if you land 3, 4 or 5 on a payline.

Joining the usual symbols are red, yellow and blue facemasks. Every time 1 of these hit, they’re collected in a meter. Land 5 of any colour and you’ll be awarded the associated feature:

  • Scattered Wilds feature/Blue Mask – a random selection of 3 or 4 symbols become wild on the current spin.
  • Random Wild Reels feature/Red Mask – between 1 and 5 reels will turn totally wild for the current spin.
  • Surrounding Wilds feature/Yellow Mask – 1 symbol and all the positions surrounding that symbol will turn wild for the current spin.

The Monkey Prince also comes with a Free Spins Bonus feature that’s unlocked by landing 3 or more of the red door scatter. The precise number of free spins on offer depends on how many scatters you landed on the triggering spin and which wild extra you want to activate for the duration of the feature. Here are the potential goodies on offer:

  • With 3 scatters, you can choose 25 free spins with 4 random added wilds, 10 free spins with 2 wild reels or 5 free spins 1 surrounding wild symbol.
  • With 4 scatters, you can opt for 30 free spins with 4 random added wilds, 15 free spins with 2 wild reels or 10 free spins 1 surrounding wild symbol.
  • With 5 scatters, you can select 50 free spins with 4 random added wilds, 25 free spins with 2 wild reels or 15 free spins 1 surrounding wild symbol.

The wilds are central to the action in both the base game and the Free Spins Bonus feature. The overall variance is in the medium range and there are potential payouts of up to 1,000 times your bet on every spin.

IGT has created many land-based to online slot conversions – this Chinese tale is one of the better ones, combining high-end looks with some very playable extras. For that reason, we’re happy enough to recommend an audience with The Monkey Prince. I also suggest you try Playtech’s Sun Wukong which is based on the same legendary character.