Shogun of Time Slot Machine
Ancient Japanese warrior meets cyberpunk clone. Read our review of the Shogun of Time slot from Just For The Win to see how the game studio has combined two female samurais from different time periods into a fast-paced online slot. A Reel Split Respin mechanic can increase the game grid from four to five reels, and a free spins round can lead to wins of up to 2,717 times your bet.
Read our full review of the Shogun of Time online slot machine, to see if these cyberpunk, samurai, changing reels have got the type of action you like.
Spin on Futuristic Slot Reels
Is it Tokyo in a distant future? Let’s call it a cyberpunk fusion of the future and the ancient heritage of Japan. The team behind our Shogun of Time online slot review found the skyline of a Japanese metropolis in the background of the frameless game window. The scene is lit in typical purple and blue neon lights and flanked by two water columns with cherry blossoms. Traditional samurai items emphasize the oriental connection.
The animations are particularly well designed, especially on teaser spins when cherry blossoms are sent flying around the reels. A rather generic soundtrack gets cheerier on big wins or feature triggers.
The authentic design of the Shogun of Time slot machine continues with the pay symbols. All except the top paying symbol and scatters can appear as single or double-stacked symbols. At the low end are the playing cards from 10 to A, followed in ascending order of value by ancient coins, Japanese fans, warrior armors, golden samurai masks with helmets and the slot logo. The female samurai and her cyberpunk clone are the wild symbols, while the scatter symbol is a pot with cherry blossoms.
Read all About the Numbers and Stats
Shogun of Time is a video slot with four reels, three rows, and 81 ways to win. This increases during the Reel Split Respin feature to five rows and a 243 ways to win. The game will reset to four reels after the feature ends.
Face the samurai and the cybergirl on desktop or mobile devices from 0.10 to 100 credits. Hit four across the reels in standard play to win 1x to 5x your bet. Trigger the respin feature and the pays will increase to 2x to 12x your stake for a single five of a kind.
The RTP of this medium variance game is set at 96.02%, which is slightly below the industry average. You can use Autoplay to set 10, 25, 50, or 100 consecutive spins without interruption.
Score Bigger Wins With the Reel Split Respins
The first feature you will come across on the Shogun of Time slot is the Reel Split Respins feature. It will trigger randomly in the base game when you hit a four-of-a-kind of any regular pay symbol. After the initial win is paid, the time-travel portal will open and split the reels in the middle to insert the fifth reel. Only the added reel will respin to potentially award better or more winning combos.
Travel Through Time in the Free Spins Round
Our review team of the Shogun of Time slot found the base game to become somewhat boring after a while, especially because the chances to hit mega wins are mostly in the free spins feature. Triggering it wasn’t particularly easy either as the game has only four reels.
Three or four scatters will trigger 8 and 16 free spins respectively. The bonus round is played on a 5×3 reels set instead of the 4×3 format in the base game. During the feature, the game will stay in the larger format of 243 ways, with the third reel as a sticky expanded wild symbol.
There is one more kicker in the Shogun of Time slot that could make the difference between a good and a mega win from the bonus round. Wins in the free spins pay both ways, from left to right and from right to left. However, a five-of-a-kind is paid from left to right only, plus the free spins cannot be retriggered, which was rather disappointing.
Nevertheless, the free spins represent the best moment to hit the max win on the Shogun of Time slot, which peaks at exactly 2,717.40x your stake.
For more Just For The Win titles, you can try our selection of their free demo slots below.
Other Slots With Changing Reel Sets
Flexibility and variations in reel sets are a common sight in modern slots as math’s models and game engines have evolved tremendously in the past decade. For a good example of a game with variable reel sets, our review team of the Shogun of Time slot suggest the Dragon Born slot where the free spins round is played with 117,649 ways instead of variable configurations in the base game.
Taking flexible reel sets to new heights is Ecuador Gold from Elk Studios with up to eight rows and 262,144 ways to win.
Our Cyberpunk Verdict
Reviewing the Shogun of Time slot saw our team going from ‘aha’ moments to boredom and back. The game is actually well designed with some stunning animations that give it an authentic cyberpunk appearance, but we were not impressed to see the fifth reel missing. With the reduced game window, it looked rather hard to hit a big win. However, with most wins in the free spins bonus round paid both ways, you never know!
Try the Shogun of Time slots game for free, or take a chance on its free spins bonus at one of our top-rated casinos below.