Desert Cats Demo Slot - Review for Canadians, Demo Play & Payout Info

Desert Cats, an Introduction

Ancient Egypt and its revered cats still continue to capture people's imaginations to this day. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there are a plethora of online slots dedicated to this theme. Game developers WMS have tapped into this fascination with Desert Cats, which joins other Egyptian games from the WMS team such as Egyptian Riches and Lady of Egypt. In this game, the cat is certainly king and features heavily throughout the graphics in a number of guises.

It features WMS’s now renowned seven reels on four rows and a massive 50 paylines to help you rack up the wins. With the opportunity for big winnings and some exciting bonus features, this game will be appealing to players of all ages and abilities. Beginners and old hands alike will enjoy the exotic theme, catchy music and engaging in-game features. It is also optimised for mobile and tablet devices, so it can really be enjoyed absolutely anywhere, at a time and place to suit even the busiest players.

Desert Cats graphics

This is quite quickly recognisable as a WMS game, and those who are familiar with the organization will feel right at home. Of course, because it is an Ancient Egyptian-themed game, the graphics go all out to reflect this. The reels are set against a backdrop of Egyptian pyramids and a sandy desert. The reels themselves are a royal blue fitting for a pharaoh. The symbols continue this theme nicely, featuring an ankh cross, hieroglyphics on a stone tablet, a black cat sculpture often associated with the Goddess Bastet, a cat woman and a beautiful lion-like cat head with jewelled eyes.

There are also playing card symbols including 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace. The music is suitably Egyptian and really adds to the immersive mood of the overall game. The music turns more modern when a win occurs, perhaps to make this stand out even more.

The black Bastet cat statue also appears more frequently when a win occurs, as do colourful jewels to complete the picture. The graphics and sounds combine to create a really good atmosphere and bring the Egyptian cat theme to life.

How to play Desert Cats

There are quite a few symbols to take into account in this game, and with 50 paylines and bonus features, there can be a bit to take in. However, those new to gaming should not be put off as it does not take long to get the hang of it.

In the base game, there are two reels next to each other. Get spinning and match any three and you will win, although it may not be a huge amount depending on the symbols you match. The playing card symbols are worth the least, then the Pharoah mask, stone tablet and ankh sign, then the black cat statue and the cat lady.

The symbol to really watch out for is the wild, which is the golden lion-like cat. This comes in a couple of forms, with jewelled eyes and without. This is important because the jewels offer separate jackpots.

All of this means there are plenty of chances to win, which makes it pretty exciting. There is also the chance to win more spins in the bonus feature aspect. If you’re really lucky, you can get 55 free spins, which certainly isn’t bad, especially as in the free spins game one of the reels will feature extra wild symbols.

RTP of Desert Cats

This game has an RTP of 95.79%, which may seem like a slightly random figure. However, these percentages tend to be set based on a complex algorithm and need to be taken with a pinch of salt. For those new to the online slot world, they do not equate to games paying out 95.79% of the time.

However, that doesn’t mean they should be written off as they do serve to indicate how likely a game is to pay out. Generally, the higher the RTP, the more chance of winning. That is not to say the winnings will be huge, and much of this is down to luck. Remember that if you do bet real money, you should only ever bet what you can afford to lose.

As it happens, Desert Cats offers some pretty decent chances to win and win big if you are lucky and hone your skill.

How to win at Desert Cats

In the base game, it is pretty easy to win by matching anywhere from three to seven symbols, but you may not make much.

For the 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace symbols, values are the least generous. Match three of these and get one coin, four is three coins, five is five, six is ten coins, and seven is 15. It's not amazing, but every little helps. For the Pharaoh, the tablet and ankh cross, three is two coins, four is five, five is 10, six is 15 and seven is 20, so it's slightly better. The black cat statue will see three for three, four for seven coins, five for 15, six for 25 and seven for 50. Now we’re getting somewhere! The cat lady is the most generous is the base game, with three equalling five coins, four getting you four, five awarding 20, six nabbing you 50 and seven awarding 200!

To be fair, as coin value can range from 0.50 to 100, even matching low symbols isn’t too bad on a maximum bet.

The wild symbol also offers some great chances to win and can appear as a 1×1 segment or a 2×2 one. In the base game, matching a certain number of wilds can pay out as much as the cat lady symbol, so it's definitely worth looking out for.

The other golden lion-like wild with the jewelled eyes is the portal to the main bonus features for the game, with the jewels in particular offering some really big winnings.

Max-win 250,000x

Volatility Medium

RTP 96

Desert Cats bonus features

The main bonus feature in this game relates to the jewels. Depending on how many red jewels you trigger during play by matching the golden lion-like cat wild, you can massively multiply your winnings. Match six red gems and you’ll get the minor jackpot, which is worth ten times your total bet. See seven red gems and it is the medium jackpot, which is 40 times your total bet. Eight red gems together sees the major jackpot triggered with 80 times your total bet on offer. Get nine red gems and win the super jackpot. This gets you 600 times your total bet. Finally, get 10 red gems and it’s the mega jackpot for you with a huge 2,000 your total bet.

That’s not all. There is also a free spins element to this game. If you match three, four or five of the regular non-jewel-eyed lion-like golden cats, you will be rewarded with five (for three), 15 (for four) or 50 (for five) free games in addition to 10 times your whole stake for four and 15 times your whole stake for five.

Add this to the fact that one reel will have two sets filled with just wild symbols to make getting that jackpot more likely and suddenly this game seems very interesting indeed.

Top wins in Desert Cats

With the chance to win up to 2,000 times your total bet, massive amounts of free spins up for grabs, wilds galore and mega multipliers, there are some good chances to win big here. If you love a jackpot slot, this is a good game for you!

Even if you don’t manage to hit one of the many jackpots, you are very likely to match at least three of the lower-value symbols, so it is unlikely that you will walk away empty-handed. However, as always, remember to never, ever bet what you don’t have. With games that offer lots of chances to win, there is often the temptation to get carried away with bets, but this is never a good idea. Responsible betting is really important.

No deposit and free play of Desert Cats

As with any online slot, it is a great idea to play for free for a while before betting real cash. Luckily, there are lots of ways and opportunities to do this. Lots of sites offer free play WMS slots to try out with no deposit and completely for free.

This is a great way to get to know a game, especially one that is fairly complicated like Desert Cats. While beginners often take advantage of this kind of offer, it is something that more experienced gamers should do, too. It’s a great way to not only get to know games, but also to work out a playing and betting strategy. Yes, a lot is down to luck, but there is much to be said for working out a decent strategy to help you maximise your winnings if you are going to bet real money.

To be honest, this is a pretty fun game, so real money or not, big wins or not, it is likely that you will enjoy yourself playing this game, especially if you are a fan of all things Egyptian

Free spins in Desert Cats

The free spins are one of the best parts of this game. Play it right (or get lucky) and you can get up to 55. That is pretty impressive and also offers that many chances to win even more, which is nice considering the game offers generous options to win without free spins.

The free spins in this game can come with added bonuses, with some options doubling up to give multipliers of your total bet, too.

If you like Desert Cats

If this game floats your boat, there are plenty of other Ancient Egyptian and cat-themed games to take advantage of. Try a free Cats slot here. There are a few to check out, including IGT’s Cats game and also Cat Paws.

When it comes to ancient Egypt, the choices are practically endless. Temples, pyramids, pharaohs, treasure, mystery and cats are all included in an ever-growing range of games. Ancient Egypt, Book of Ra, The Mummy, Cat Queen, Golden Ark, Throne of Egypt, Ramesses Riches and Secrets of the Tomb are all great and worth a look.

About WMS

WMS is a US giant of the online slot world, with some really well-known and popular games under its belt. Famous in particular for seven-reel and six-reel games with innovative and pioneering bonus features, wilds and free spins, it goes from strength to strength. It was acquired in 2013 by Scientific Games, which has added further to the quality of its games.

These include well-known offerings such as Raging Rhino, Rainforest Dream, Amazon Queen and Buffalo Spirit.

Disclaimer: Desert Cats trademark / license is owned by WMS, Light & Wonder. This site is not endorsed by WMS, Light & Wonder.