The Grandmaster Demo Slot - Review for Canadians, Demo Play & Payout Info

Introduction

Unsurprisingly for a Taiwanese company, KA Gaming gravitates towards Asian themes, although they are not averse to a more traditional theme-free game like KA's Diamond Power slot on occasion. In The Grandmaster, they have stuck more closely to the kind of story that KA Gaming free slots are best known for, within the free slots sub-genre of martial arts. Let’s find out whether they’ve delivered the goods.

The Grandmaster has a 5-reel, 3-column grid with 50 fixed pay lines. The minimum bet size is 0.50 and the maximum is 250. There are 11 regular symbols: a Wrestler, a Boxer, a Plaque, a Wooden Fighting Frame, Two Fighters and the playing cards from Ace to 9. The wild is the Fighter, and the scatter is the Grandmaster card.

Theme, graphics and soundtrack

KA Gaming always make a point of delivering smart illustrations and graphics. They clearly understand the importance of the visual experience in slot games, and here they have constructed an intricate backdrop based on the classic martial arts training arena, the dojo. Against this authentic setting is the grid, a simple structure pleasantly uncluttered by extraneous Asian iconography. The symbols are very well-drawn, with a seriousness that suits the theme. The impassive martial arts fighters look well-matched, with an opponent who looks like a heavyweight boxer who has dropped in from Madison Square Garden.

The animation is modest but effective, and the soundtrack features a well-judged theme complete with dramatic cymbal crashes. It's all tastefully done.

The Grandmaster RTP and variance

The game has an unrecorded RTP and unknown variance.

How to play The Grandmaster

1. Click the Play button, or you can press the space bar to set the reels spinning at the current total bet level. 
2. Press the Spin/Stop button again to stop the reels at any time during the spin. You can also use the space bar to stop the reels.
3. Click New Bet to set the bet level from 0.50 to 250.00.
4. Alternatively, click Max Bet and go straight to the highest possible bet level.
5. Click and hold the spin button to call up the Autoplay menu. This enables you to set the number of spins from 25 to infinity. Throughout autoplay, the button will show the number of auto spins that remain. Press the button again to exit auto play.
6. The balance meter at the bottom right of the screen displays your current balance, which is constantly updated during the game.
7. All symbols except Scatter pay left to right on active paylines. Only the highest win per payline is paid out. All wins except Scatter are multiplied by the per-line bet. Any scatter wins are multiplied by the total bet.
8. The Wild substitutes for all symbols except the Scatter. In the base game, all wins with substituted wilds will be multiplied by 1x, 2x, 3x, 4x or 5x.
9. Always play gambling games responsibly, and if playing for money, make sure you stay within the limits of what you can afford to lose. When it stops being fun, you should stop playing.

Bet sizes and paytable wins

The bet size ranges from 0.50 to 250. 

The paytable values run from 3x to 5x, and the highest payouts are as follows:

Wrestler

5 = 5

Boxer

5 = 3

Plaque

5 = 51.50

Wooden Frame

5 = 1.20
        
Two Fighters

5 = 1.20

Ace

5 = 1

King

5 = 1

Queen

5 = 0.80

Jack

5 = 0.80

10

5 = 0.50

9

5 = 0.50

Wild

5 = 20

Scatter

5 = 10

The Grandmaster bonus features

Smash Feature

In Free Games, after the first spin of each round, all the plaque symbols will be smashed and replaced with wild symbols to increase your chances of winning again.

The Grandmaster review: our verdict

We sometimes get the feeling that KA Gaming are holding back. They put a lot of work into the visuals, which sets up fairly high expectations for the game play itself. In The Grandmaster, as we’ve found in other KA slots, while the base game plays smoothly and effectively, we’re always expecting something extra to happen. In the intentionally simple fruit-themed games, it is easier to accept the lack of extras, but when a fruitful theme like this one has been selected, it does seem like a shame not to exploit its possibilities a little more fully. As it is, the nearest thing we get to a bonus is the smash feature, which is really nothing of the sort. It's a little disappointing.

Disclaimer: The Grandmaster trademark / license is owned by KA Gaming. This site is not endorsed by KA Gaming.