Cranky Panda Demo (Relax Gaming) Slot Demo & Review

Game Overview

When it comes to a wild animal, I’m not sure I’d ever want to annoy one and get on the wrong side of it, but out of them all, I always thought pandas were meant to be quite chilled out and far from grumpy. It appears that’s not the case, well at least in the Cranky Panda slot from Relax Gaming, where with his stick of bamboo in hand, it looks like the lead character of this game is protecting his wilds and free spins to stop you hitting the max win of 5,000x. Intrigued to find out more? Join me as I review the slot in full.

Theme & Design

The design of Relax Gaming’s Cranky Panda heavily incorporates bamboo, a food that, as we know, pandas love to devour. The backdrop to the reels is surrounded by it, the lower-paying symbols are made of it, and even the panda, when he appears, has it in his hands. Yes, there’s a whole heap of bamboo, but as a whole, the theme works and is well-executed.

Relax are far from being the first studio to base a game around a panda, and if you’d like to see what else is out there, I’ve got a couple of recommendations for you. First of all, go and check out Push Gaming’s Big Bamboo, which features big multipliers and coin bonuses, and then hit Shaolin Panda from Octoplay, a title that utilsies the hold and win mechanic and expanding reels.

Cranky Panda Gameplay & Features

Cranky Panda is a 5-reel, 4-row slot with an RTP of 96.10% and 20 fixed paylines. Players can join the gameplay from a minimum of €0.20 to a maximum of €200, although I’d expect that upper limit to be capped at most online casinos.

The main hook to Cranky Panda is the sticky frames that appear whenever a cranky panda symbol lands in view in the base game or free spins. Keep a lookout for the Mega Panda symbol, too, as this can add between 8 to 15 frames anywhere on the reels. All frames remain in place until the Chau Gong symbol lands, converting them all into wilds or coin symbols.

The frames become powerful in the bonus round, which is triggered when 3, 4, or 5 scatters land in view, awarding 8, 10 and 15 free spins, respectively. During this bonus, the sticky frames can be activated multiple times, and each time they are, you progress one position along the win multiplier meter at the top of the reels. Each milestone you reach here will also award you with extra spins.

Bonus Buy

Players can choose to skip the base game via the bonus buy option, which costs 50x the current bet.