Geisha Slot – Free Demo

Three geishas and a koi on 25 lines

Unless you're one of the chosen few, conjecture is as good as it gets. Those few know the real, inside story of how an online slot began, and in the case of studio Endorphina's Geisha, the game was launched in 2015. For this review Geisha was played for 410 spins at a stake of 12.50, taking a balance of 10,000.00 down to 9,732.50.

Alongside yellow, red and blue Geishas, a Koi Carp, an Umbrella, a Fan, and a Bonus Temple, players find themselves trying their luck. The lower symbols are Hieroglyphs, a Teapot, a Shamisen, Sandals and Coins.

Players must first decide how much they would want to stake from 0.25 to 200 credits before watching the reels spin, and the maths model has been tuned to be medium-high volatility. Those 410 spins wagered 5,125.00 and returned 4,857.50, a session return of 94.8%. When players approach Geisha betting 0.25 to 200 credits per spin, the RTP is 96.06%. It is 95.30% when picking the free games buy from Bonus Pop. The longest run without a win lasted 15 spins, ending on spin 186, and the balance bottomed out at 8,297.50.

Ninety-eight paying spins out of 410

Each base game round sees symbols land on a 5x3 grid. The Bonus Temple scatter pays in any position rather than on a payline. Wins pay left to right on 25 fixed paylines from 3 of a kind. In the session 98 of the 410 spins paid something, and 44 of those paid less than the stake. The lower symbols pay 4x to 8x for 5 of a kind while the yellow Geisha pays 32x, and Koi Carp wild symbols substitute for any symbol except the Bonus Temple. For 5 of a kind the red and blue Geishas pay 24x, the Umbrella and Fan 20x, the Koi Carp 40x and the Bonus Temple 200x the bet.

Two jokers on every free game

Don't hold your breath. This segment deals with free games and Bonus Pop feature buys. Outside the features, a Risk game is offered after any win as a chance to double it.

Landing 3 or more Bonus Temple scatters in the base game triggers 10 free games, and more Bonus Temples during the bonus award more free games. The session triggered Free Games twice in 410 spins, and each round ran 10 free games with no extra ones awarded. Every free game arrives with 2 Geisha Jokers carrying x1, x2 or x3 multipliers. These apply to wins they are part of. When both Geisha Jokers are part of the same win, both multipliers apply.

Where the jurisdiction allows it, the Bonus Pop bonus buy menu lists free games at 1,200x the bet.

Minty Slots Verdict: The sheet says 96.06% and my 410 spins came back at 94.8%, which is closer than I expected once I saw where the money came from: 2,837.50 of the 4,857.50 returned arrived in two Free Games rounds, and one of them on its own paid 188 times the stake. The base game spent the rest of the session politely handing back less than it took.

Spin 270 and the 188x round

Punters hoping for big strides in originality might feel a bit disappointed, more so when you consider the main feature doesn't offer much progression. The first Free Games round, on spin 196, paid 39.0x the stake, and the second, on spin 270, paid 188.0x. Free games mainly just bring two multiplier jokers to the mix, and the most that can be won is 5,000x the bet. Those two rounds made up 2,837.50, or 58% of everything won in the session, and the second lifted the balance to its peak of 10,832.50.

It's difficult to criticise Geisha for what it is, even if it isn't the big jump some may have been wishing for.