Before 2012, the end of the world was probably the first thing that came to mind whenever the Mayans were mentioned. The Maya Long Count predicted that the world will end on December 21 (or 23), 2012. Much like the Y2K panic, the doomsday many prophesied, dreaded, or longed for did not materialize. There was no planetary collision, no computer malfunctions, and no annihilation from the heavens. Like every other Friday, folks woke up, went to work or school, came home, and relaxed before facing the weekend and the rest of their lives.
Perhaps the end of the world is a slow process that began in 2012 and will continue for quite some time. Only time can tell. Age of Huracan by Kalamba Games is here in the meanwhile to give gamers a taste of what may be. The Mayan God of Storms, Huracán (Spanish for “hurricane”), is featured prominently in the Age of Huracan’s Storm Bonus Game. Players may try their luck at winning free spins, the K-Cash feature, or the Hyper Bonus.
Age of Huracan is Kalamba Games’ 50th slot, but you wouldn’t know it unless you’ve been following the developer like a Facebook stalker. A five-reel, one thousand and twenty-four pay-ways grid is set within a beautifully rendered jungle, complete with lush vegetation and moss-covered temples, giving the impression that the game was created by a seasoned provider. Age of Huracan is visually appealing, but if the idea has your interest, you should wait for Kalamba’s free spins to arrive since that’s when they really shine.
The rain may be avoided using any modern electronic device, and wagers start at 50 pence and go up to £/€100 every spin. For their 50th game, Kalamba opted to create a high-performing slot with strong potential and a highly volatile gaming engine, giving it a mathematical rating of 9 out of 10. Although most players will be delighted with an RTP of between 96.62% and 96.75% (the range is due to the bonus purchase choices), the hit frequency is a little lower than may be expected at 16.7%.
Now we’ll go on to the paytable, which has a few small quirks in the way symbols pay. The lowest paying symbol is the 1, and the highest paying symbols are the 2 and the 7, while the others require at least 3 of a type to pay out. Beginning with the suits of playing cards from 9 to A, other symbols include daggers, flashing green objects, and four Mayan characters. The top character stands out since it pays 100x the wager for five of a kind, whereas the bottom three characters pay between 2 and 10x the bet for five of a kind. The Mayan Calendar serves as the penultimate wild symbol before we walk into the storms, standing in for any other icon outside the Bonus and the K-Cash.
Slot Functions of the Age of Huracan
Kalamba has tweaked a hold & win feature, redesigning it as K-Cash, and adding free spins for further excitement. K-Cash symbols, either blue or orange, can appear on any reel during the main game; blue symbols add to the cash amount in the top right meter; orange symbols fill a meter on the left, with every 5 raising the multiplier by 1, up to x5.
When three or more K-Cash symbols emerge, they remain fixed and provide three K-Cash Spins. The amount of remaining spins is always reset to 3 whenever a new K-Cash symbol appears. The multiplier meter is increased by orange symbols, like before. When the game ends (either because of a lack of spins or a full board), the total amount of money collected is multiplied by the payout multiplier and distributed. Also, a full grid victory pays out a payout equal to 10 times the wager plus whatever the multiplier meter is now showing.
The scatter icon shows a mystery person in a cloak standing in front of a tornado. Free spins and a payout of 2, 5, or 10 times the wager are awarded for landing 3, 4, or 5 during the main game. However, the bonus may be retriggered by landing 2, 3, 4, or 5 scatters, which will offer 3, 8, 12, or 15 more free spins, respectively.
Finally, if feature buys are legal in your country, you may take advantage of the HyperBonus. There are three possible outcomes for the players to select from. Three Cash Spins at an x5 multiplier yield a 21.2:1 payout, while eight or fifteen free spins award 35.4:1 or 66.3:1 payouts, respectively.
Age of Huracan: The Slot’s Final Say
There are certain positives to Age of Huracan, but the game’s features should have been pushed a little further to increase its overall appeal. To begin, it’s fascinating how the K-Cash collector enables value accumulation prior to the triggering of K-Cash Spins. It’s a fun new wrinkle that players of hold ’em and win’ may try out. The values aren’t really impressive, which is a drawback. For example, the most that the multiplier meter can go is x5, and the most that K-Cash symbols may pay out is four times the wager. A whole screen of symbols, with all settings at their maximum, is worth 400 times the wager. Even with the Full Grid reward in play, the sum is unlikely to be quite large.
To the relief of tornado chasers everywhere, other game phases don’t share this disappointing destiny in terms of potential. In Age of Huracan, the greatest payout for a full grid of the top pay symbol is 10,240 times the wager. However, an additional feature would have made free spins far more engaging than the original game. They add nothing of value and can’t even be used to gather K-Cash symbols. It’s almost a relief when the bonus spins are gone and you can get back to the main game.
Age of Huracan, Kalamba’s 50th release, is representative of the series as a whole: stunning visuals, a wealth of ambiance, decent statistics, and some peculiar additions. It wouldn’t have hurt to give free spins and K-Cash Spins a little more consideration and funding. The end effect is uneven and bumpy while a few little adjustments would have made a huge impact.