Grand Monarch Slot Machine
Powered by IGT, the Grand Monarch slot machine draws inspiration from the world of nature. Instead of dealing with royal dynasties and lives of the great historic monarchs, the Grand Monarch slot is all about butterflies. Anyone who is remotely into nature knows of the majestic Grand Monarch butterfly.
Located mainly in North American forests, the Grand Monarch butterfly is a big specimen with a lovely pattern on its wings. Truly a one-of-a-kind representative of the fauna of its region, the Grand Monarch is often referred to as the king of butterflies.
Set against a leafy meadow, the Grand Monarch slot reels show symbols such as the king of butterflies himself, lotus flowers, sunflowers, orchids and some kind of a white flower with low values represented by standard icons of 9 through Ace. Special symbols are the Grand Monarch Wild and the Scatter caterpillar/chrysalis. The Grand Monarch slot has wonderful graphics and ear-pleasing background tunes which make it a very relaxing slot to play. The visuals may not be three-dimensional, and they do give out that IGT old-timey feel, but they are colourful and vibrant and that’s good enough for most spinners.
Time to get more technical. There are 5 reels and 50 paying lines in the game. The Wilds substitutes all symbols albeit the caterpillar. The giant orange patterned butterfly also appears in stacks so don’t get surprised if you see more Grand Monarch symbols on top of each other covering entire reels and paying out massive wins straight to your balance during base game. Remember, Grand Monarch slot boasts 50 win lines, which makes it easier for the Stacked Wilds engine to do its thing.
The main feature in Grand Monarch video slot is the Free Spins round, though. To activate free play you need to land at least 3 caterpillar Scatters on reels 2, 3 and 4. So, the middle reels are critical as far as free spins go. Meet the game requirements and enjoy 5 consecutive extra spins free of charge. Collect 3 more caterpillars and you’ll get 5 more spins. By activating extra spins over and over again, you can get a maximum of 255 free spins! It’s the familiar IGT free spins scheme.
There are some slight changes in colour and design of the game interface during free spins, just to break the monotony and give you the feel of a new, special game. IGT’s designers have been in the business for a long time, they know how to spice things up.
RTP & Real Money Play
The top RTP of Grand Monarch is set at 94.97% which is okay, but could be better, honestly. What makes the game worthwhile is the magical theme, a free spins round that allows building up to hundreds of free spins and increasing number of Stacked Wilds as the game progresses.
The theme is remarkable; showing the life cycle of one of the most beautiful butterflies in the world in its natural habitat, the nature-themed IGT slot bravely changes direction from all the routine themes and imagery we’ve seen from both IGT and its competitors. Seems like a slot doesn’t need to feature superheroes, epic characters, aliens or movie stars to be visually appealing; Grand Monarch is a good example. As one of IGT’s older land-based machines, the slot lives on through online and mobile devices of loyal punters who obviously care about the environment.
Let’s be honest, they care about great wins, too! Saving five Grand Monarchs on a single paying line awards one with 1,000 coins and that’s something to think about.
