Ancient Egyptian mythology is an infinite ‘headwater’ of game developers’ springing impulses for new titles. Along with deities, humans, and animals, the archaic tales are full of symbiotic creatures, blessed with characteristic holy/supernatural potencies.
For example, the Griffins (half eagle, half lion-like) are reputed to be watchful over riches and divine prestige in many texts and artifacts. A griffin-like animal can be seen in the palette/pottery artifact, famous as the “Two Dog Palette,” from Egypt, dating c. 3300–3100 BC.
This mythical creature is known to be a rival of snakes and reptiles, for which was believed to be the manifestation of satanic demons. With its physical structure, the Griffin is endowed with the winged speed and piercing vision of an eagle and the power and determination of a mighty lion.
It was believed that Griffins bordered their golden eggs at all times, slaying anyone who threatens to touch them. According to some medieval spells, people assumed that Griffin’s feathers and claws had supernatural abilities (cure blindness). A piece of a Griffin claw could alert of existent poison by changing colour. One of the treasures commonly believed to be guarded by Griffins was emeralds.
You can practice the game for free in the DEMO mode with the link on our site.
Personal testers’ opinion about Great Griffin slot
Despite being a ‘veteran’ game, the Great Griffin slot machine is still popular among Microgaming fans and stands above many newer games with its beautiful graphics, exciting bonuses in the main game, and multi-choice Free Spins feature multiplier. Sure it has its weak points, too: the frequent appearance of the Griffin, delivering random Wilds, which slows the game flow and does not always produce good results, or the sound effects, which can quickly become irksome. But yeah, nothing is perfect in this world.
Let’s stick to the positives: the probability of any hit (winning) here is super high – 48%. That will say that almost half of all spins bring some payout, which puts this old slot in the profit-making category. Although the paytable could’ve been better – the Wild symbol – the Griffin, which pays 100x the total bet for 5OAK (5000 coins), not particularly high. But on the other hand, the wins with Wilds are doubled, plus it has value even for 2OAK. Also delightful is the base game Pick and Click bonus, which can award you 150x the total bet in a single spin. Another positive point is the ability to keep the balance. If you are a bonus hunter (naturally playing with minimal bets) or would like to have extended playtime, we recommend the Great Griffin slot machine. All in all, the slot has its pros and cons, but it is definitely worth your time!
Review and recommendations by the testing team
According to some players, this machine was mostly annoying and didn’t leave them with good emotions. We don’t share that opinion. Despite its shortcomings (in animations and audio effects), the Great Griffin slot provided our balance with a small but steady progression even during the base game.
The Sorceress Lady bonus was activated often when we played with minimum bets and gave us enough credits to go on. Also, Griffin appeared at small stakes quite a lot, and almost half of his appearances were contributing some needed Wilds.
- Regarding the base game
During our testing period inside 100 spins, at least once we had the ‘Pick me’ bonus, i.e. even without the Free Spins, the slot had already behaved decently toward our bankroll. Besides that, during every 5th-6th regular spin, the Griffin Wild feature was active and turned out to be profitable in half of the cases. Thus, our maximum win during the tests was 183x the total bet.
- Regarding the Free Spins
We tried all 3 variations (each with different volatility), so we established the most stable winning during 10 FS with a 5x multiplier. Sure, multiplier 10x sounds more tempting – if 2 x Scatters drop anywhere on the reels during at least 1 of the Free Spins, you get 20x the total bet instantly, but you should not chase the big winnings.
In the 10 FS mode, getting payments is easier, and your luck is stretched on a long string. The highest amount we reached during testing via 10 FS mode was 92x the bet, but the average of all 3 FS options was not more than 38x total bets.
Hidden parameters of the slot (data from the testing team)
- The frequency of triggering the bonus is statistically, every 98th spin (1,02%).
- The probability of a hit (any winning) is 48%.
- The distribution of the winnings is 60% in the usual spins and 40% in the bonus feature.
- The maximum payout during the tests was 183x.
- The average winning from the bonus was 38x.
- Volatility is 6,95 out of 20 (average).
- The cycle length is average.
- The rating of the slot machine for the wagering is 5,84 out of 10.
- RTP of 96.79% allows getting a positive mathematical expectation at the casino.
Bonus Features
- Griffin is the Wild symbol that substitutes for other symbols, but Bonus symbol and Scatter, plus double the payouts for the present lines.
- Griffin Wild Bonus – Griffin can fly randomly in front of the grid, turning some icons into Wilds.
- Sorceress Lady is the Bonus symbol, can fall only on reels 2, 3, and 4, and activates the ‘Pick me’ bonus.
- Pick me Bonus – During the main game, 3 Bonus symbols dropped in 1 spin will initiate the feature with a guaranteed prize. Selecting any of the 3 Ladies will reveal instant cash (up to 150x total bet). Usually, you get only 1 pick, but sometimes the Lady hides ‘Pick again’ and ‘Win all’ extra rewards.
- The Game Logo is the Scatter symbol, pays any (i.e. not necessarily in a pay line), and is the highest-paid symbol with 200 x the total bet for 5OAK.
- Free Spins – 3+ Scatters will launch the screen for selection, where you can choose from 3 different options: 15 FS with x3 multiplier; 10 FS with x5 multiplier; or 5 FS with x10 multiplier.
Settings
- Provider – Microgaming company
- Number of reels – 5
- Number of pay lines – 50
- One coin value – from 0.01 to 0.10
- Number of coins per line – 1-10
- Bet size range – from 0.01 to 50
- Maximum winning per spin – 10 000 coins
- Scatter – yes (Logo of the slot)
- Free spins – yes (3 free spins modes with a multiplier up to x10 at the player’s choice are triggered with the help of scatters).
- Risk game – yes
- Bonus game – yes (3 symbols of the Lady launch the bonus game, giving the additional prizes).
- Expected payout percentage (RTP) in the machine – 96,79%
How to win at the Great Griffin slot machine? (Conclusion)
- As usual, our main advice is to practice with the game in DEMO mode before starting to play with real money.
- It is good to choose big and popular casinos to play this game because it might be admired, but it is already old, and in the big online casinos will be easier to accumulate the prize pool.
- We recommend the Great Griffin slot machine to bonus hunters because it keeps the balance well, allowing you to wager the bonus money. In addition, having very frequently small and often average winnings can even increase your balance during the regular spins.
- However, we can only leave neutral recommendations for the Great Griffin online slot when playing with real money.
- If you do choose this game, be sure to have active all the 50 win lines.
We recon small or medium bets (up to 20 CAD- see the chart below) are most profitable here, as the slot doesn’t respond well on a max bet. Besides, when playing with medium bets, the Free Spins are certainly activated more frequently.- When it comes to selecting the Free Spins mode, as we stated above, we had the best results via the medium variance option – 10 FS with x5 multiplier.
- Be patient. This slot is not showing its potential in short sessions. You should play at least 250 spins to have some return.
- Last but not least, control the level of your initial capital at all times: a 50% increase is the point to leave the current game session; a 30% loss is also the crucial moment to terminate your game.
