Gorilla Kingdom: Overview

NetEnt’s newest jungle-themed slot is packed with a cast of quirky animals, with the ever-popular gorilla taking centre stage. There’s just something about gorillas: in the wild they laze about, groom each other, and look permanently stern. Then, every so often, they break out the chest-beating display—pretty intimidating if you’re anywhere nearby. Maybe that flash of aggression taps into some ancient instinct, a leftover primal alarm bell. Whatever the reason, gorillas show up in slots all the time, and in Gorilla Kingdom they’re also key to much of the game’s win potential. More debatably, NetEnt has included a symbol transform upgrade mechanic that players will recognise from a release by a rival studio. Is it respectful inspiration, or outright copying?

Before getting into the critique, it’s worth taking in the setting. Gorilla Kingdom unfolds deep in dense jungle where the air feels heavy and insects are everywhere. NetEnt knows how to deliver visuals, and this is a rich, leafy slot with loads of greenery and a vibrant, humid atmosphere. In front of a thundering waterfall sits the 5×4 grid with 1,024 ways to win. The reels are semi-transparent—or at least designed to blend into the backdrop—creating a polished overall look. Put simply: if you’re into nature themes, you’ll appreciate what NetEnt has built here.

The paytable features 10 standard symbols, evenly split between low-paying 9-A royals and higher-paying character icons. The top symbols are jungle residents, starting with a pangolin and an okapi. Then come the premium animals: a horn billed bird, a leopard, and the gorilla, which pays 4 times the stake for five of a kind. Premium symbols only require 2 of a kind to pay, while the remaining symbols need at least three. NetEnt has left out wilds, which makes the base game feel a bit sparse, and there are only two other special symbols that we’ll cover in the features.

Before you start cutting through the vines like Jane Goodall on a primate mission, you’ll need to set your stake. The range is broad, catering to small budgets at 0.10 c/p, up to a high roller friendly 350 €/$ per spin. NetEnt’s refreshed UI sits neatly under the reels in theme-matching colours, with options for manual spins or autoplay. There are moments of energy thanks to stacked symbols and the high number of ways. Still, there isn’t a great deal happening in the base game, so it often turns into waiting for the scatter to show up. It’s not excessively punishing and seems to run on a medium-to-high math model, backed by a solid 96.1% RTP setting.

Gorilla Kingdom: Features

The two special symbols mentioned begin with the scatter. It can land on any reel as a large blue diamond, and hitting 3, 4, or 5 triggers 10, 15, or 20 Free Spins respectively. The bonus round adds a couple of tweaks that make it more appealing. First, the gorilla symbol can randomly appear as the gorilla mask symbol. When it does, it behaves like a regular gorilla on the reels, but then it shoots down into a slot on the animal panel beneath. That panel shows the other four premium animal symbols stacked in a totem-style layout.

Once the mask fills 6 slots on an animal panel, it converts into the gorilla and 2 free spins are added to your total. The catch is that animal symbols upgrade from highest to lowest, rather than the usual low-to-high progression. That makes completing the upgrades a bit more challenging, though it’s still possible to fully upgrade so that only gorillas and royals remain on the reels.

Diamond scatters also appear during the bonus and can keep it going. With 2, 3, 4, or 5 in view, players collect an additional 3, 10, 15, or 20 extra free spins. When things click, you can build up a sizeable free spins total through a combination of scatters and completed animal panels.

Gorilla Kingdom: Verdict

Gorilla Kingdom wasn’t the easiest slot to judge. It’s the kind of game that functions well, looks great, and has a strong bonus round, yet somehow misses that extra spark. There aren’t glaring problems to grab hold of and rip apart. Nor are there many true “Wow!” moments that make you want to pull friends in to try it. The main knock is the transforming symbols mechanic, which is, well, lifted from a competitor. Experienced players will immediately spot the resemblance to Thunderkick’s Pink Elephants—another wildlife slot built around the same concept, but with more enticing upside than Gorilla Kingdom.

Maybe Gorilla Kingdom is NetEnt testing the waters with this feature. If it lands well and doesn’t draw too many complaints, perhaps they’ll reuse it in a more daring, modern slot later on. Here, it fits the jungle theme and works smoothly, but Gorilla Kingdom isn’t likely to set the world on fire. That said, credit where it’s due: the bonus can dish out plenty of free spins, and seeing gorillas take over the reels can be entertaining.

In summary, Gorilla Kingdom is another dependable NetEnt slot with respectable potential. Just expect a game built around a borrowed mechanic, paired with a base game that feels like sitting in the bushes for days waiting for the perfect wildlife photo—something that might show up, or might not.