Magawa vs Mines: Slot Overview

If you’ve always thought of rats as mere nuisances that pinch food and spread illness, it may be worth revisiting that view. Rats are surprisingly intelligent, and a perfect example is Magawa, a giant African pouched rat awarded a PDSA Gold Medal after locating 39 landmines and 28 pieces of unexploded ordnance. Magawa was trained by APOPO, an organisation that teaches animals to detect landmines and tuberculosis. Rats like Magawa can search an area the size of a tennis court in around half an hour—something that would take a person 4 days. These achievements haven’t only been celebrated with medals and ceremonies. This courageous rodent has also been paid tribute by Relax Gaming partner Slammer Studios, a fresh face in the industry, through the online slot Magawa vs Mines.

Magawa carried out his work in Cambodia, where an estimated 4 to 6 million landmines were planted between 1975 and 1998, leading to over 64,000 casualties. Many devices are still in the ground, leaving Cambodia among the world’s most severely impacted countries for landmines and unexploded bombs. The nation’s lush, enigmatic landscapes are reflected in miniature here. At the centre of a grassy clearing sits the game’s 7×7 grid matrix, framed by dense foliage and striking stone features like giant heads and root-tangled structures. Slammer Studios has created a genuinely welcoming setting—well detailed and with an almost video game-like finish. That said, the big-band 1930s crime caper tune in the base game, and the free spins’ 1980s German S&M club-style track, didn’t really seem to match the theme, though music taste is always subjective.

To join Magawa in the search for explosives, players choose a wager of 10 c to $/€50 per spin and then decide whether to switch on the ante bet. When the ante bet is enabled, the stake increases by 50%, and the chance of triggering free spins rises by more than 300%. Classified as highly volatile from a mathematical standpoint, Magawa vs Mines is a cluster pays title, awarding wins when 5 or more matching symbols connect in adjacent horizontal or vertical positions. Winning symbols (excluding wilds) are cleared away and replaced via a cascade mechanic, while the standard RTP is 95.98%, though this shifts when features are purchased or the ante bet is used.

Four low-paying symbols appear as slanted rocks marked with clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades, while the four higher-value icons are cutters, goggles, a tech device, and a PDSA medal. Clusters of 5 to 7 matching symbols return 0.2 to 2 times the bet, climbing to 100 to 1,000 times the bet for a 40-49 OAK cluster. At least one Magawa Wild lands on every spin. Magawa Wilds replace any paying symbol, and they do not cascade when they form part of a win.

Magawa vs Mines: Slot Features

Slithering toward payouts in Magawa vs Mines is boosted by Mystery Mine symbols, mystery symbol reveals, a Rat Run feature, Random Mines, Second Chances, free spins, and bonus buys.

Features

• Mystery Mines – Mystery Mine symbols can be activated by the Rat Run or by adjacent winning combinations. When triggered, Mystery Mines place mystery symbols into neighbouring areas on the reels. All mystery symbols reveal the same symbol.
• Rat Run – The Rat Run starts when a Magawa Wild and a Mystery Mine land on the reels. The Magawa Wild dashes to the nearest Mystery Mine, dropping mystery symbols along its route, defusing it, and prompting the Mystery Mine to add more mystery symbols into adjacent reel positions. Landing 2 or more Magawa Wilds with Mystery Mines generates a multiplier equal to the number of Magawa Wilds that landed.
• Random Mines – After a win from the Rat Run or a standard winning combination, the Random Mine feature can activate. If it does, the Random Mine feature uncovers extra Mystery Mines on the grid.

Second Chance

Scatter symbols appear on every reel. The second chance randomly activates when 2 scatter symbols land on a non-winning spin. The second chance opens up new spaces on the reels, giving an extra opportunity to land scatters, Mystery Mines, Magawa Wilds, and winning combinations.

Free Spins

Landing 3 scatters grants 8 free spins. In free spins, every Mystery Mine carries multipliers ranging from x2 to x10. Multipliers add together, and more Multipliers can appear within the same sequence. Scatters are collected during free spins. For each set of 3 scatters collected, a low pay symbol is removed from Mystery Mine and Rat Run reveals, and 3 extra free spins are awarded.

Bonus Buy

Magawa vs Mines includes several purchase options: 65x the bet for 8 free spins with 0 symbols removed, 105x the bet for 11 free spins with 1 symbol removed, 185x the bet for 14 free spins with 2 symbols removed, 255x the bet for 17 free spins with 3 symbols removed, or 310x the bet for 20 free spins with 4 symbols removed.

Magawa vs Mines: Slot Verdict

For starters, it’s usually a plus when a developer chooses a theme you don’t see every day. That’s exactly what happened with Magawa vs Mines, which sent us digging online to learn who—or what—Magawa actually was. As it turns out, Magawa is real, and this rat is living proof of the saying that not all heroes wear capes. Given Magawa’s story, there was genuine optimism that the slot Slammer Studios built around the mine-detecting legend would be a strong one. After spending time with it, Magawa vs Mines offered moments of fun, though it wasn’t entirely free of a few irritations.

On the quieter side, even though wins and free spins triggers came around fairly often, they seldom felt like they were about to explode into anything truly meaningful. Rat Run wins are a compelling idea, however, because when Magawa races to those Mystery Mines, mystery symbols are laid down along his trail and in positions adjacent to the Mystery Mine. In the base game, you’ll want the luck of seeing more than one Magawa Wild arrive alongside a Mystery Mine, since that’s when a multiplier is added. Alternatively, make it into free spins, where every Mystery Mine symbol shows a multiplier. That extra power helps, as most mystery symbol reveals tended to be on the lower-paying side. A nice target to chase is collecting scatters in free spins to reduce the number of those annoying low-pay symbols. The low-pay symbols can still land; they just won’t be the ones revealed by mystery symbols.

One of the biggest curveballs in Magawa vs Mines is that, despite often feeling like a low-win experience, it actually carries a top prize of 20,000x the bet—so, in theory, a huge hit (or even more than one) is hiding in there somewhere, like a cleverly concealed landmine. All told, Magawa vs Mines is an appealing slot with a genuinely heart-warming backstory, though it’s also a game that can just as easily lead to annoyance as it can to victory.