Safari King (Pragmatic Play): Introduction

Pragmatic Play has been leaning heavily into animal-themed slots lately, with three of its more recent releases focusing either on horses (Mustang Gold, Treasure Horse) or, as in this case, African wildlife. It’s not a theme we’re especially keen on, but if the gameplay holds up, the maths are right and there’s real winning potential, that’s what counts. In fact, those exact qualities have helped Pragmatic move from being somewhat overlooked to taking a more established place in the market, with more players now recognising its catalogue.

Even so, Pragmatic still hasn’t fully won us over. To us, many of the games retain a slightly generic vibe that the studio can’t quite shake, and the bonus rounds are often frustratingly difficult to trigger. Of course, our view isn’t the only one that matters, and players tend to cast a wide net—some of the titles people grind day after day might genuinely surprise you.

Safari King is a Pragmatic Play video slot set on the African savannah, running on a 5-reel, 4-row layout with 50 paylines. The base game isn’t exactly feature-packed (there aren’t any), and while it seems possible to hit a full-screen top symbol in the base game (hard to confirm without the reel strips), it’s really the bonus that delivers the main impact.

Safari King ships with a default RTP of 96.49%, plus an alternative 96.37% RTP option for operators. There’s no real need to dwell on that, since both sit comfortably within a reasonable range. It’s available across almost all device types, so most players can access it, though plenty of low-rollers may be put off by the minimum 0.50€ stake. Bigger bettors, however, will appreciate the ability to go up to 250€ per spin.

From a visual standpoint, it’s a perfectly respectable-looking slot, though that same generic quality we mentioned earlier still lingers. To be fair, Pragmatic isn’t alone in that, and given the overall production quality it’s not necessarily a deal-breaker. The real visual highlight in Safari King is the smoothly animated background, where you’ll notice dry grass moving in the wind and birds gliding across the scene.

Safari King (Pragmatic Play): Symbols & Paytable

There are 13 symbols altogether, and as expected the lower-value set consists of the A, K, Q, J, 10 and 9 royals. Stepping up in value, you’ll find gazelles, cheetahs, rhinos and elephants—elephants being the top-paying symbol, awarding 20 times your stake for 5 of a kind, and also the only symbol that can appear fully stacked on the reels.

As the king of the big cats and the savannah’s apex predator, the lion takes the spotlight here. It acts as the wild symbol and can land on every reel except the first.

Safari King (Pragmatic Play): Free Spins

To enter the free spins feature, you need to hit 3 bonus symbols on the middle reels. The round begins with 8 free spins, and before each spin an extra wild is placed onto reels 2, 3, 4 and 5. These added wilds stay on the reel set for the duration of the feature (they aren’t sticky, though). On top of that, every bonus symbol that lands during the free spins awards 1 additional free spin, with no cap on how many retriggers you can get.

As you’ve probably worked out, the mix of retriggers and the extra wilds makes this a fairly lively bonus, since the odds of reaching the 1000x max win (full-screen elephants/lions) improve with each spin you take.

Safari King (Pragmatic Play): Conclusion

Safari King doesn’t pretend to be anything other than what it is: a straightforward, fairly standard slot. It isn’t a poor game by any means, and the 1000x per spin win potential certainly gives it some appeal. Still, that generic feel is present, and it’s amplified by a savannah setting that’s been used countless times before.

This isn’t Pragmatic’s standout release, and it may not have been designed to be. If you can look past the limited features and lack of originality, it could still provide some fun. If you want something with more punch from Pragmatic, we’d suggest trying Da Vinci’s Treasure or Peking Luck.