Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar: Slot Overview

Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar is the fifth novel in the jungle hero series by American author Edgar Rice Burroughs. Anyone who knows the plot will remember how strange it gets: Opar is a mine supplying gold to the lost city of Atlantis; Tarzan takes a blow to the head and loses his memory; he’s pursued by La, a priestess of the Flaming God, while her priests attempt to sacrifice him. All in all, it makes a fun backdrop for Microgaming partner Gameburger Studios’ follow-up to their popular 9 Masks of Fire.

When a game becomes a success, it’s tempting to keep squeezing the formula, and Gameburger did exactly that with 9 Pots of Gold—essentially the same slot dressed in a cheerful Irish theme. Here, the studio tries to move on while still retaining much of what players enjoyed about 9 Masks. The result is a game that feels familiar in plenty of ways, but with several core parts improved. The most noticeable switch is the 5-reel, 20-payline layout, now placed in a richly illustrated jungle setting. Under the hood, a number of settings have been adjusted too.

Gameburger said their goal was to expand on a blockbuster math model, and that’s not just marketing—9 Masks of Fire was their biggest standout, helped by approachable, player-friendly maths. 9 Pots of Gold ran on the same framework, while Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar introduces a handful of changes.

To start, the RTP has been nudged up to 96.38%—not a dramatic shift like the top prize, but any increase is a plus. Moving the other way is the hit rate, now 33.26%, which still works out to roughly a win every three spins. What hasn’t changed is volatility, once again sitting at a medium level. So yes, the math model has been tweaked here and there, though in real play it may be hard to notice a major difference.

The vine-swinging action runs on any device, with stakes selectable from 20 p/c to $/€20 per spin. Wins are paid for landing three or more matching symbols on one of the 20 fixed paylines. There are 8 regular pay symbols: 4 lower-paying J-A royals with an overgrown design, plus premium icons—The Belgian, Jane, La, and Tarzan as the top symbol. Five Tarzans across a payline return 37.5x the stake, while the other premium symbols pay between 5 and 20 times the bet.

The last symbols are 2 scatters (explained below) and the panther wild, which can land on any reel. It substitutes for any paying symbol to complete combinations, and it also pays up to 62.5x for five on a line.

Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar: Slot Features

Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar includes a handful of features to keep things varied. They’re mostly easy to understand, and many will be familiar from the earlier 9 Masks/9 Pots titles. The fresh addition is the Random Wild feature. On any spin, Tarzan can swing across the screen one or more times, dropping at least 2 wild symbols onto the reels. In testing this typically created 2 or 3 wilds, though in theory it can add up to 15, covering the reels for a 1,250x win.

After that come free spins, activated when 3 scatter symbols land on reels 2, 3, and 4. This triggers the Feature Wheel, which works differently here. The same number of spins can be awarded (10-30), but now the attached win multiplier can reach x10. The multiplier applies to all wins during free spins, except jackpot scatter wins.

The last feature is the one that made 9 Masks famous—the scatter jackpot. Hitting three or more purple jewel scatters immediately pays the corresponding prize. The reward for landing 9 scatters is now 5,000 times the stake, which is more than double the previous amount.

Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar: Slot Verdict

Even without a “9” in the name, Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar is, in essence, still 9 Masks of Fire at its core. However, it isn’t the low-effort copy that 9 Pots of Gold felt like. Beyond the new title, which helps separate it from earlier entries, there are a couple of notable upgrades—most importantly the larger jackpot. This time, landing 9 scatters awards 5,000x instead of 2,000x. It’s a surprising improvement, and a strong one for players chasing bigger outcomes. Most of the underlying stats have also been adjusted slightly, meaning the math model isn’t simply pasted over. The number-crunching team clearly had to do some recalculating for this release.

Outside of the maths, the presentation is also a major shift from the previous two games. This is especially true compared to 9 Masks, which was fairly plain—though that classic simplicity was part of its appeal. Tarzan’s Jewels delivers a more built-out world, with added animations and more detailed background art. Visually it looks good, though it doesn’t stand far apart from other Tarzan slots like Lord of the Wilds. Tarzan also does the expected vine-swinging through the trees, for instance.

In a lot of respects, Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar plays like a more traditional slot than the games that came before it. It adds one extra feature, offers higher potential, and leans into a more developed theme (even if it’s lifted directly from a novel). That said, it loses the classic, minimalist slot feel that helped 9 Masks stand out, so it’ll be interesting to see whether it catches on in the same way. Does going more mainstream cost it some of the charm that 9 Masks of Fire had? It’ll be worth watching how fans of the original respond to the changes.