Precious Panda: Hold & Win Slot Review

Precious Panda: Hold & Win Slot RTP, Details & Wager Limits

The Precious Panda: Hold & Win slot is played on 5 reels with 25 fixed paylines. Wins are formed by matching 3 or more symbols on adjacent reels, beginning from the leftmost reel. Only the highest win per line is paid out.

When it comes to betting options, you can play this game from as low as 25p up to £25 per spin, thus catering to most pockets. There will be some lower-stake players who prefer 10p spins, so it’s a shame this game doesn’t go that low. Hit the poker chip icon beside the spin button to adjust your total bet. Turbo spins and autospins may also be options in your country.

The Precious Panda: Hold & Win RTP is 96%. This is around the average figure at UK slot sites, and it’s great to also see the volatility levels in the medium range too (6/10). The hit rate is 36.5%, which is a very generous level compared to a lot of other slots on the market. Take the Masks of Fortune Megaways slot as an example. This iSoftBet title was released just before this one and has a lower hit rate of 29.5%.

The maximum win is 8,888 x the bet. This is poignant as the number 8 is very lucky in the Far East. Your best chance of landing the top prize will arguably come in the Free Spins feature, although the Fortune Chime to the right of the reels can trigger randomly at any point and award the maximum win.

Theme – a garden paradise

iSoftBet calls it a garden paradise, but that is one huge garden! Waterfalls, lakes, temples and trees dominate the background in the Precious Panda: Hold & Win slot game. Visually, it’s good albeit pretty basic, and I like the large and bold symbols on the reels.

The traditional soundtrack brings everything together, although it could get a little annoying after a while. I enjoyed the audio, to begin with, but I was soon reaching for the mute button as it was a bit too much for me as I was spinning away. You may not think so.

Land one of the bonus features and the audio intensifies, although I wasn’t a fan of the soundtrack here either personally. If I had to choose, I preferred the base game audio to that heard in the bonus features. The fireworks when big wins land is a nice touch and in keeping with the theme.

On the reels, the A-10 Royals make up the lower-paying symbols. There was actually a 9 symbol in the asset pack, but I assume iSoftBet decided not to go that low in the end. The higher-paying symbols include fortune tassels, sycees, lotus flowers and pandas. The panda symbol is the most lucrative, paying 0.4, 2 or 6 x the bet for 3, 4 or 5 in combination.

The game’s wild is a lucky money tree, which can also be stacked on reels 2, 3,  4 and 5. it substitutes for all symbols apart from the Bonus and Cash Medallion symbols. The Cash Medallion symbols are essentially the Yin Yang symbols. iSoftBet uses both terms when referring to them.

Symbol	Payout/Info
10	3, 4 or 5 = 0.2, 0.4 or 1 x stake
J	3, 4 or 5 = 0.2, 0.4 or 1 x stake
Q	3, 4 or 5 = 0.2, 0.4 or 1 x stake
K	3, 4 or 5 = 0.2, 0.4 or 1 x stake
A	3, 4 or 5 = 0.2, 0.8 or 3 x stake
Fortune Tassel	3, 4 or 5 = 0.2, 1 or 4 x stake
Sycee	3, 4 or 5 = 0.2, 1 or 4 x stake
Lotus Flower	3, 4 or 5 = 0.2, 1.2 or 4 x stake
Panda	3, 4 or 5 = 0.4, 2 or 6 x stake
Wild	Substitutes for all except Bonus & Cash Medallion
Bonus	3 in view triggers Panda Feature Pack + pays 4x
Cash Medallion	5+ triggers Hold & Win feature

Precious Panda: Hold & Win Mobile

Released on the 1st of November 2023, you can join Panda’s adventures via mobile, tablet and/or desktop devices. The Precious Panda: Hold & Win mobile slot is compatible with iOS and Android smartphones. The 5×3 setup works very well on smaller screens.

Precious Panda: Hold & Win Bonus Features

There are 5 bonus features to enjoy in the Precious Panda: Hold & Win slot game. From a Fortune Chime that can award the maximum win at any moment to Stacked Wilds, Respins, Pot Awards and a Free Spins feature, there’s a lot to understand. Let’s break everything down for you, starting with the Stacked Wilds

Stacked Wilds

If 3 Wilds land vertically on reels 2, 3, 4 and/or 5, they will extend to become a Stacked Wild. It’s as simple as that. This could create more winning combinations.

Fortune Chime

To the right of the reels, you will see a Yin-Yang symbol. This is the Fortune Chime. It can be triggered randomly at any point to award 1 of the following instant cash prizes:

• 8 x bet
• 88 x bet
• 888 x bet
• 8,888 x bet

Panda Feature Pick

If you land 3 Bonus symbols on the reels in the base game, not only will you get a 4 x bet payout, but you will also trigger the Panda Feature Pick bonus round. You’ll simply see 2 Pandas sitting next to each other and you will need to pick one. One will be for the Hold & Win feature and one will be for the Free Spins feature.

Free Spins feature

If you choose this feature when landing 3 Bonus symbols, you will receive 8, 10 or 12 free spins randomly. Usually with these bonus rounds, you will receive a certain amount based on how many symbols trigger the feature, but it works slightly differently here. An extra 25, 50, 70 or 100 Wilds will be added to the reels randomly too before the bonus round begins. Simply spin away until the free spins run out.

Hold & Win feature

If you choose the Hold & Win feature when landing 3 Bonus symbols in the base game, you will be awarded 3 Respins, with the feature playing out like all other Respin features. Once you land a symbol, the spins reset back to 3. You’ll keep going until you either fill the reels or run out of respins. Note that 5 or more Cash Medallion symbols landing in the base game will also trigger this bonus feature.

A Hold & Win feature is always fun, but what enhances it is the fixed jackpots. Here’s what you could win depending on the symbols that land. If all positions are filled, you’ll win the grand prize.

• Mini = 30 x bet
• Minor = 100 x bet
• Major = 500 x bet
• Grand = 1,000 x bet

Precious Panda: Hold & Win Review Summary – a typical Hold & Win release

You know what you’re getting with a Hold & Win title, and the Precious Panda: Hold & Win slot is no different. But when you bring a very common theme to the fore, you should bring something different to the table. I didn’t see that with this release. It’s good, sure, but there’s nothing that will keep this long in the memory for me.

The 8,888 x max wins is a nice touch with 8 being a lucky number in Asia, but the rest is all a bit samey if that makes sense. A typical Respins feature, a typical Free Spins feature, typical Wilds. It’s nothing I’ve not seen before. That’s not necessarily a bad thing of course, but it’s the reason why I can’t score this any higher than I have. Don’t hesitate to try our free Precious Panda: Hold & Win slot demo and decide for yourself whether it’s one you’ll like.