IGT's Cats Slot Review 2020

Cats is a slot from IGT that, as you might have guessed from its name, uses felines as its theme. But the Cats slot machine is not based around the adventures of your house moggy. Instead, it takes you to the plains of Africa, where the big cats roam wild.

This Cats slot review will take a closer look at the game for you. You can check out whether or not the bonus features are something to get your teeth right into, or will just leave you gnashing your fangs in frustration.

If you’re looking to try out the Cats slot machine online, then you should know that it is played on a grid of 5 reels and 3 rows. There are 30 paylines. The minimum bet for UK players is usually £0.30 and the maximum £900, though this can vary depending on which online casino you are using, so make sure you check it. The game uses HTML5 technology, so, as you would expect, can be played on a wide range of mobile devices without the quality being affected. The maximum win in the game is £250,000 at most casinos, though, again, you should check this with the operator that you favour.

There is an autoplay feature that you can use if you like to watch the reels spin. You can also adjust the quality of the graphics if you want, with 4 levels, ranging from Low mode to Best mode. The lower the quality level you set, the smoother the animation will be. Of course, the graphics are less detailed at the lower levels, though. The game was first released in August 2013, and the latest update to it was applied in March 2020.

Cats Slot RTP

The RTP of the game is given as 94.93%, which is quite low for a slot of this type. It is pretty typical for an IGT slot, though, as their games tend to have lower RTPs than those of other developers. Cleopatra, for example, has an RTP of 95.02%, while the famous Da Vinci Diamonds slot has an RTP of 94.93%. Their Family Guy branded slot also fits into this range, with an RTP of between 92.50% and 96.05%. You should also know that the game has medium variance, so be prepared to wait for those big wins to come along while you keep your balance topped up with the smaller prizes along the way.

The reels in the Cats slot machine are framed in ornate gold and set in front of a sunset scene on the African plains. Burnt orange, yellow and gold colours are used to create an atmosphere of exotic heat. It’s a simple backdrop that does not use too much detail, but it works well to set the scene and immerse the player in the action. You bet totals and an I tab are lined up along the base of the reels so you can keep track easily, as well as access the Cats slot pay table and other information.

The music and sound effects have a bright and fresh feel, but also a little bit jarring at times. They sound very much like the kind of effects and music that you would find in a cabinet based game from a couple of decades ago. If you enjoy retro-themed games you will probably quite enjoy it. We would expect most players to use the mute button after a while, though. The reels make a satisfying clicking sound as the symbols fall into place, which we thought added a touch of class to things.

You Can Almost Hear the Symbols Roar

The lower value symbols on the reels are the letters J, Q, K and A, and are nothing remarkable. The higher value symbols are some pretty detailed renderings of big cats. You’ll see a leopard, a black panther, what looks like a North American mountain lion, and the king of beasts himself, the mighty male African lion. There is also a tiger, so there is no geographical limitation to where the big cats in the game originate. The symbols look good without being outstanding, but are pretty detailed in fairly simple way. They all match the Cats slot theme perfectly.

Some of the animals appear twice on some symbols, and we’ll take a closer look at why this happens in the next section of this review. You need to look out for the paw print scatter symbol, which triggers the feature, and the game logo, which is the wild symbol. This can substitute for all other symbols apart from the paw print scatter. The scatter can also appear as a double symbol, just like the big cats. It’s important to note that 4 of the scatter symbol on the payline will trigger a win but not the free spins feature. You can find out how many scatters you need to do that in the next section of this review.

There are 2 features that can boost your chances of big wins in the Cats slot machine IGT have produced. The simplest of these is the split symbol feature we mentioned above. You can also benefit from some free spins, however.

Split Symbols

One feature that we particularly liked in this game was the way that the double big cat symbols counted as two symbols on a payline. So if you spin in a double symbol and 3 other matching symbols on that payline it counts as 5 symbols for the purposes of the payout. You can see that this can prove to be quite lucrative if you’re lucky, so the double symbols are much more than merely a cosmetic addition to the game.

Free Spins

While we liked the Split Symbols feature in this slot, we also enjoyed the improved chances to win generated by the free spins feature. You need to watch out for the paw print scatter symbol for this feature. The scatter can appear as a double symbol, just like big cat symbols can. You trigger the feature when 5 or 6 of the paw print scatters appear on the reels. They can only appear on reels 2, 3 and 4.

Paw print scatters count as 2 symbols when they appear as doubles. So if you get 2 double scatters on 2 reels and a single 1 on another then you will trigger the feature, as it will count as 5 symbols in total. If you see 5 scatters on the reels, you will receive 5 free spins. For 6 or more symbols you get 10 spins.

The free spins also take place on a special set of bonus reels, boosting your chances to win even further. The same line bets and paylines apply to these reels.

We enjoyed this game, so this Cats slot review will conclude on a largely positive note. While the free spins feature can seem a little ungenerous when it comes to the number of spins it offers, the special set of reels makes it more lucrative than it might initially appear. The split symbols feature is really good and quite an original touch. The graphics and sound effects do their job rather than excel, so this is more like a trip to the zoo rather than the wild savannah, but is enjoyable enough nevertheless.

If you want to try some other big cat-themed slots, check out Silver Lion from Lightning Box Games, or Hot Safari from Pragmatic Play.

Cats Slot FAQs