Funky Monkey, a slot machine that was designed by RTG, is offered to its players as a game that tries to bring back a little bit of the 60’s and 70’s. The game does this by being themed around funk music and around psychedelic graphics. The twist is that there are a couple of monkeys performing for you, but otherwise the full focus is on the music that they’re creating, music that you might still remember and enjoy from that era.
This game and its music theme rely on 5 reels and 20 lines to be enough to get the message across. As you will learn yourself, there is a random jackpot prominently displayed at the top of the reels, but that’s mostly for show and the real prize is offered inside, up to $10,000 from the best combo of symbols available. The features used include not only wilds, but also scatter symbols and free spins, plus multipliers that get as high as 10x.
Features of Funky Monkey
Starring in the main role in this game is Funky Monkey, a character with big eyes, a red top hat and a fur around his neck. It’s a funky monkey indeed, which in this case is a wild symbol as well. It can show up on three out of five reels (1st, 3rd and 5th). Whenever you get the funky monkey symbol, it will substitute for another symbol if by doing so a new combo can be formed (or a better paying one). However, a wild symbol can’t substitute for other feature icons, so the scatters are not influenced by it.
Among the rest of the features available in this game, the banana shaped guitar is one of the more special looking symbols. It acts as a scatter, appearing in any position in the game while awarding prizes of up to 100 times the wager. You can get paid with as little as two banana symbols, but the real payout is offered for five.
The game doesn’t stop with just one scatter though, like so many others do. “Funky” and “Monkey” are another two icons of this type, which are limited to appearances on a single reel. “Funky” is the one that pops up on the 1st reel, while “Monkey” appears on the 5th.
Funky Monkey Feature with Free Spins
Players that love games with free spins will enjoy this feature especially. Triggering it requires for the two “Funky” and “Monkey” scatters to appear during the same round on their reels (1st and 5th). If you get them at the same time, you will be rewarded with the bonus game.
During this bonus game that follows, you are asked to choose one of the monkeys, which will play a funky tune. Applause will follow and it will be measured on the Monkey Meter. The bigger the response to the tune, the more free spins you win. Up to 25 free games will be awarded here.
Both scatter symbols appear during the free spins, but they have slightly different roles than in the base game. For example, they are used as wilds for the duration of the free spins, not as scatter symbols. Also, each time one of them appears on the screen, the multiplier of the prize increases. It can go as high as 10x, which means you can theoretically be rewarded with a $100,000 top jackpot, instead of $10,000.
Betting options and jackpots
Funky Monkey delivers to your screen a total of 20 paylines, on which the winning combinations have to align starting from the left. You can place wagers of one coin on each payline you want activated, with the denomination varying from $0.01 to $5. Keep in mind that the number of coins is the same as the number of lines, so a $5 coin can result in a bet worth $100 and used up for a single spin of the reels.
The rewards can be pretty good though, with up to $10,000 awarded during the base game, or as much as $100,000 during the free spins. The progressive jackpot, though advertised quite prominently, is given away to a random player and doesn’t require input from the symbols appearing on the reels.
Design and symbols
The design here gives you exactly the right kind of graphics, considering that it is themed around the 70’s and the kind of music and clothing that were popular back then. The psychedelic theme is especially popular here, with each playing card having it in its design.
Symbols: Funky Monkey (wild), Banana Guitar (scatter, 100x the bet value), Funky & Monkey (scatters), DJ Monkey (2,000x), Drum Player Monkey (1,500x), Offroad Vehicle (1,000x), Gold Record (1,000x), Ace or King (500x), Queen or Jack (250x), 10 or 9 (100x).
Is It Worth Playing?
If you’ve lived through the 70’s and you enjoyed them, or if you simply like that time period and you regret not being around the hippie movement, this game is for you. It’s got a good design and manages to get you into the right mood, plus its list of features and free spins is going to provide an extra bit of entertainment as well.
You will find Funky Monkey at any online casino which chooses to use software from RTG, playable either for free or for real money.
