Updated
Lisa Michaels
The rhythm of tribal drums got my pulse pounding in 9 Masks of Fire Online Slot by Games Global and Gameburger Studios. Rising embers glow in the background of this African-themed slot where glowing golden masks appear alongside classic slot symbols on the burning reels. Special scatters pay increasingly rewarding prizes worth up to $120k, and the red-hot bonus round delivers multiplier-enhanced excitement.
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9 Masks of Fire is a viral slot, thanks partly to its simplicity. The game is straightforward, with a classic style that makes spinning to win straightforward. To play, all you have to do is follow these steps:
As you play, you can land matching symbols along paylines to win, and there are some exciting bonus features to look out for.
9 Masks of Fire has a standard reel layout, using five reels and four rows. However, there are extra indicators to the left of the grid, showing how much you can win from scatter pays.
The controls to spin, use Autoplay, and change your bet are positioned below the reels. If you prefer to play through your spins quickly, press the lightning icon to speed up the spins.
To the left of your balance, there’s a burger menu that you can open to check the paytable and game rules or change the settings. The settings menu lets you adjust the game speed, sounds, and music as you play.
Masks of Fire uses a 5x4 layout featuring twenty paylines. You must land three or more matching symbols along any of these lines to land a win and collect a payout. Payouts are determined by the value of the symbol and the number of symbols on the line. All wins are paid out from left to right, and symbols must be on adjacent reels.
The game’s RTP is 96.24%, which is just above average for online slots and indicates that you should theoretically experience a fair return on the money you wager. However, it would be best if you remembered that the RTP doesn’t give you an exact figure of how much you’ll realistically win back. Because it’s calculated over an extremely long period, your payout when playing the game for a short time can vary greatly.
The medium volatility means that the game will pay out an even combination of regular, smaller wins and occasional, larger prizes. Medium volatility games are the most balanced in the frequency and size of payouts, although you’ll still need to manage your bankroll and play responsibly. When I tested the game out, I did land a big win without using wild symbols, but I still lost overall.
9 Masks of Fire pays out a maximum of 2,000x your stake. This win is achieved by landing nine masks anywhere on the reels, and the total value is always shown on the side of the reels.
9 Masks of Fire has a classic theme, with many symbols you’d find in classic slot machines. At the bottom of the paytable, the cherry and BAR symbols pay 1x your take for five on a payline, the bell pays 2x, and the golden dollar sign pays 3.25x.
Higher up the paytable are the lucky 7s, which can be matched up for big wins or pay smaller wins for non-matching combinations. Land five of any 7s on a payline for 3.25x your stake. As a matching line of 5, the single lucky 7 pays 7.5x; the double lucky 7 pays 20x, and the triple lucky 7 pays 37.5x.
Aside from the regular symbol, 9 Masks of Fire also features three bonus symbols. There’s a wild, a paying scatter and a free spins bonus scatter. Each has the potential to trigger big wins and is critical to the game’s main features.
9 Masks of Fire has some excellent bonus features, some of which can potentially lead to massive payouts if you’re lucky.
Diamonds can appear anywhere on the reels as you play and will substitute for other paying symbols. Not only will these wilds help you form wins with different symbols, but they can also pay on their own. If you land five wilds on a line, you’ll win a payout worth 125x your stake.
The glowing tribal mask symbol is a scatter that forms winning combinations from anywhere on the reels. You will get an instant cash prize if you land three or more. You could win rewards worth 1x, 5x, 15x, 40x, 100x, 500x, or 2000x your bet for landing 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9 masks. The value of these payouts based on your current bet is displayed alongside the reels at all times to let you know the prizes at stake.
If you think you’ve seen this feature before, it’s probably because you’ve played 9 Pots of Gold, which sports identical gameplay. Unlike other slots, this scatter symbol doesn’t unlock the free spins bonus. Instead, there’s a separate scatter for that.
If you’re eager to see the bonus round's rewards, you must land three free spins scatter symbols on reels 2, 3, and 4. This will trigger the free spins round, where you can win even bigger rewards.
After landing three scatters, a bonus wheel will appear and spin to award you a set number of spins plus a win multiplier. Each wedge of the bonus wheel contains several spins between 10 and 30 plus a multiplier of either 2x or 3x. The multiplier will apply to all wins except scatter pays. The maximum bonus you can achieve here would be 30 free spins with a 3x multiplier.
It’s possible to retrigger free spins during the bonus round by landing three more scatters on a single spin. Rather than respin the bonus wheel, you’ll be awarded the same number of spins and multiplier that you initially received.
While this game uses the designs and style of a classic slot machine, the graphics still look amazing. Each symbol is uniquely designed, with a traditional African-style theme to make them stand out compared to other games. Gameburger Studios isn’t the biggest software provider, but it’s put much effort into ensuring this game looks great.
The background is pretty plain, but rising embers add to the atmosphere as you play and every win you land leads to a firestorm. The reels also have a gleaming gold border, creating a stylish look. The background music adds to the African theme; a rhythmic drum beat plays in the background, with coin sounds for every win. Overall, the visuals and sounds are mind-blowing but extremely fun, creating a highly polished and enjoyable experience as you spin the reels.
If you want to feel the thrill of this title’s exciting bonus features but are not ready to spend any cash, try our free demo game. With unlimited credits, you can get the full 9 Masks of Fire experience and create a playing strategy without the risk of losing any money.
You can play the demo as much as you like, and there’s no need even to make a deposit. Load up our demo and start spinning. All the game’s features work the same, so you can try to trigger the bonus round and play around with different stakes to see which you like best.
We always recommend playing a slot demo before committing to playing with real cash. The demo allows you to play free without spending any real money. While this also means you can’t win real cash, it ensures you can play without risk. This is a great way to test out a game, experience its features and decide whether you want to play for real.
When buying a product, it’s always a good idea to test it first, and playing slots is no different. While reading a review gives you an idea of what to expect, the demo helps you experience it yourself. You can get a grip on the scatter pay symbols and see how much they pay from specific stakes, and you’ll also have a chance to trigger the free spins.
Thanks to the success of 9 Masks of Fire, Gameburger Studios has released lots of other games in the series, adding new themes and bonus features to keep things fresh. Let’s compare some of the most popular:
I switched up my strategy with 9 Masks of Fire, starting with a high bet of 20 credits, hoping for a quick big win to modify my betting amounts with the profit. Unfortunately, this approach didn't pan out, and I reduced the bet to 5 credits. After a few spins with small wins, hitting 5 masks brought in a whopping 75 credits with a 5-credit bet. Feeling lucky, I increased the bet to 15, but the luck ran out before landing any other significant wins.
Results:Despite the loss, some noteworthy aspects come through. The game's overall design, including graphics, music, and audio effects, makes it an engaging experience. Even though I missed free spins and wild symbols, hitting a substantial win without them was a positive note. With a bit more time, there seems to be potential for significant wins.
Ever wanted to experience an African adventure with wins worth up to 2,000x your bet? 9 Masks of Fire is reskin of 9 pots of gold, and it offers a lot of fun. 9 Masks of Fire does a lot of things right. Its simple theme delivers much visual impact, backed by the rhythmic African soundtrack. I loved the simplicity of the Scatter Pays feature, which lands often enough to make the base game an exciting experience and is how you could claim the game’s top prize of 2,000x.
Regarding African-themed slots, Animals of Africa has a more detailed theme and bigger winning potential, while the original Mega Moolah might look more dated but packs a massive jackpot.
Lisa started off as a croupier at her local casino. However she found her niche in writing and has subsequently used her real-world gambling experiences to help produce and review the many online slots that are released monthly. Lisa also contributes to keeping you up to date with Canadian newsworthy stories.
