Shimmering Woods

Step into the enchanted forest with Shimmering Woods, the online slot from Play'n GO. Take some time to converse with nature amongst beautiful surroundings - but there's more than meets the eye in this peaceful clearing. When night falls, the magic awakens, and you could collect the top payout of x25,000. 

Play'n GO has an impressive collection of titles with spectacular graphics across a range of themes. From the cartoon-like Gigantoonz and Hugo Carts to the epic adventure in Tales of Asgard: Loki's Fortune, Play'n GO slots stand out for being visually outstanding. There's nothing quite like Shimmering Woods already in their catalogue, but 15 Crystal Roses: A Tale of Love and The Faces of Freya offer the same combination of magic and intrigue in a gorgeous setting. 

The game starts out on a simple 5x3 grid which offers 243 ways to win. This means all you need to do is line up matching symbols in neighbouring reels, from left to right. The reel size can change during the game - but more about that below! - when this happens, the ways to win increases to a maximum of 7776. The betting range is pretty standard, running from 0.20 to 100.00, but relatively high volatility. You'll have to wait a while for wins to start flowing your way - but you couldn't pick a more picturesque place to hang out!

The first impression of Shimmering Woods is a game that's relaxing and gentle, with the woodland glade beckoning players in with promises of serenity. However, at night, there can be no doubt that magic is afoot as the bushes and trees radiate an ethereal glow that is utterly entrancing. There are lots to love about the gameplay - which we're going to move onto next - but even if there wasn't, the sheer beauty of the graphics would be enough to recommend this slot alone.  

The symbols on the reels may seem a bit basic compared to other slots; you won’t find any hidden woodland nymphs. The low pays are the playing card numbers in woody and green tones, while the high pays are made up of a series of coloured gems.  

Another gemstone is used for the wild, and this can stand in for any of the low or high pays to create more winning lines. 

Play'n GO are fans of cascading reels, and the mechanism is used again here. Every time you land a winning line, the symbols involved disappear and are replaced by new symbols which cascade onto the reels from above. All of the symbols shuffle into their new positions, and the reels are checked again for more wins. If other matches are found, it triggers another cascade - and so on, until there are no more wins. As an added advantage, a +1 multiplier applies to each cascade, increasing with each win but resetting once the cycle is finished.  

However, it's the Splitting Symbols that takes centre stage here, a feature which Play'n GO have used before in Frozen Gems. Before every spin, a symbol is picked at random and held above the reels. If this symbol hits, it automatically splits, which increases the ways to win, up to a whopping 7776 maximum.  

The purple crystals are the scatter, and if you land three or more, you'll unlock the free spins bonus round. The number of free spins varies from 10 to 19, depending on the number of scatters you land. You'll also get up to four splitting symbols during the free spins round, once again, depending on how many scatters you have. You can retrigger the round by landing more scatters - this gives you more free spins, but crucially, it also awards more Splitting Symbols too. 

Shimmering Woods from Play'n GO is a game that delivers visually in spectacular style while also offering genuinely entertaining gameplay. While other games have offered similar mechanisms, that doesn't detract from the fun of Splitting Symbols. With a top prize of x20,000, it's one of the bigger Play'n GO slots and is sure to be a crowd-pleaser across the board.