Samurai’s Katana

Samurai’s Katana Slot Review

Slot Provider: Push Gaming

RTP: 96.4% | Variance: High | Maximum Win: 10,000x

Our Score: 8.0

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About Samurai’s Katana

Reviewed by:

Published Date: 26th February 2024

How We Review Slot Games

We test and rate all slot games across 5 criteria, assigning a score out of 10 for each and an overall score that is an average of the 5. To build an accurate assessment of each game we gather information from the supplier and play in real play or demo mode. Find out more.

Samurai’s Katana is a futuristic online slot from Push Gaming set in a city and featuring young sword-wielding Samurais. The gameplay is simple with stacked wilds that hold and nudge down their reels and instant prize symbols worth up to 1,000x in the base game. Landing gamble scatters triggers the free spins round with FIVE multiplier levels of up to 100x. The top win is 10,000x and spins start at 10p per play.

Samurai’s Katana Game Information

  • Release Date: 20.03.24
  • RTP: 96.4% | 95.26% | 94.31% | 90.30% | 88.26%
  • Variance: High
  • Maximum Win: 10,000x
  • Progressive Jackpot: No
  • Reels: 5
  • Rows: 4
  • Paylines: 20
  • Minimum Stake: £0.10
  • Theme: Oriental
  • Features: Instant Prizes, Wilds, Stacked Wilds, Free Spins, Multipliers

Testing Notes: Here’s What Happened When We Played Samurai’s Katana

IMPORTANT: To give you an accurate assessment of the games we review our writers play 200 spins. Whilst this is a useful tool to help us review games and to give an example of what might happen when you play, keep in mind that 200 spins is only a very small sample and cannot be used to accurately predict what might happen over another 200 spins. The outcome of all slots play is always random.

Boom Or Bust? Our Session By The Numbers

I played 250 spins on Samurai’s Katana on Push Gaming’s test server prior to release to test the game. This is what happened.

  • Stake Size: £1
  • Start balance: £1,000
  • End balance: £876.40
  • Hit Rate: 24% (60 winning spins in 250)
  • Biggest Win: 15x
  • Free Spins Round: 0

Samurai’s Katana clocked in at a hit rate of 24%, roughly a win in every 4 spins which isn’t bad for a high variance. Over the first 50 spins that was closer to 35% but it evened-out over the next 200 spins. In total I counted 23 of the important wild stacks, so close to 10% of spins brought one or more up. The best stuff happened when I had 2 or 3 on the reels at once. You can create more wins this way with 3 stacks next to each other.

Wild Stacks in Samurai's Katana
Landing 3 stacks on consecutive reels is a good way to score wins

This wasn’t a high paying session however, with just a 15x as the biggest payout and I was surprised that I didn’t score a single Instant Prize win in 250 spins or unlock the free spins round. So beware, this game is certainly volatile.

What We Liked

  • Stacked wilds bring up a lot of wins
  • Fun gamble feature allows you to improve your free spins multiplier
  • Cool samurai theme mixed with futuristic city design
  • FIVE multiplier levels in free spins round
  • Good hit rate in testing

What We Didn't like

  • Some casinos have a low RTP for this game
  • Very tough to unlock free spins or instant prizes in testing

Samurai’s Katana Review Scores

  • Theme and Design 8
  • RTP and Variance 8
  • Maximum Win 8
  • Symbols and Paytable 8
  • Features and Gameplay 8

What Our Reviewer Says ...

"Push have taken the samurai warrior theme to new places with this futuristic game with a tough maths model and excellent wild stacks feature"

Overall Score: 8.0

Theme & Design

Our Score 8

Samurais On Rollerblades In A Futuristic Neon City

Katana are the traditional swords that ancient Samurais would carry and past meets future in this instance where the samurais are young warriors, roller-blading their way through a neon-lit streets of a future city, Katana’s strapped to their backs and headphones on. The vibe is a cool one and the artwork of a high quality as you would expect from any Push Gaming slot. The sound effects are superb too, with plenty of loud clanking sword sounds as symbols come to rest. If you like futuristic games with an Oriental flavour then this will be right up your street.

Samurai's Katana Slot by Push Gaming
Samurai’s Katana – futuristic slot with young samurais on rollerblades!

RTP and Variance

Our Score 8

What is RTP?

RTP (Return to Player) refers to the amount a game will pay out in cash prizes expressed as a percentage of all the money wagered on that game. For example, a 96% RTP means a game will pay out £96 for every £100 wagered. This is an average number and will vary from one session to the next.  Read more here.

What is Variance?

Variance refers to how far a game will deviate from its RTP over time. High variance games deviate a lot and produce uneven win distributions and unexpected windfalls. Low variance games provide a more stable and even distribution of wins. Read more here.

Samurai’s Katana is built with five possible RTP rates and it will be at the casino operator’s discretion which rate to choose for their players. The rates are 96.4%, 95.26%, 94.31%, 90.30% and 88.26%. In the UK there are many slot sites that run games at lower than optimum settings, sometimes even less than 90% and they should be avoided. You can check the RTP wherever you play by hitting the hamburger button on the top right of the reel set and scrolling through the Game Info page until you see Return to Player.

I recommend playing at Casumo or Dream Vegas casinos, both of which consistently run slots at the optimum RTP rate from the provider.

This is also a high variance game so expect a lot of volatility in the payout distribution. It can produce some big wins but may also be a grind at times.

Maximum Win

Our Score 8

What Is Maximum Win?

Maximum win refers to the maximum amount a player can win from one spin. It is expressed as a multiple of the stake. For example, where the maximum win is 100,000x, from a £1 stake, the maximum win would be £100,000.  

The maximum win here is 10,000x. That is good, but well short of the potential in Push Gaming’s highest max win slots, many of which have top wins of 50,000x, including Jammin’ Jars 2 and Dinopolis.

Symbols and Paytable

Our Score 8

The game format here is a simple paylines one with 5 reels, 4 rows and 20 paylines to form wins on. The wins are triggered when 3 or more identical symbols appear on a line from left to right, starting at the left-most reel.

Samurai's Katana Slot Paytable
The paytable with 50x for 5 samuaris

The paytable offers good value in Samurai’s Katana. The low value symbols are the cards, 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace. These appear to be printed on SIM-chip phone cards and are valued at from 0.1x for 3 on a line up to 1x for 5 on a line. The premiums are the gun, the roller blade, and the female then male samurais. These are valued at from 0.3x for 3 on a line up to 50x for 5 samurais on a line.

There is also a wild, represented by 2 swords crossed, in the game which will substitute for any pay symbols to complete paylines. It is valued at 60x for 5 on a line. They drop on reels 2, 3 and 4 in the base game, and ALL reels 1 to 5 in the free spins round.

Features and Gameplay

Our Score 8

Wild Stacks and Nudges

You will notice that Wild Stacks are also available in this game. When they land they stay on the reels, nudging down one row with each successive spin until they drop off the reels.

Instant Prizes Worth Up to 1,000x

The instant prizes in Samurai’s Katana are worth between 1x and 1,000x and land only on reels 1 or 5. To activate them you will need to land two wilds simultaneously on adjacent reels ANWHERE on the grid.

Unlocking Free Spins With Scatters and Gamble Scatters 

The headline act here is the free spins round. It has a slightly unusual mechanism to unlock it, requiring you to land a scatter on reel 1 and a gamble scatter on reel 5.

First of all, the regular scatter drops on reel 1 to let you know that the game is on. However, you now have to wait to see if the gamble scatter lands on reel 5, which stops a few seconds after the first reel. If the gamble scatter lands then it displays a prize of either a multiplier of 1x, 3x, 5x, 10x, 25x or 100x, to be applied to a free spins round that now plays out, OR 1, 2 or 3 wild stacks to be applied to the next spin in the base game.

This is a gamble feature, so you can opt to accept the prize you get, or gamble to increase it to the next one in the list. Just remember that if you lose then you will go back to the base game with nothing!

Free Spins Round With Guaranteed Stacked Wilds

The only way to make it to the free spins round via the gamble feature. If you landed a gamble scatter displaying a multiplier you are in. The 2nd and 4th reels are GUARANTEED to start with a stacked wild each and your wins have the multiplier you picked up from the scatter applied to them.

During the round, every nudge of a stacked wild will fill a meter displayed to the side of the reels. Every FIVE nudges takes you to the next multiplier level of 1x, 3x, 5x, 10x, 25x or 100x. 

Clearly your objective here should be to keep landing wild stacks and get that multiplier up as high as you can.

The Final Verdict

Samurai’s Katana is not as sophisticated as other Push slots like Big Bamboo for example, but with its regular nudging stacked wilds, teasing scatters and high variance it still represents the kind of challenge high risk slots fans will relish. The gameplay is simpler than many other slots from this provider, but the fun is in the challenge of getting what you can from those stacks whilst waiting on that bonus round to drop, then deciding whether to gamble or not. If you can make it that far, progressing to level 4 or 5 with the multiplier then landing  3 or more stacks on one spin is where the massive wins will arrive.

Useful Tips When Playing Samurai’s Katana

Remember, online slots are games of chance, there is NO strategy that can improve your odds of winning. However, reading our review and following these tips will help you get the most out of your time playing this slot game.

1. Check The RTP Setting Before Playing

With 5 possible RTP rates for this game, including one at 88.26%, you should definitely check the setting at your casino before spending your money to be sure you are getting good value.

2. Choose a Sensible Stake

Exercise good bankroll management and set your stake level to a low level relative to your stake. This is a volatile game and it can burn your balance very quickly.

3. Look For Scatters On Both Reel 1 AND 5

Scatters on reel 1 are no good without their partner scatter appearing on reel 5 so watch that 5th reel come to settle to see if you’ve won free spins or more wild stacks.

4. Play At Recommended UK Slot Sites

We recommend the casinos on this page because they offer great bonuses and they are licensed by the UK Gambling Commission. That makes them safe and secure and ensures all the games are completely fair and audited by 3rd party testing houses.

Who Made Samurai’s Katana?

  • Name: Push Gaming
  • Established: 2010
  • UK License: 54984
  • Total Games: 30 +
  • Known For: High variance grid slots, smart artwork, high max win slots
  • Popular Slots: Big Bamboo, Mad Cars, Razor Returns, Fat Rabbit
Find More Push Gaming slots

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