Totem Guardians

Totem Guardians Slot Review

Slot Provider: Relax Gaming

RTP: 96.1% | Variance: High | Maximum Win: 5,000x

Our Score: 8.2

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WHY YOU CAN TRUST THIS REVIEW: The information and opinions on this page are the result of an comprehensive process of information gathering and live game testing by the gambling experts who work at allslotsites.com. Find out more here.

About Totem Guardians

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.

Totem Guardians is a 6-reel online slot form Relax Gaming set in the Rocky Mountains of North America. You can play with or without the Dream Drop Jackpot game available. This slot features individual symbol multipliers of up to 100x that increase with every tumble, whilst landing bonus symbols opens-up extra rows on the reels adding more win ways. In the free spins round multipliers are persistent and all 7 rows are in play at all times. You can win up to 5,000x in the main game and spins start at 20p per play.

Totem Guardians Game Information

  • RTP: 96.1% | 94%
  • Variance: High
  • Maximum Win: 5,000x
  • Progressive Jackpot: No
  • Reels: 6
  • Rows: Up To 7
  • Paylines: Up To 1,193
  • Minimum Stake: £0.20
  • Theme: Native American
  • Features: Wilds, Symbol Multipliers, Free Spins, Expanding Reels

Testing Notes: Here’s What Happened When We Played Totem Guardians

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 Totem Guardians on Relax Gaming’s test server prior to release to test the game. This is what happened.

  • Stake Size: £1
  • Start balance: £5,000
  • End balance: £5,090.15
  • Hit Rate: 18.8% (47 winning spins in 250)
  • Biggest Win: 96.6x
  • Free Spins Round: 2

This is a fun game to play. You will be amazed at how quickly the multipliers grow in value. Every instance of a symbol that appears in a win way adds another 1x to the respective symbol multiplier when removed. So if you had 10 symbols in a win, that’s 10x added to the symbol multiplier. And if a 3x sits at the top of the totem, it goes up to 30x! The frustrating part is that you can have a 100x sitting there on the totem, but if the right symbols don’t drop, then the multiplier never gets used.

Free Spins round in Totem Guardians
Free Spins round with big multipliers in Totem Guardians

The hit rate I got from 250 spins was 18.8% which felt low – just 47 winning spins. However, that was offset by good value wins where I had built a nice multiplier, including a 69.3x. Then the free spins round itself dropped twice too. The second time brought up a 96.6x win which you can see here. By the end of those 5 spins I had a 100x, 41x, 65x and 11x which shows how powerful the persistent multiplier feature is. As with all the production in this game, the night time setting for the bonus feature looks great too.

What We Liked

  • Build huge multipliers for each symbol very quickly
  • Really nice production and relaxing atmosphere
  • Chance to play for multi-million GBP jackpot
  • Persistent multipliers in free spins
  • Extra multiplier at top of totem boosts your payouts

What We Didn't like

  • Low hit rate in testing at less than 20%
  • Low max win total in main game

Totem Guardians Review Scores

  • Theme and Design 9
  • RTP and Variance 8
  • Maximum Win 7
  • Symbols and Paytable 8
  • Features and Gameplay 9

What Our Reviewer Says ...

"An awesome North American slot with great atmosphere and really powerful multipliers than quickly turn a small win into something epic."

Overall Score: 8.2

Theme & Design

Our Score 9

Strong Spiritual Vibes In This Slot With Epic Scenery 

Totem Guardians has a native American theme with a 6×7 game grid set in a small clearing on a mountain top with an epic view of snow-capped peaks, tall trees and wide skies. A tipee is pitched to the left of the grid whilst an ethereal soundtrack punctuated by wolf howls and singing birds completes the spiritual, natural feel of the production. It definitely grabs the attention and boast the usual high quality visual style we expect from Relax Gaming.

Totem Guardians by Relax Gaming
Totem Guardians – spiritual vibes in an epic setting

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.

The two version of this game have separate RTP rates. The regular version runs at a solid 96.1% which is about average. The Dream Drop version runs at 94% to account for the jackpot contribution made with every spin. There are no other RTPs. If you are not interested in playing for the big money prize then don’t play at 94%, find a version of Totem Guardian’s without the Dream Drop to get the 96.1% RTP.

As with all Dream Drop games, the variance here is high, so it will be volatile, with an uneven win distribution.

Maximum Win

Our Score 7

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 outside of the progressive jackpot is just 5,000x. This is the lowest of any Dream Drop game. Most are around 10,000x, though there are a few at 20,000x including Neko Nights and Templar Tumble 2. Of course, if you are playing for the Dream Drop that is not an issue. However, if you are considering playing without it, you might think twice.

Symbols and Paytable

Our Score 8

Totem Guardian plays out on a grid with 6 reels and up to 7 rows. The game starts with just 4 rows open, and for each new bonus symbol that lands, one more will open, to a maximum of 7.

The game also uses the Connected Ways mechanic for payouts. That means you need to land identical symbols on adjacent reels from left to right, starting at the left most reel, where the identical symbols are on the same row, or one above or below each other. This creates 466 connected ways when 4 rows are in play, 707 when 5 rows are in play, 950 when 6 rows are in play, and 1,193 when 7 rows are in play.

Totem Guardians Paytable
The paytable with 5x for 6 top paying premiums

The paytable itself doesn’t show great value, but the wins in Totem Guardian are significantly boosted by multipliers as we will see. The low value symbols are the card suits, valued at from 0.1x for 3 diamonds up to 0.4x for 6 spades. Premiums are the 4 animal carvings – wolf, moose, bear and eagle. These are valued at from 0.4x for 3 moose up to 3x for 6 eagles.

There is also a wild symbol, represented by the carved ‘W’ and appearing only on reels 2 to 6. It will substitute for any pay symbol to complete wins but does NOT have a pay value of its own.

Features and Gameplay

Our Score 9

At the heart of its gameplay is what is a very powerful multiplier mechanic where each symbol has its own multiplier. This gets more power in the free spins round due to persistent values as we find out here.

Tumble Wins and Totem Multipliers For EACH Symbol

The exciting part about this game is that each symbol has its own individual multiplier. These are displayed on the totem pole on the right side of the grid.

The tumble wins feature is standard. After each winning spin, the winning symbols are removed from the reels and new ones drop in to replace them. The difference is, for every one of each symbol type removed (those in the win way AND matching symbols) its multiplier value increases by 1x, up to a maximum of 100x. During the current spin and tumble sequence, ALL wins have the respective multiplier values applied. So, for example, a win with 4 eagles would have the eagle multiplier applied to it.

You’ll also see another multiplier value displayed at the top of the totem. This starts at 1x and increases every time a bonus symbol lands. This value shows how fast the individual symbol multipliers increase. So, if it’s 4x then your symbol multiplier increases by 4x with each symbol removed from the reels.

Remember, those bonus symbols also increase the number of rows in play to increase the potential connected ways. So they are powerful in the game!

Free Spins Round With Maximum Connected Ways and Persistent Multipliers 

The bonus symbols come into play again to trigger the free spins round. You need to land THREE simultaneously. Here is how the round looks:

  • 5 spins are awarded
  • The reels open up to full 7 row height for 1,193 connected ways on EVERY spin
  • Multiplier values are carried over from the triggering spin
  • Multiplier values are PERSISTENT – so they do not re-set between spins
  • Every further bonus symbol that lands extends the round by 1 more spin

Dream Drop Jackpot Game

If you are playing the Dream Drop version of this game then watch out for this dropping randomly at the start of any spin. The game plays out on 5 reels. That is one for each of the jackpots – Rapid (seeded at £1), Midi (seeded at £5), Maxi (seeded at £100), Major (seeded at £25,000) and Mega (seeded at £500,000). The Rapid and Midi reels both have 4 rows, the Maxi has 3 rows, the Major has 4 rows and the Mega has 5 rows.

The Totem Guardians version of Dream Drop
The Dream Drop game

The game is simple. On each spin, either DD symbols or blank stone blocks land. If a DD drops then it stays in place. If a stone block drops then it is removed before the next spin. When one reel is filled with DD’s then its prize is awarded.

The Final Verdict

It feels like this is a potentially brilliant slot from Relax Gaming that has suffered a bit from being caught in the Dream Drop net. That is the only reason I can think of for the somewhat uninspiring max win of 5,000x. Of course, that is offset in the progressive version by the chance to win a million. But when the Dream Drop is removed it would be nice to see the max win pumped up to 25,000x or more. Then we’d have a real classic. The gameplay is very straight-forward but it never lets up and those multipliers grow at lightning speed at times, particularly in the free spins round. You should choose your stake with care because the wins aren’t that frequent as our test session showed, but when they arrive they can be spectacular. Game on!

Useful Tips When Playing Totem Guardians

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. Keep Your Eyes On That Totem

Keep watching the multiplier values on the totem at the side of the reels. They grow in value very fast, helped by the extra multiplier at the top. Sometimes they get as high as 100x – then hope the right symbols drop to include them in a win!

2. Decide If You Want To Play For The Dream Drops

The game’s RTP is 2% higher if you don’t play for the Dream Drops. So if you aren’t interested in that then play the standard version instead.

3. Start With A Low Stake

As with all high variance games we recommend that you start playing this one with a low-ish bet relative to your balance. That means you can stretch your funds further as you wait for that big win.

4. Play At UK-Licensed Slot Sites

We recommend the slot sites on this page and elsewhere on our site because they are licensed by the UK Gambling Commission. That makes them safe and secure and all the games fair. Never play at unlicensed sites.

Who Made Totem Guardians?

  • Name: Relax Gaming
  • Established: 2010
  • UK License: Remote 037462-R-319357-014
  • Total Games: 100 +
  • Known For: High variance, high max win, progressive jackpots, innovative game mechanics
  • Popular Slots: Money Train, Temple Tumble, Dream Drop Jackpots, Hellcatraz
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