Updated Updated: August 4, 2023

Pragmatic Play

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Updated Updated: August 4, 2023
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Pros
  • Multi-genre library spanning slots, table/live games, bingo, scratch card, and video poker.
  • The volatility of games range from low to high.
  • Games are fully mobile optimized (supports iOS, Android, and Windows devices).
Cons
  • Medium volatility games are too sketchy since they operate like high-variance title.s
  • Lack of originality when it comes to game themes.

Operators offering Pragmatic Play games in New Zealand

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Quick facts:

  • Country of origin: Malta
  • Owner: Evolution Gaming Ltd
  • Year founded: 2001
  • Types of games: slots, table games, live casino, plus speciality games
  • Number of games: over 100
  • Games releases per year: over 10
  • Most popular games: Wolf Gold, The Dog House Megaways
  • Online casinos: over 100

Pragmatic play overview

Pragmatic Play has since its inception quickly garnered a lot of attention. If not for back-end services by online casino operators, then for their well-rounded game catalogue by players. This article, however, focuses on the latter, plus other services.

We’ll go through the history, type/number of games, plus other unique features that set Pragmatic Play apart from other studios. In the end, you should have more than enough information to decide what the pros and cons are.

The studio has a multi-genre offering spanning the likes of video slots, casino table games, live dealer casinos, and speciality titles. Combined, the library is over 100 in number. Though as you might have expected, the majority are slots, followed by table/live games, and then specialty titles.

Video slots

You’ll find different types of slots in Pragmatic Play’s library. Amongst these are the classic 3-reel and 5-reel video slots, as well as progressive jackpots. Not to mention, there are also 6-reel titles for players who prefer to bet big. Lastly, these slots easily rival the best in iGaming, graphics, and sound-wise (colours pop, with immersive sound and smoothly animated mechanics).

Note: Slots constitute 80+ of their games.

Table games/live dealer category

In 2018, the studio acquired Extreme Live Gaming, a studio that specializes in making live games only. So, while the number of table games from Pragmatic Play is modest, the live casino category is anything but. In the first category, you’ll find roulette, baccarat, blackjack, and their variants. As for the live dealer, you’ll find live versions of the table games, plus others like Golden Ball.

Speciality games

Other games you’ll find are speciality ones like Scratchcard, Bingo, Keno, And Pokies (Jacks or Better). Scratchcard is the biggest category here, with up to eight titles, including Wolf Gold, Gold Rush, Hot Safari, 7 Piggies, and Panda Gold. Bingo, keno and pokies come in at a single game each. Admittedly, the online casino NZ will update its library as time goes on.

Compatible software platforms

Go back a few years, and downloadable games were still a wave. But nowadays, you’ll find that all of Pragmatic Play’s games can be played instantly with extremely quick load times despite playing through a browser. Built using HTML5, all the games support all devices running Android, iOS, and Windows. This is regardless of which version of your operating system you’re using.

And since they’re a first-tier studio, the optimization is solid. Games are well-oriented, with options to change the language, get help from even the support, and finally tweak the experience (e.g., right or left-handed mode). While these aren’t exactly new features, imagine if they were absent, and how that would affect the overall gameplay. 

Most popular titles to check out first

Whenever you decide to experience some of Pragmatic Play’s best, these are the games you should check out first. They get a lot of things right, in the form of high RTP, great story, and immersive animation plus sound effects. So, here are the 10 most popular Pragmatic Play slots to check out.

●       Panda’s Fortune

Panda’s Fortune is Pragmatic Play’s take on the Oriental theme seen in other studios. As the name implies, you’ll be going on a lot of bamboo-smashing adventures here. Just with icons in the form of Koi scales and dragon symbols. This is a 5-reel game, with 25 pay lines and an RTP of 96.17%.

●       Wolf Gold

Wolf Gold is a 5-reel title, with 25 pay lines. Though, the RTP reduces to 96%. Moving on, the theme here is original, focusing on the majestic creatures known as wolves. The Grand Canyon, moon, and other North American wildlife (buffalo, cougar, wild stallion, etc.) represent the symbols.

●       Hot Safari

Hot Safari is Pragmatic Play’s take on one of Africa’s wildlife zones. Icons to expect here are Lions, Antelopes, Elephants, Rhinos, Zebras, Meerkats, and other native animals. All of this is set against a desert plain.

●       7 Piggies

This one grants you free spins a lot, so be sure to check it out first. 7 Piggies uses pigs as the theme, though these ones have the advantages of being both clean and cute. Before you assume the developers ran out of ideas and botched it up, think about the effort of using all-pig symbols. Instead of the usual letters and numbers.

●       Monkey Madness

Though using somewhat bland animations, Monkey Madness has become a house staple due to the theme. You’ll be joining a tribe of monkeys on their adventures seeking fortune. It’s low volatility, a 3-reel game with 9 pay lines. The RTP is 96.53%.

●       Vegas Nights

Vegas Nights give you the allure of playing in Las Vegas in your comfort zone. A 5-reel, 20-pay line game, the theme focuses on women, fast cars, cards, chips, and many others.

●       Jurassic Giants

Here’s one of Pragmatic Play’s more volatile games. Jurassic Giants is a 6-reel game with a mind-blowing 4,096 ways to win. It has an RTP of 96.01%, with a theme that follows creatures like the Sabertooth and Mammoth.

●       Dragon Kingdom

Dragon Kingdom features five reels, with 25 pay lines. There’s a red woman, a few dragons, and then a kingdom caught in the web of all that. This plays really well, due to the mid-level volatility, as well as the 96.4% RTP.

●       Santa

Santa is only released by Pragmatic Play at the end of each year due to the demand. It’s a 5-reel game where you can bet on 20 pay lines. The betting range is between 20c and €100, while the RTP is 95.92%.

●       Queen of Atlantis

Aquaman doesn’t have any playing time here. Instead, the attention is on his queen, and she takes us to discover the whole of Atlantis. This is a 5-reel game with 1,024 ways to win. The volatility is low to medium, with an RTP of 96.41%.

The atmosphere in a Pragmatic play casino

Games from the studio have amazing features such as free spins on the first deposit, bonus rounds, multipliers, and generous jackpots. Depending on the casino where you play, a no-deposit bonus could be included as well. Overall, the bonuses you’ll find in-game are quite fair, though there’s still room for improvement.

Pragmatic play’s short, award-filled history

So far, the studio’s lucky streak doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon. Pragmatic Play currently has about eight awards at the time of this writing. In descending order, it received;

  • Best Gaming Company 2019 from MIGEA Malta iGaming
  • Best Slot Game 2018 from Malta Gaming Awards
  •  Game of the Year 2018 from 5-Star iGaming Media
  • B2B Award 2017 from EGR
  • Nordic Award 2017 from EGR
  • Operator Award 2016 from EGR
  • B2B Award 2016 from EGR

Even by our standards, there is more than enough evidence to spotlight Pragmatic Play’s high-quality experience.

Great regulation is a solid incentive to play

For Pragmatic Play, licensing is two things they get right. In the case of the first one, the studio has licenses from almost two dozen jurisdictions. Hence, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to see that their client base spans over 80 countries.

Best online casinos to enjoy Pragmatic play’s games

Our selection of Pragmatic Play casinos isn’t spontaneous. Instead, these gambling platforms are chosen after they meet some of our requirements. They include the diversity of payment options available, the efficiency of the support team, the demo mode without an account, and the complementary presence of other software providers.

Reasons to experience Pragmatic play’s services at least once

Pragmatic Play is, without a doubt, one of the best studios making games for online casinos. Just that, they specialize in the provision of video slots more often than not. So, we can back the fact that any slot enthusiast will enjoy the rewarding experience. At the same time, players who prefer video poker, table/live games, and other speciality time are guaranteed rewarding moments here too. The only lacking department is the promotions page, in which signup bonuses tend to lack that spark of originality.

FAQ

If you’re an NZ player interested in Pragmatic Play’s extensive slots list, the betting range is usually between 20c and €125. As a result, most of the slots aren’t exactly a high roller’s paradise. The same thing goes for their other game genres, too (specifically table and live games). On another note, most of their slots are 5-reel variants.

For instance, Panda’s Fortune uses a system called the three headline-making jackpots. Yeah, it’s a wacky name, but it does get the job done. Anytime you spin, you have three jackpots available to win from.

But try not to get swept away by these promises of fortune. Instead, be careful of Pragmatic Play’s mid/high volatility. Wins won’t come that often in their games, so you’ll have to wait for that big win. Still, they do have the advantage of being faster than low volatility wins.

Pragmatic Play software was once known as Top Game back in 2014, and the brand was a sponge, soaking up negative reviews from critics and players alike. Back then, it was a combination of bad management and outdated services that caused the decline in quality. But all that changed when the company was acquired in 2015.

Rebranded Pragmatic Play, the new investors quickly revamped the game catalog and updated their other services. A couple of partnerships later with big names such as Betsson, Mr. Green, and Mansion, and their standing rapidly started to improve. That’s how the awards began trickling in, and why they need

Games developed by the studio don’t have the best variance out there, with only a few of them being low variance titles. And in the case of those, their themes aren’t necessarily the best, even compared to some of the other Pragmatic Play games.

Heck, on a large scale, most of their games are rebrands of pretty much every game you’ve seen from other studios. Panda’s Fortune uses dragon symbols to show the Oriental culture, while Jurassic Giants focus on dinosaurs/Mesozoic Era.

The slot where you’ll win your biggest is Wolf Gold. Depending on your combinations, you can win up to one million credits. Coming up after that is 7 Piggies, which grants a total of 5,000 credits.

Sure, that amount pales in comparison to what you can get in Wolf Gold. But keep in mind that the volatility differs, so it’s easier to win in 7 Piggies than Wolf Gold.

Any studio worth their salt puts fair play first, and usually that comes in the form of third-party auditing agencies. For Pragmatic Play, their games are independently certified by Gaming Labs and BMM Test Labs.

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