Taiko Beats Free Play in Demo Mode by Habanero

Taiko Beats review

Theme and Style

Players can tap their toes to the beat in the Japanese-themed, rhythm-fueled title Taiko Beats.

Released by Habanero in 2022, Taiko Beats will plunge players into an immersive experience where they witness the spectacle of Daruma dolls and Maneki cats first hand.

Bursting with color and life, the theme is very distinctive and adds a nice twist to the Japanese-inspired genre.

Graphics, Sounds and Animations

Taiko Beats uses recognizable images from Japanese culture, and it’s a feast for the senses.

The Taiko drums take pride and place, and the slot is set against the backdrop of a village, which depicts the celebratory mood of the festival.

Players will notice the visuals are quite punchy, and there is a healthy smattering of gold in the background to make things look classy.

The soundtrack, meanwhile, has a soothing feel to it, and if you listen closely, apart from drums, there is a mixture of wind and string instruments used.

Overall, the graphics and animations are well polished and they help to enhance the atmosphere of the title.

Gameplay

Taiko Beats is played on a 5x3 reel setup, using an anyway-pay mechanic. With this game, there are 243 different ways to win.

Players can trigger wins by landing at least 3 or matching symbols on adjacent reels, beginning with the first reel. The Toy, Fan, and Mallet are among the more valuable symbols on the board.

However, the Mallet is the most sought-after with a 5-of-a-kind win equating to a payout worth 16x your bet. Wilds will be key to the game, but more on that in the following section.

The maximum win ceiling is set at 4,005x your stake.

Wilds, Bonuses and Free Spins

The Taiko Drum is the Wild in this slot, and it can appear on reels 1, 3, and 5. It will substitute for all regular symbols apart from the Scatter. Players will notice that they can be transformed into multipliers and they will be sticky during the free games rounds.

All sticky Wilds will get a random multiplier of 1x, 2x, or 3x per free spin, and if a Wild is part of a win on the final free spin, an extra 2 free spins will be handed out.

The Free Spins round provides plenty of excitement, and this can be activated when players land at least 3 Scatters. This will award an upfront payout of 1x, 5x, or 100x your stake, respectively. After that, players will get either 8, 18, or 28 free spins.

Taiko Beats also comes with a progressive jackpot in the form of a Jackpot Race. Details will be displayed on when the next Jackpot Race will begin, and each race will last for a certain time period.

The jackpot is guaranteed to be hit, and the player closest to the trigger point will receive 50% of the jackpot, while the player furthest away will net 5% of the jackpot.

Bet Sizes, RTP and Variance

Taiko Beats comes with a top return to player of 96.48%, which is above the usual industry average of 96%.

The range of bets for this game starts from a minimum of $/£/€25 per spin, going up to a maximum of $/£/€250 per spin, so it will suit players of all abilities and budgets.

Remember, this game is highly volatile, so you will have to bide your time before securing big payouts.

That said, the volatility of Taiko Beats fits in well into our preferred slot strategies. We tend to target games that are highly volatile and have an above-average RTP.

Conclusion

The quality of the graphics and soundtrack ensure a first-class experience, and Habanero has leaned more into the cultural values rather than cartoonish tones for its production.

Apart from the polished visuals, the gameplay and bonus rounds will keep players engaged. In particular, the Jackpot Race spices things up, and it will ensure decent payouts.

When you throw high volatility and a high RTP into the mix, players may have found the ideal slot in Taiko Beats.