Since I wasn’t familiar with the word “Xibalba” before I dug in and immersed myself in Pragmatic Play's slot Gates of Xibalba, I had to do some side research to find out what to expect. It turns out that Xibalba is the name Mayans used to describe hell or the underworld. So, it is a place where demons and death gods reside, the place of fight, so I immediately assumed I'd be seeing terrifying things when I loaded the slot. 

To my surprise, even though I could see two serpents guarding the reels on both sides and a god-like statue on the right of the grid, the slot was not as scary as I imagined. It does have all the Mayan symbolism to fit the theme, filled with stones and a chanting soundtrack, but that was it. 

Nevertheless, the high volatility might scare you if you’re a casual player. Still, if you're an avid player like me who enjoys the dynamics and pace of highly volatile slots at top slot sites, you'll greatly enjoy your Gates of Xibalba play. With a 96.25% RTP and a max payout potential of 5,000x the stake, it is certainly a slot worth looking into, so bear with me as I go through all the details you need to know about it next.

The hell theme has certainly been depicted with the highest levels of imagination. The Mayans’ presence can be felt right away the minute you see the Mayan mask symbols on the grid. I couldn’t help but notice that there’s fire burning in the back of the grid, which adds a flare to the depiction of the theme, as does the god-like statue on the right, which was a great detail for me.

As I checked the symbol values when I pressed the "i" button found in the footer below the grid, I could see that across the 6x5 grid, I'll be seeing four different circular Mayan-inspired objects and five masks, delivering 0.25x to 10x for an 8-of-a-kind combo, and 2x to 50x the stakes for combos with 12 or more matching symbols. Oh, I almost forgot; you need to land at least eight matching symbols in any position on the grid to form a win since the slot comes with Scatter Pays mechanics, fueled with Tumbles that continue for as long as you land winning combos. 

There are several options for placing a bet in Gates of Xibalba, but I chose to try it for the lowest possible at first, which is $0.20, but you can go with bets of as much as $100 in regular play. I managed to land a winning combo on my second spin, and right after that, a tumble followed, which allowed me to get another win. 

A few more spins in, and I could see multiplier symbols landing at random, with values from 2x to 100x. All multiplier values in view on the grid were added together at the end of the tumble and applied to my total win for the spin, so I managed to get a win multiplied by 4x in my early tries. 

But, not to wait for the bonus round to trigger, I used the Ante Bet, which, while it increased my bet by 25%, was also supposed to double my odds of triggering the bonus. And, yes, it was not long before the feature was triggered. 

You can trigger 10, 15, or 20 free spins when you land four, five, or six scatters, in addition to a 3x, 5x, or 100x stake prize, respectively. The Ante Bet helped me trigger the bonus with four scatters, so I got ten free spins plus a 3x payout. I started at Level 1 in the progressive feature, which consists of levels overall. According to the game rules, you need to collect a certain number of multiplier symbols to level up, collected in the meter (a wooden box) on the right of the grid. 

I was not lucky to manage to pass Level 1 with 2x to 100x multiplier values and reach Level 2 since I couldn’t collect six multiplier symbols. The next level brings multipliers from 8x to 100x, and you need to reach the five-multiplier threshold to get to Level 3. If you do, you should expect multipliers with values from 15x to 100 on this level. Level four is reached when four new multipliers are collected, and here, the multiplier values go from 50x to 100. 

Now, while there are no more levels to reach after Level four, there is a way for you to trigger more free spins, five to be more precise, added to your remaining amount, and this happens when you land three or more scatters at any time during the bonus round. 

Last but not least, I should mention the Bonus Buy slots feature. You can trigger the free spins with a random number of Scatters and start at Level 1 for 100x the stake, at Level 2 for 200x the stake, at Level 3 for 400x the stake, and at Level 4 for 500x the stake. 

While there is an option to play a Gates of Xibalba demo version, I personally wanted to give the slot a try in real money mode to bring as much information as I could to you. So, not only did I place the Ante Bet at the beginning, but later on, I also used the first Bonus Buy option while playing for a $2 bet. The bonus round triggered with five scatters, meaning I got 15 free spins, and I was at Level 1. 

I could clearly conclude now that reaching new levels was not as easy as it sounds. In fact, it is quite frustrating watching all those tumbles over and over again, but not the needed multipliers to level up. At last, I managed to reach Level 2. On this level, I got lucky, and on spin 5, I landed three more scatters, so my bonus round was prolonged by five extra free spins. Now, I must say that the multipliers I collected, even though insufficient to reach the next level, were pretty generous to my overall payout for the round, and I managed to win $593.50. 

I mentioned the 96.25% default RTP earlier, but you should know that this percentage drops a little if you place the Ante Bet to 96.23%. I told you the slot was highly volatile and offered a max payout potential of 5,000x the stake. 

I can't argue with the fact that the first thought that popped into my mind when I saw Gates of Xibalba's title was that this would be another clone of Pragmatic Play's series of Gates of Olympus slots. But I was wrong. Well, that's not entirely wrong since the slot turned out to be a clone anyway but to Forge of Olympus. If you played the game, you know that it featured the exact same progressive feature in the bonus round, boosted with multipliers.

I cannot say that it bothered me, though, since paired with the theme in Gates of Xibalba, the slot turned out to be quite powerful, and I only played it for a bet of $2. It would probably do good for you if you played it for a bit bigger bet, even though reaching Level 2 has been quite generous for me if you ask me. Nevertheless, it certainly deserves a try at top casino sites, as it truly can deliver a textbook slot-playing experience. So, find yourself a nice Pragmatic Play casino, get a free spin bonus, and load the game whenever you can to get in on the thrill.