Go Nuts with Microgaming’s new Online Keno game, Monkey Keno

Anyone familiar with the Microgaming brand knows that, while the software portfolio’s game variety is immense, new releases are almost always restricted to cookie-cutter slot machines. In fact, Microgaming promises a minimum of two new online slots each and every month. But August brought something a bit different, and wholly welcome, from the interactive game’s developer.

This month, Microgaming launched a rare gem; a new online keno game with a humorous theme and massive prizes for those intuitive enough to pick the right numbers. It’s called Monkey Keno, and fans of lottery style games will go bananas over the max 10,000x payout.

Monkey Keno features all of the typical joys of an online keno game, but the sound effects and graphics are much more entertaining than your standard, run of the mill lottery-style number picker. In this version, the mad-caper monkey stands upon a perch of coconuts, hurling them randomly at the board to denote each game’s selection of numbers.

How to Play Monkey Keno

If you’ve ever played traditional keno before, you should have a clear idea of the game’s objective. If not, here’s a brief tutorial in online keno.

The object of the game is to select anywhere from 1 to 15 numbers, with the hopes that they all get hit by a coconut in the ensuing round of play. Once your numbers are selected – done by simply pressing them on the screen (press the number again to deselect, or click Clear to deselect all numbers and start over) – choose your bet size (0.10-10.00) and press the Play button to begin.

At this point, the monkey’s nutty rampage gets underway. He’ll begin tossing coconuts at the board to light up a total of 20 numbers. The board contains 80 numbers in all, meaning there’s a 1-in-4 (25%) chance of hitting any single number.

Depending on how many numbers you select, you may only have to hit some of them to win a prize. A quick view of the Monkey Keno paytable will show you how many numbers you’ll need to hit, and how much you’ll win for doing so.

For example, selecting just 1 number pays 3x your bet for a win. Select 2 numbers, and you’ll get 1x for 1 number, or 9x for both. The paytable continues to scale up from there, paying out a maximum 10,000x for selecting – and matching – 15 numbers.

Additional Features

Online keno strategists are always looking for an edge, and will often keep up with what numbers are hot and cold during a long session. Monkey Keno does the work for you. Just beneath the semian nut-hurler is a Hot bar and a Cold bar. Any numbers that have appeared multiple and/or consecutive times will appear in the Hot bar, while numbers that haven’t hit at all in the last few plays are displayed in the Cold bar.

The online keno game also features Auto Play and Quick Pick functions. Auto Play allows the player to selects how many games they want to auto-run through, playing the same numbers and bet size as previously selected. The Quick Pick button let’s players choose bet size and amount of numbers to select, while the game takes care of randomly picking which number(s) to play.