Narcos and Vikings Slot were two enormous blockbuster games that NetEnt unveiled at the iGaming convention earlier this year. When the news initially leaked, Yggdrasil’s third Vikings Slot launch was just around the corner, and we couldn’t help but worry if NetEnt would fall into the trap of copying Yggdrasil.
You’ll discover that it turns out these are totally separate games. The Vikings television series is a historical drama that was produced for the History channel and HBO, for those who are unfamiliar.
It chronicles the exploits of famous Viking king Ragnar Lothbrok and his men as told in ancient sagas like Ragnar’s Lobrókar from the 13th century. Fans of the series will be pleased to see familiar characters from the show represented on the reels.
Although the impressive visual production was not a surprise, we must admit that it managed to surprise us with its excellent intro, which undoubtedly helped set the tone and raise our expectations from the very beginning. We were pleasantly delighted to see the win-all-ways layout after clicking through to the game itself. This setup must be regarded as unique when it comes to NetEnt and something that worked quite well for them in Jungle Spirit, which was published in 2017.
You will immediately feel at home in the game if you are familiar with the series. If not, you will probably still be able to enjoy the effort that NetEnt put into the visual presentation, which features the reels set against a snowy, dismal Norse backdrop made up of majestic hills that slope towards an icy lake. The lone raven scrutinizing your every move shouldn’t disturb you!
As was already explained, the slot machine Vikings Slot have no pay lines. You win if three or more matching symbols appear anywhere on successive reels thanks to the 243 ways configuration. In the free spins feature, Vikings’ 5×3 reels are changed to a 7×5 configuration, increasing the number of winning combinations to an astounding 78,125.
The game also has a variety of features, which we shall examine in more detail below. Players can wager between €0.20 and €200 each spin on all platforms. The fact that the maximum wager is quite big really indicates that the slot doesn’t have a very high potential. The 96.05% return to players is not unusual and falls about within the range of what is anticipated.
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Vikings Slot: Symbols & Features
Vikings includes a set of 10 symbols, five of which are low-value symbols represented by the steel-and-blood 10-, J, Q, K, and A.
Being a licensed and branded slot machine, however, the premiums are instead represented by well-known characters from the show, even though the Vikings logo has been selected as the highest paying symbol, paying 0.5x for five of a kind.
In both the base game and the free spins bonus, the premium symbols are stacked on the reels. It’s odd that the Wild sign, which normally would have stood aside for the extra premium symbol, is nowhere to be found sbobet.
The Hotspot function is something that is present in the game. Reel 3 is highlighted in the main game with an electric flow that illuminates it. All of the other Viking symbols change into a specific symbol when a stacked Viking symbol completely covers the third reel. The fact that the Viking symbols don’t have to be connected is its beauty. When assessing wins, all Viking symbols will be taken into account.
The Shield Wall Feature, a seemingly random feature, has also been included. It can appear as a cluster of 3×2 or 5×2 shield mystery symbols anywhere on the reel set and can trigger at any time during both the main game and the free spins bonus. After that, a premium symbol will be revealed by the shields, and wins will be calculated. When the Hotspot feature is active, this feature won’t operate.
Three scatter symbols on reels 3, 4, and 5 trigger 7 free spins. The bonus cannot be reactivated because scatter symbols were eliminated during the free spins game, but the Raid Spins, as they are sometimes known, still have a respectable amount of potential.
With a reel set that has been extended to significantly increase the potential, you essentially get more of the same here. The original 5×3 reel setup with 243 win ways has been changed to a 7×5 reel setup with 78,125 win ways, and the one Hotspot reel now spans the three middle reels.
Similar to the main game, if a Viking symbol appears on any of the Hotspot reels, it will change all other Viking symbols into that symbol. The Viking symbol that is farthest to the left will be selected as the transforming symbol if two separate Viking symbols cover the Hotspot reels. It’s possible to earn up to 10,000 times your initial wager with the Hotspot feature, which is extremely astounding!
Vikings Slot: Conclusion
Vikings might end up being the best game produced by NetEnt since Jungle Spirit. Even though there are a trillion ways to win, it may still be annoying to get stuck with dead spins and a ton of low-paying bonus rounds. However, to be fair, there are providers that are much worse in this regard.
Vikings Slot is unquestionably a slot machine with enormous potential, but it’s not quite as brutal as most Novomatic or Merkur games. Furthermore, Vikings appear to be well-balanced, having the capacity to fascinate and amuse players.