Medieval theme
The first thing to say about Avalon II The Quest for the Grail is that is looks fantastic despite being released in January 2014. The graphics are a massive improvement on the original Avalon slot and include a host of characters from Arthurian legend. The soundtrack is suitably epic too and wouldn't sound out place in a Hollywood movie.
Symbols include standard A, K, Q, J, 10 and 9 royals – you’ll also see various characters such as the black knight, Morgan, Guinevere, Merlin and Arthur. There’s also an Avalon II logo symbol which is the most lucrative – 5 in combination will give you 66.66 times your stake. Being a 243 ways to win slot, you form wins by getting matching symbols on adjacent reels started from reel 1.
2 random features
The Avalon II The Quest for the Grail slot comes with plenty of bonus extras – 2 of them are activated randomly in the base game. Firstly, you have the Merlin feature – when the famous magician appears on the screen, he can award a random cash prize up to 20 times your stake or multiplier up to 4x. Secondly there's the Lady of the Lake feature. If she appears on reel 3, it can become an Expanding Wild which boosts your chances of success.
Grail Bonus
Best of all though is the Grail Bonus which is triggered by 3 Grail symbols. You'll then be challenged to travel through the kingdom, reclaim the Grail and safely return it to Avalon. There are 8 bonus features on this epic journey offering a wide range of potential prizes.
On your quest you can choose 1 of 2 paths. When you successfully finish 1 of the bonus features, you'll return to the base game. Every time you trigger the Grail Bonus, you'll then go forward to the next round on the quest.
Lake of Legend feature
The first part of your quest is the Lake of Legend feature where the goal is to reforge the famous sword Excalibur. It's a dice game where each number relates to a fragment of the sword. If you find a match, it will form part of the reforged sword. You'll be given the chance to roll 10 dice, each of which comes with a multiplier. Roll a 6 and you'll receive 6x stake. Manage to rebuild the sword and there's 15x you stake on offer as well as 6x stake for any remaining rolls of the dice.
Misty Vale feature
Secondly, there's the Misty Vale feature which awards 15 free spins. That's not all though as you also get to choose an extra wild multiplier symbol for the duration of the free spins. This extra wild has a 2x multiplier applied.
Whispering Woods feature
Next comes the Whispering Woods feature which is a classic pick me style game. You'll be presented with a selection of 5 shields - choose 1 to reveal a multiplier ranging from 10 up to 160 times your stake. If you're happy with that, you can stick. If you want to pick again, you can do so, up to 2 more times.
Forest Falls feature
The Forest Falls feature follows. In this round, you'll be awarded 20 free spins with the Avalon II logo symbol acting as a trailing wild. If it lands in reels 1 or 2, it will expand downwards and stick for 1 free spin.
Dusky Moors feature
Next is the Dusky Moors feature where you have to match symbols to win. There are multipliers ranging from 2x to 8x stake on offer. They go up after every non-matching pick.
Morgan’s Keep feature
The Morgan's Keep feature starts off by awarding 20 free spins. Any wins during free spins will activate the Rolling Reels. This feature sees winning symbols explode and be replaced by the symbols from the reel above giving another chance to win without using up a precious free spin. If the Rolling Reels result in a win, it will also benefit from a 2x multiplier. If you manage consecutive wins, the multiplier will increase by 1 each time, up to a maximum of 6x.
Hall of Shadows feature
The penultimate bonus is the Hall of Shadows feature where you must battle the Black Knight to win random multipliers.
Isle of Avalon feature
Last but not least there's the Isle of Avalon feature where you have to spin 4 wheels to form a bonus multiplier. It sounds easy but in order to crack the fourth and final wheel, you have to spin a zero on wheel three.
Avalon II The Quest for the Grail verdict
There's a lot to get your head around in the Avalon II The Quest for the Grail slot but the features becomes very clear as soon as you get stuck into them. Microgaming has certainly upped the ante with Avalon II. Everything about it is grander than the original version, whether that be imagery, features, soundtrack or bonus features.
Medium variance, you can win a whopping 16,200 times your stake on each free spin (with the potential 6x multiplier in the Morgan’s Keep feature). That's something that even a magician as tricky as Merlin would have trouble conjuring up. If you can trigger the free spins, it's certainly possible to secure a bumper payday.
Avalon II The Quest for the Grail does have a mystical feel and has remained 1 of Microgaming’s most popular slots despite more modern looking games being released all the time. If you like the epic feel, you should try Microgaming’s Game of Thrones game which offers even bigger wins – up to 20,250 x stake.