There are few better developers than Iron Dog Studio when it comes to design and Vikings Wilds is another cracker. With a longship and snow-capped mountains in the background, you’ll see lower value royal symbols plus a range of objects relating to the Norse theme. In order of value are axes, shields, helmets and hammers. The best paying symbols are the trio of rune stone banners. Landing 5 of the red banner on adjacent reels awards 5 times your stake.
The action takes place using a symbol drop game engine that offers 1,024 ways to win. The reels can expand at random though to increase the potential winning ways – up to 3,125 ways to win. After a winner hits, the successful symbols are removed (with a reassuring thud) and new ones drop in from above to replace them. If that delivers another win, the process is repeated. There are 3 different wilds in play in Viking Wilds.
- Standard Wild - this replaces all other symbols when it hits on reels 2, 3, 4 and 5.
- Sticky Wild - if the sticky wild hits, it doesn’t disappear following a symbol drop win. Instead, it drops down 1 position. This wild can land on the middle reel only.
- Expanding Wilds - this can land anywhere bar reel 1. It expands and fills the whole reel whenever it appears.
Landing a standard, sticky and expanding wild in the same set of symbol drops triggers the Free Spins feature. The number of free spins and the starting multiplier varies depending on whether any expanded reels were live on the triggering spin:
- With 0 expanded reels, you’ll begin with 12 free spins and a starting multiplier of 1x.
- With 1 expanded reel, you’ll begin with 14 free spins and a starting multiplier of 2x.
- With 3 expanded reels, you’ll begin with 16 free spins and a starting multiplier of 4x.
- With 5 expanded reel, you’ll begin with 18 free spins and a starting multiplier of 6x.
There’s potential to add to the number of free spins and multipliers here. More free spins are added and the multipliers rises every time the reels expand or you hit an expanding wild. If all 5 reels are fully expanded, you’ll be playing on a machine that offers 3,125 ways to win.
We enjoyed Viking Wilds. The design is as good as you’ll find anywhere. There’s a very solid selection of extras available here too thanks to the wilds and symbol drop game engine.
The best opportunities arise during the Free Spins feature. Get the multiplier moving and the treasure can quickly build. This is a volatile slot game though so you can expect big swings – it does offer payouts of 6,000 times your total stake on each free spin though!
There are already plenty of similarly themed slot games available. With its classy sound and visuals and impressive gameplay, Viking Wilds is an entertaining addition to the genre. I also recommend you try other Iron Dog Studio slot games with Blood Queen and The Curious Cabinet a good place to start.