The Ice Run reels are filled with polar imagery including campfires, fish and a pair of Eskimos. Even the playing card symbols have a touch of the Arctic featuring added gloves, boots and spears. The female Eskimo is the biggest payer, offering jackpots of 4,000 coins if you manage to find 5 in a winning payline. The male Eskimo is Ice Run's wild and substitutes for all symbols apart from the Bonus and Scatter.
It's also the key to triggering the Ice Breaker Bonus feature - if he appears on the middle row in reel 3, the wild will expand to fill up the entire row with 2 bonus spins added. If he hits on reels 2, 3 or 4, he will expand to fill all of those reels with 1 additional spin awarded. With up to 9 symbols wild, this bonus spin has the potential to be very lucrative.
Ice Run also comes with a Free Games feature which is triggered when 3 or more Ice Run symbols (the igloo) appear anywhere on the reels. Once activated, you’ll be awarded 10 free spins with all winning combinations trebled (3x multiplier). Look out for the igloos as more free spins can be triggered indefinitely during the bonus.
The final extra is the Ice Run Bonus feature. This one becomes active when you find the huskies on reels 1 and 5. It’s a classic pick me round taking place over two parts. First you have to pick 3 of the 7 snowmen displayed to reveal a cash prize.
If you get lucky, you’ll also get the randomly awarded Snowball feature where all the remaining snowmen prizes are awarded too. In part two of the feature, you have to enter one of 3 igloos which will award a multiplier. This is then applied to all of your winnings from part one of the feature.
The variance in Ice Run is relatively low offering plenty of play for your money. It’s an all-round entertainer which despite the chilly theme, can certainly warm the cockles with a decent payout or two. If you like the theme, Lucky Angler by Net Entertainment is pretty good. However, if you want higher variance, Great Blue is a Playtech favourite.