Net Entertainment’s Vikings is arguably the most hotly anticipated pokie of 2018. Ever since it was announced, players have wanted to get to grips with it.
The launch of the fifth season of Vikings has no doubt played a role in the release date of this game, but even if the show hadn’t been the riveting ride it has been, this pokie would have more than enough quality features to prove itself a success in the online casino world.
Developer
Net Entertainment are known for their exceptional skills at producing top pokies that everybody wants to play. It will come as no surprise that this game encapsulates everything we love about the History Channel show, from the fierce battles to its iconic and memorable characters. If there were a developer you would trust to recreate Vikings for the online casino world, it would be these Scandinavian powerhouses.
How to play it
This game is quite a step forward in thinking for its developers. There are 243 ways to win initially, but that can change in the free spin bonus. Any 243-line game is never going to give you total control over your stakes, but the pokie can be played for as little as $0.20 per spin (far cheaper than many other similarly structured pokies), with maximum bets capped at $100 a spin.
Special features
Hotspots: Players will note that there is a lack of wilds in the game. This pokie uses mystery symbols and hotspots instead. In the base game, the third reel acts as a hotspot. If any character from the show appears stacked in that hotspot, it will turn all other characters onto the reels into the same symbol, offering massive prizes in the process.
Shield Wall feature: This is where the mystery symbols come into play. At any point in the game, Lagertha may cry out “shield wall!”, and several shields (mystery symbols) will cover icons on the reels. That grid of mystery symbols will then transform into the same symbol.
Bonus symbols: These appear as Raid Spins shields. When 3 of these symbols land anywhere on the screen during the base game, the Raid Spins feature is triggered.
Raid Spins bonus: Players will always start the Raid Spins bonus with 7 free games, no matter how many scatters they locate. However, before the bonus begins, the reels will expand. Players will now find a 7-reel, 78,125-line gaming structure before them.
Moreover, the hotspots now dominate the third, fourth and fifth reels. Once more, the main characters appearing in the hotspots as stacked icons will transform all other character symbols into the same icon. This can result in truly epic wins. The Shield Wall feature can also appear in this bonus.
Maximum payouts
Unlike many NetEnt pokies which often have generous but not exactly life-changing sums of cash to win, Vikings goes all out. Björn, Lagertha, Floki and Ragnar Lodbrok are worth the same cash prizes, and filling the reels will those symbols (thanks to the Hotspot feature) can see you win up to 200,000 coins.
Summary
Was Vikings worth the wait? Absolutely. Net Entertainment have created an online pokie which not only showcases the television series just as players envisioned. They have also produced a pokie machine which will be appealing and adrenaline pumping to any player who has not watched the show before.