It’s safe to assume that Blueprint Gaming’s Viking Fall is a copycat slot game, but if it is, the company isn’t very concerned. Players familiar with the worldwide adventures of Kane in ELK Studios’ Gold family of slots will recognize the link immediately, since the layout, features, dynamics, feel, panning camera angle, and the works all seem quite familiar. Unfortunately, this sort of thing does occur very regularly; nonetheless, even if one ignores the obvious plagiarism, Viking Fall is inferior to the slot machines it apes.
In a Viking hall with intricately carved stone walls, a set of broken stairs ascends to a gaming board set up in a 6×4 configuration. The number of possible outcomes ranges from 4,096 to 262,144, depending on whether or not rows are added or subtracted from the grid, which is wedged between several stone columns. Blueprint has done a good job of immersing players in a heavily Viking environment, which is appropriate given the strength of the game’s premise.
Behind the scenes of the many entertaining Kane-related aspects is a highly volatile mathematical formula that returns a solid 96% to the player’s investment. Viking Fall may be played on any device, and bets range from 20 percent to 10 pounds or euros every paid drop.
In Viking Fall, a winning combination consists of identical symbols appearing on at least three consecutive reels, clockwise from the leftmost reel. With the high-paying character symbols, a six-reel win is worth between 1.1 and 2.5 times the wager, while a win with four rune tiles, hammers, swords, axes, or helms pays out between 0.2 and 0.6 times the wager. In both game modes, Wilds can appear anywhere and increase the player’s progressive multiplier (details below).
Slot Machine Viking Fall – Game Play
Cascades, expanding rows and ways, Colossal Mystery symbols, Win-X multipliers, and free falls with a new minimum ways system are all thrown into the mix in Viking Fall.
Cascades
After a successful spin, the winning symbols disappear and are replaced by a new wave of symbols falling from above. Not only are blank cells in the grid filled with fresh icons, but a new row has been added as well. There is a maximum of eight rows high, giving you a whopping 262,144 possible combinations. When there are no more base game victories, the grid size reverts to four rows.
When a wild appears, it may replace any other symbol on the reels, with the exception of the scatter. The Win-X Multiplier is increased by one whenever a wild appears in the field of view. In the main game, the Win-X resets between each spin, but not in the free spins bonus round.
Massive Symbol
Any spin has the potential to reveal a Colossal Symbol. Colossal Symbols is a feature that, when activated, reveals a random pay symbol type and always pays out.
Bonus Turns
When a spin ends or a series of cascades concludes and at least three scatter symbols are visible, this function is activated. When 3, 4, 5, or 6 scatters appear, the player is awarded 6, 8, 10, or 12 free games, respectively. Any multiplier created by the aforementioned Win-X feature remains in effect during each drop during free spins. The idea of “minimum ways” is also employed. Rows that are added as a result of a successful spin remain at their new height for the duration of the free spins rather than returning to their original size of 4. Last but not least, free spins may be restarted if 3 scatters appear.
Incentives to Purchase
Instead of hoping for a certain number of scatter symbols to appear naturally, players can instead opt to pay for the bonus in those regions that allow it. The price tag to enter the free spins bonus round is 100 times the wager.
Viking Judgement on the Slot
Viking Fall would be a forward-thinking slot machine if ELK hadn’t already done something similar several times in one of their main game series. It’s not nearly as much because we’ve fought Kane in the Gold series before. That is not to say that Viking Fall is not a pleasant game. Blueprint does a fantastic job at recreating the best features of the Gold line. The sights, animations, and effects in Viking Fall are top-notch since Blueprint is no slouch in this department. The features are enticing as well, with cascades, expanding paylines, expanding rows, progressive multipliers, colossal mysteries, and free games all in play. What more could a diehard Kane fan want from a knockoff slot machine?
What makes Blueprint Gaming’s version any different from the games that use a growing number of reels, rows, ways, and features? It’s wonderful to take a vacation from traveling to unfamiliar and maybe risky places and relax in a more comfortable environment once in a while. However, parties in Viking halls were likely anything from calm, with plenty of fighting breaking out as the mead ran dry. Even if they didn’t, the image is still a good simile for Viking Fall, which can be brutal when it’s in a bad mood but satisfying when all of its parts work together. Viking Fall has Blueprint’s normal win cap of £250,000/50,000x the stake, which sounds amazing on paper but doesn’t say anything about the game’s actual win aim.
In conclusion, fans of Gold who don’t mind when studios steal concepts from each other will discover a wealth of material here. Even though Viking Fall’s concept isn’t as original as, say, ELK’s global adventures, the remainder of the album is a triumph.