Vikings are renowned across the globe as fearsome warriors who in all likelihood were the first westerners to reach North America and who enjoyed a reputation as being one of the most adventurous of all peoples. However, in amongst all that conquering, exploration and mayhem, there must have been a time when the Vikings just enjoyed a bit of down-time.
It is this somewhat unlikely premise that is behind the Playtech slot Vikingmania and although it sounds somewhat unusual, it actually works rather superbly. This is evidenced immediately from the moment you load up the slot when you are launched into a beautifully animated and highly amusing little animation which gives you the gist of what this slot is about.
The slot is set against the somewhat unusual backdrop of sunny skies and lush green pine forests, perhaps unusual for Vikings who we usually associate with ice. So we can safely assume that our three viking characters, one with the red beard, one with the blonde and their voluptuous female companion, are enjoying a bit of fun in the summer sun.
All the main controls of the slot are located at the bottom of the reels and you have 20 selectable lines available to play on each spin and you can wager either Ā£0.20, Ā£1 or Ā£5 per pay line and there is a 50,000 credit jackpot available to be won, which is certainly not to be sniffed at.
If that sounds like all you need to know to play the slot then head on over to Coral Casino in order to put the game to the test yourself, but if you would like to find out a little more about the main features of the slot, then read on.
Vikingmania Slot Key Features
The first thing to note is what is on the reels and we have a selection of playing card symbols from nine through to the ace acting as the lower value symbols, while the medium value symbols are the boar and drinking horn. There are also higher value symbols with the buxom viking lady and the red bearded viking offering payouts of 1,000 coins and 10,000 coins apiece.
These two higher value symbols also offer a win when you land just two symbols on a pay line though these wins are very small (just 5 and 10 coins).
To help you land a better value win the Blonde haired viking is the wild symbol and this can appear on the middle three reels of the slot and it will substitute for all the standard symbols on the reels, though it does not offer a pay out for landing several Wilds on a pay line.
The scatter symbol on the slot is the map symbol and this can appear on any reel. When you can land three or more of the map symbols across the reels then it triggers a Free Spins bonus game where you receive 10 free spins on the reels with a 3x multiplier in play on all reels.
During free spins the Hammer symbol (more on this later) does not appear on the reel and the Viking Wild symbol becomes an expanding wild, which can expand across any of the reels it lands on. In addition, you can retrigger more free game by landing three of the scatter symbols on the reels again and there is no limit on the number of free spins you can retrigger from within the bonus game.
As you play through the game, you can activate reels by landing the Hammer symbol in the centre spot of that reel. When you have all five reels activated, then the Viking Playtime Bonus game will trigger. In this bonus, a viking is strapped to the target and you get to select a weapon to throw at your friend. You have a total of 10 throws and each time you hit your friend with the weapon, you win a cash prize. If you miss him, then you don’t win anything.
You can select from a variety of items to fling at your friend, including fruit, as well as more harmful weaponry and you are guaranteed to hit your friend at least seven times during the bonus. At the end of your throws, your total cash prize will be added up and that amount of money credited to your balance.
Vikingmania is a lovely change of pace from the more aggressive type of viking slot you can find plenty of examples of and the more comical approach on the slot works very well indeed.
How to win at the Vikingmania Slot
So if you want to win big at the Vikingmania slot, what are the best strategic approaches to playing the game? The first and arguably most important one is to decide how many lines to play and my advice is to play all the lines on every spin, even if it means playing for a smaller amount of money per line. Playing maximum lines gives you more chances to win each spin and that is key to getting the most from this slot.
Once you are playing all 20 lines, the key to then triggering bigger value wins lies very much in the lap of the Viking Gods themselves. You should aim to trigger the Free Spins bonus as often as possible, and retriggering free spins during this round always helps to land a much bigger bonus win, especially with that 3x multiplier in play on all wins during this round.
The Viking Playtime Bonus doesn’t tend to pay out quite as much to players as the free spins bonus round I found during reviewing the slot, but it did tend to trigger roughly an equal amount of times. Hitting the Viking Bonus to activate the reels isn’t easy though and so you do need to be patient to trigger either bonuses and this is where sensible bankroll management comes into play.
Vikingmania is very much a lower variance slot, so you will win often, but the downside of that is that is that most wins will be smaller value, so hitting those mid-range wins and the occasional big win is key to enjoying a profitable session on the game.
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