Arcanum

Arcanum: Slot Overview

If you've ever thought that maybe, just maybe, there is more to existence than what our five senses and scientific instruments can perceive, or you just like ELK Studios slots, then you might be interested in the developers' latest walk on the wondrous side. The slot is Arcanum, a word that conjures up thoughts of hidden secrets and mysterious knowledge. Its evocative connotations set the tone nicely for delving into a slot of wizards, magical spells, and looking beyond the veil of everyday reality. With a sprinkle of imagination, perhaps.

Around here, Arcanum is said to be an element that is used to forge ancient magic, and a wizard travels around hunting for it. Arcanum splits its time between two mysterious vistas. One is a blue-dominated realm of floating rocks, planets, and rugged hills in the base game. The other is a peachy coloured domain, where towering hooded statues look down on those who wander through. In both phases, a stone archway, like a portal to other places, can be found housing the gaming grid, and adorned at the top with various meters that track some of the features. ELK Studios, through games like those in its Cygnus range, IO, Stars of Orion, Phoenix Graveyard, and now this one, continues to showcase an interest in the enigmatic side of life, and maybe beyond.

The action plays out on a 6×7 grid, where wins are formed through a cluster-pays mechanic rather than traditional paylines. Land a group of five or more identical symbols touching anywhere on the grid and it triggers a payout. Those symbols are then cleared away, allowing new ones to cascade in and potentially set off follow-up wins. As expected from ELK Studios, the RTP sits at 94% across the board, applying equally to standard spins from $/€0.20 up to $/€100 and to any X-iter feature purchases. Volatility is firmly on the high end, making this a game built for swings rather than steady returns.

Four small gems in rock are Arcana's lower paying symbols, while four larger gems are the higher pays. Five matching symbols in a win award 0.1x to 1x the bet. The largest clusters are 36+ OAK in size, and pay 75x to 1,000x the stake when they land. Wilds are an important part of the features, and they're able to substitute all regular pay symbols.

Arcanum: Slot Features

Arcanum's spell book bursts with two wizard symbols, a host of magical spells, a global multiplier, feature symbols, free spins, as well as X-iter feature buys.

Wizard and Mirror Wizard Symbols

The wizard symbol and the mirror wizard symbol are persistent wilds that move to new empty positions before each symbol refill. A wizard symbol is guaranteed on every game round, while a mirror wizard may appear on any symbol drop.

Magical Spells

Magical spells may be hidden behind pay symbols. They are collected when revealed behind a winning cluster and stored in the spell inventory. There are five different magical spells:

• Expanding - Replaces all pay symbols in an area with one pay symbol type. If 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 expanding spells are collected, the area is 2x2, 3x3, 4x4, 5x5, or 6x6 in size, respectively. If the spell selects a wizard or mirror wizard symbol, it expands it to a big symbol of the stated size. A regular-sized wizard will move positions if a big wizard covers it.
• Add Wild - Adds 1 additional wild symbol to the reels for each collected add wild spell.
• Wild Column - Replaces all pay symbols with wilds in the wizard's column.
• Wild Cross - Replaces all pay symbols with wilds in an X-shape starting from the wizard symbol.
• Wild Transform - Selects 1, 2, or 3 pay symbol types on the reels and transforms them to wilds.

The wizard win tracker keeps track of cluster wins with the wizard symbol. Three cluster wins with the wizard complete the wizard win tracker. When no more wins occur and the tracker is complete, all stored magical spells are triggered, emptying the inventory. Spells trigger in the order of expanding, add wilds, wild transform, wild column, and wild cross. The wizard's win tracker resets and is deactivated until the wizard moves to a new position.

Global Multiplier

The global multiplier starts at x1 and multiplies all winning combinations. Multiplier symbols can be hidden behind pay symbols and are collected when revealed behind winning clusters. The multiplier symbol adds +1 to the global multiplier. The global multiplier resets at the end of a spin.

Feature Symbols

The two feature symbols are the transform orb and the explosive orb. The transform orb selects a pay symbol type on the reels and transforms them all to an equal or higher value pay symbol type when no more wins are in view. The explosive orb removes all pay symbols in an area of 3x3, 5x5, or 6x7 when there are no more wins. All revealed spells and multiplier symbols are collected.

Bonus Game

Hitting 3+ scatters triggers 7 free spins. The global multiplier, magical spell inventory, mirror wizard symbols, and the wizard's win tracker are persistent when entering the bonus round and between free spins. Revealing an extra drop symbol behind winning clusters adds +1 free spin. If the round is triggered by 4 scatters, players win 7 Mirage Bonus free spins, which have an additional mirror wizard symbol. Landing 5 scatters awards 7 Arcanum Bonus free spins, which have 2 extra mirror wizard symbols.

X-iter

The X-iter possesses five features that can be bought. They are the Bonus Hunt at 2.5x to buy a spin with more than 4 times the chance of triggering a bonus game, or Mega Hunt at 5x, where the chance is more than 8 times. Spellstorm costs 10x to buy a game round, with an initial drop where potential spells and multiplier symbols are collected before the symbols drop in. Or, a regular bonus trigger costs 100x, while a Mirage bonus costs 250x the bet to buy.

Arcanum: Slot Verdict

Arcanum is a well put-together slot that furthers ELK Studios' exploration of the esoteric. As we've seen on previous occasions, this is a topic the developer has made good use of in the past and continues to do so here. The twin world backdrop sets up the mystery, while its gameplay, potentially, delivers the magic. It's fairly complex, but not overly so, with a myriad of features that link to each other and are able to function well when working as a team. Players get a bit of a story to back the fantasy visuals up, and better yet, the wizard doesn't just travel metaphorically, but he shows up on every spin, moving about the grid, acting as a wild, forming a bridge to further features.

Revealing symbols beneath winning clusters ties neatly to the idea of uncovering secrets, even if the spells they trigger don't ooze masses of originality, essentially boiling down to adding wilds to the grid or transforming pay symbols. Still, on a cluster paying grid, their effects can be useful, as can the transform and explosive feature symbols, not to mention a global multiplier, rounding things out. It's a game that may unleash a flurry of activity which doesn't generate huge monetary rewards, though, something to be aware of. In those instances, Arcanum is closer to an illusionist than a full-blown master of manipulating the laws of nature. However, with a win cap of 10,000x the bet, and a full suite of features in place, the opposite is a technical possibility as well.

ELK Studios excels at making these sorts of sophisticated, feature-linked types of games, of which Arcanum is another good one. It didn't feel like a great one, though, not totally sure why, it lacked a certain presence like say an adrenaline-filled Nitropolis slot, but it is a fine choice for those who appreciate the studio's knack for pulling together a stack of extras and coating them in enigma.