Druid’s Magic

Druid's Magic: Slot Overview

Casino game maker NetEnt invites players to 'Hear the Nordic whisper' in a magically minded online slot titled Druid's Magic. After a bit of a hunt around online, it didn't seem that Druids were particularly prevalent in Scandinavia, if at all, and were apparently more likely to be found in Britain, Ireland, France, Belgium and Germany. But, it was also mentioned that druids did not leave written accounts, so who knows where the practice may or may not have spread, even in small numbers. In this open frame of mind, we move to Druid's Magic, an online slot which makes extensive use of wild symbols in various forms, free spins, and a buy feature.

First, a word about Druid's Magic's home screen, which is actually rather magical, unearthly even. It depicts a vast forest set before a craggy set of mountains blanketed by a mystical night sky replete with the aurora borealis. It's a shame more of the action didn't take place out there where there's room to let your mind wander, but instead, when entering the game, Druid's Magic drops down into the forest to another rather magical spot. Here, deep in the woods, is a building holding the games play area, carved stones, and some nice use of warm browny colours. It's all a bit Secret of the Stones in feel but very different in practice while looking a lot more modern.

The game grid set onto the wall of the wooden structure is made up of 5 reels, 3 rows, and 20 paylines. All symbols pay from left to right on consecutive reels, starting from the leftmost side of the grid. With a medium volatile math model calling the shots, the return to player value comes in at 96.1% when regularly betting or 96.14% when buying free spins. Stakes vary from 10 p/c to $/€20 per spin, and the free spins feature costs 150x the bet when buying it.

The symbols are pretty magical, too, and consist of 4 rune inscribed blocks of stone as the low pays, then a raven, an owl, a wolf, and a bear as the 4 high-paying symbols. When landing a winning line of 5 matching low pays, players are awarded 1.6 to 3.2 times the bet, rising to 4 to 10 times the bet for the high pays. Wilds come in a variety of forms, covered next, but no matter the type, they can all substitute for any regular pay symbols and pay 20x the bet for a 5 wild win.

Druid's Magic: Slot Features

Here we've got extra info on Druid's Magic's wild symbols as well as the free spins bonus round. Druid's Magic has 5 types of wild symbols – Stacked, Expanding, Random, Linked, and Colossal. During the main game, one of the 5 wild types may be present on a single spin, but more than one symbol of the same type is possible.

• Stacked Wild – this kind of wild may land on the reels in stacks of 3 but may land as a single or double.
• Expanding Wild – when this kind of wild lands on the reels, it expands to cover the whole reel.
• Random Wild – when this wild lands, it places 1 to 9 more wilds of this type randomly on the reels.
• Linked Wild – when this kind of wild appears on the same row, they transform symbols between them into wilds.
• Colossal Wild – this type of wild appears on the reels as a 2x2 sized block. It may land fully or partially in view.

Free Spins

Scatters are 1x2 sized symbols that are able to land on reels 1 and 5 only, either fully or partially in view. When 2 full-size scatter symbols land, 10 free spins are awarded with one of the randomly selected wild features active. Landing 2 full-size scatter symbols during the round triggers 5 extra free spins and randomly activates one of the non-active wild features. Free spins can be retriggered until all 5 wild features are active. After the last retrigger possible, scatters no longer appear on the reels. If two or more wilds are active on a single spin, the order they activate is Stacked, Colossal, and then the rest trigger simultaneously.

Druid's Magic: Slot Verdict

NetEnt are no strangers to the druid theme having featured it in one of their most iconic releases Secret of the Stones. Ten years later, we are introduced to "Druid's Magic," a exquisitely crafted slot that captivates both visually and auditorially. As for the gameplay on offer here, if you like wild symbol variety, then Druid's Magic might be one to check since it serves them up in a number of different forms. At their core, wilds all do the same thing – replace pay symbols, but the way in which they do so, appear on the board, spread, expand, size and function are different, thereby providing a dash of variety. Despite the variety, for the majority of the game, wilds only ever really do their thing type one at a time unless you're lucky enough to activate more than one wild feature during free spins retriggers. Fine enough, but it wouldn't have been terrible if there had been more frequent interplay between wild symbols. Not meaning to be all greedily wish listy here, just thinking aloud.

As well as possibly suiting players who like the thought of having a quintet of wild symbols at hand to activate on the grid, Druid's Magic is a handsomely presented slot which evokes a fair share of magic. The game's location has been neatly crafted, as is the wider setting, that is, the previously gushed-over forest and mountain scene, which pops up at the start of a session and during larger wins. So much so that Druid's Magic is a game that feels more focused on world-building and providing players with a pleasant environment rather than delivering a high-performance gambling device oozing challenge and massive winning potential. In fact, Druid's Magic's max win of 2,983.6 times the bet puts it in the modest category as far as maximum payout possibilities go.

Still, Druid's Magic has been built to such a high standard it is still capable of providing a satisfying gaming session, dependent on players' preferences and expectations, of course. Therefore, if you're up for a bit of magic over monstrously thrilling big-win potential, then Druid's Magic's particular ways may be all the charm necessary to produce some smiles.