Knights of Fortune

Knights of Fortune: Slot Overview

Costa del Sol based studio Spearhead invites players to shimmy into suits of armour to find a bit of glory in their medieval-themed slot Knights of Fortune. Much like ye knights of olde, players have to work their way to possible riches by gathering certain winning tiles, wilds, or special golden symbols. Let's save you some time by saying if slots based around collection systems aren't your area of interest, Knights of Fortune won't excite. If, on the other hand, you don't mind putting in a bit of graft to earn glory, read on knights and dames.

The action takes place in a charming medieval village on a quaint cobbled street surrounded by daisies, while heraldry hangs suspended between timber-framed buildings above the game's 5x3, 243 win ways grid. There's none of the muck or disease sometimes associated with that era; instead, Spearhead Studios has crafted a rather pleasant place to test your mettle against the realm's best.

Playable from 50 p/c to $/€100 per spin, Knights of Fortune is a highly volatile sojourn through the middle ages, generating a return value of 96.2%. In some games, having to collect symbols to trigger free spins often means the full RTP doesn't apply until a cycle completes. Spearhead doesn't specifically mention whether this is the case in Knights of Fortune, but it's something to keep in mind if you're thinking of bowing out early.

To win, you'll need to knock your opponent from his stead then finish them off in hand to hand combat. Oh wait, that's jousting. In Knights of Fortune, when three to five matching symbols land left to right, in any row, from the first reel, you've got a winning combination. Then, the winning symbols are removed from the grid via a cascade feature, which drops new symbols into the gaps. It is possible to score repeat payouts as long as winning symbols continue to land.

Starting the paytable off are low value metallic 9-A royal symbols, while high pays consist of a gauntlet, axes, a green knight, and a blue knight. Values for five premium symbols range from 3 to 4.4 times your stake. A sword and shield is the wild symbol, landing anywhere to replace any paying symbol. Wilds also payout when five of a kind land, to the tune of 20 times your bet.

Knights of Fortune: Slot Features

If you're a collector by heart, you'll be thrilled by the features on offer in Knights of Fortune, which has 3 symbols to amass:

• The first collectable symbol is the wild, stored every time one lands, whether it is part of a win or not. The wild meter has 5 segments and starts on 0. Each time all 5 segments are filled, the meter increases by 1, up to a maximum of 80.
• The next one is a multiplier meter, also possessing 5 segments starting on x1. Each blue or green knight symbol part of a winning combination during the base game fills 1 segment. Every 5 segments filled increases the meter by +1. There is no limit to the number of multipliers collected, but it is the hardest one to fill out of the three.
• In the base game, a special golden shield appears at random behind any low paying symbol. When these symbols hit, they are collected in the free spins meter. When the free spins meter reaches 8 out of 8, meaning 40 golden symbols have been collected, 8 free spins are awarded. The wilds collected in the wild meter are added to the reels at random points, and the current multiplier applies to all wins. Free spins do not retrigger, and symbols are not collected for any of the meters during the bonus. Once free spins conclude, all three meters are reset.

The game blurb mentions the 'status of noble knights cannot be bought, it must be earned'. This isn't entirely the case, however, if bonus buy features are permitted where you live. Knights of Fortune's has one costing 100x the bet and gets you 8 free spins, with 13 or 14 wilds added to the reels, plus a win multiplier of x3. Buying the bonus raises the RTP slightly to 96.4%.

Knights of Fortune: Slot Verdict

Knights of Fortune's entertainment value boils down to how you feel about slots with collection systems. If they really don't float your boat, then Knights of Fortune has no chance because the game is completely based on one. However, players who enjoy hoarding everything they get their hands on should be well pleased with the trio of symbols up for grabs.

There are pros and cons to the approach. One is you can track your progress towards free spins and estimate, to a degree, how much longer you've got to wait. On the other hand, you know the bonus game isn't going to trigger out of the blue on the next spin. It's a bit more ordered, a little less intense than a regular anything could happen at any time slot. What makes it exciting is when a decent haul of wilds and multipliers are building in the meantime.

Knights of Fortune is one of those games you want free spins to trigger since best results are possible there, yet, not too soon, since you want a nifty multiplier on deck before going in. It's a tightrope, and the thing is you are locked in for a significant number of spins before you can find out whether the wait was worth it. It didn't take an outrageous amount of time to trigger free spins, though quitting early possibly affects the return value.

On the topic of payouts, players who nail the collection and the proceeding bonus round can win up to 15,811 times their stake. About the feature buy, it offered quite good value when compared to triggering free spins organically during the review, at least. Yet, it's a shame it's not as sophisticated as White Rabbit, where you can use what you've already collected to lower the cost.

As mentioned, everything hinges on how you feel about amassing tokens to power up bonus games. If you're cool with it, then Knights of Fortune could well be a completist's nirvana.