Of Sabers and Monsters WildFight

Of Sabers and Monsters WildFight: Slot Overview

Every culture has its heroes, hardy men and women who have stepped up, whether on purpose seeking glory or who have been thrust forward by circumstance. Four of them star in Yggdrasil's Of Sabers and Monsters, an online slot which sees the studio taking much of the good stuff from its Vikings Go range and shifting it over to a Cossack adventure-themed game. Don't get the impression this is a clone, however, as Yggdrasil has made one or two tweaks to the blueprint while equipping Of Sabers and Monsters with Hero Battles, Ardent Respins, free spins, Tempest Free Spins, Feather Symbol rewards, and bonus buy.

Of Sabers and Monsters is set in an evocative scene of yellow fields, intriguing buildings, a crow, and swiftly flowing clouds. Trigger free spins, or buy them, and the action scrolls right to a new location, which is darker, spookier, more skullish, and is presumably where the monsters come from. There's a story to be told here, and it's too bad Yggdrasil didn't go into detail about it, but the rich audio-visuals do the theme justice, and players have plenty of inspiration to concoct a tale of their own if they need one.

Played on a 6-reel, 4-row game grid, one of the differences in Of Sabers and Monsters is that Yggdrasil has replaced the fixed paylines of the Vikings Go range with a 4,096 ways to win system. Wins occur when at least three matching symbols land in consecutive reels from the leftmost side at a theoretical frequency of 20.26%. Another theoretical value is RTP which has a highest value of 96%, though the game may come with three lower settings. Highly volatile, Of Sabers and Monsters is playable on any device, where stakes vary from 20 p/c to $/€50 per spin.

Taking a look at the regular paying symbols, clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades make up the low pays, all worth 0.5x the bet for five of a kind win, while four Heroes make up the four premium symbols, paying 1-1.5x the stake for a five-symbol winning way. Wilds are central to Of Sabers and Monsters, as you will see. One of the things they do is substitute for any regular pay symbols to help complete winning ways. Wilds can also turn sticky at certain moments, covered next.

Of Sabers and Monsters WildFight: Slot Features

When a premium symbol win hits, it contributes Focus Points to the respective Focus Meter. There are four Focus Meters, each one connected to one of the four high pay Hero symbols. When the game starts, one of the Focus Meters is half filled with 50 points. When any of the meters is completely filled with 100 points, the Hero gets Arden Mode status and Ardent Respins are awarded.

Ardent Respins

During Ardent Respins, when high pay symbols land on the middle 4 reels, they battle the Golden Monster. If the heroes win, they transform into Sticky Wilds. High-pay symbols that have full Focus Meters always win their battle and turn into Sticky Wilds. Respins come to an end when no new battles are won or if Sticky Wilds fill the reels. Ardent Respins are played with the average bet size used when points were collected.

Skirmish

Should any of the middle four reels fill with high pay symbols in the base game, a Skirmish is triggered. All high pay symbols on the middle four reels fight the Monster, and if they win, they become wild.

Feather Symbol

The Feather Symbol only appears on the rightmost reel and awards a random prize when it lands. From the base game, this could be a 4-200x the bet cash prize, 8-20 regular free spins, or Tempest Free Spins. If a Feather hits in free spins, it awards a 4-200x the bet cash prize, 2-4 extra free spins, a random Wild Reel, or an extra wild. When a Feather lands in the Tempest Free Spins feature, it awards a 4-200x the bet cash prize or 2-4 additional free spins.

Free Spins

Getting 3, 4, 5, or 6 scatter symbols awards 8, 12, 16, or 20 free spins, respectively. Before they begin, players can gamble to win more if they do not win 20. Successful gambles increase free spins to a higher amount, while unsuccessful gambles lose all of the free spins. Players enter free spins with one random extra. This could be one high pay symbol in Ardent mode, 1-2 extra free spins, a random Sticky Wild, a random Sticky Wild Reel, or extra Feathers on reel 6. In free spins, high pay symbols fight the Monster when they land on the middle four reels and transform into Sticky Wilds if they win their battle. Sticky Wilds remain on the reels for the duration of the feature.

Tempest Free Spins

When triggered by the Feather Symbol, players win 8 Tempest Free Spins. In this bonus, all high-pay Hero symbols are in Ardent Mode, so they always win their fights and become Sticky Wilds. As before, Sticky Wilds remain on the reels for the duration of the feature. The bet value for this bonus round is the same as the triggering spin.

Buy Bonus

Players can pick two buy bonus options if the opportunity is there. One is regular free spins for 80x the bet or Tempest Free Spins for 500x the stake.

Of Sabers and Monsters WildFight: Slot Verdict

When they want to, the Yggdrasil team can certainly craft a pretty scene, and Of Sabers and Monsters is undoubtedly well crafted. Was Yggdrasil inspired by Foxium's Cossacks the Wild Hunt? We could be reaching here simply because the two games are based on Cossacks, but they both have exceptional production values and an excellent set of features to match. Yggdrasil did get a helping hand when making Of Sabers and Monsters, though, since much has been brought over from the Vikings Go range of slots. However, we're not complaining. The gameplay has a lot to commend about it and has made a seamless transition from the hardy Vikings to a group of battle-ready Cossacks.

And Monsters, let's not forget those since they are critical to some of the game's best moments. That is, when Heroes defeat Monsters when they battle, then morph into Sticky Wilds. There are a number of instances when this can happen, such as in free spins, Ardent Respins, and Tempest Free Spins. If you're going to do it organically, then patience may well be required. High-pay Hero wins didn't happen super often during testing, so filling a Focus Meter might take time. Otherwise, free spins triggers or Feather awards are a possibility, as is buying a bonus round if doing so is an option.

Of Sabers and Monsters was an entertaining slot very much in the same vein as the successful Vikings Go range. There aren't the random multipliers of Vikings Go Berzerk Reloaded, but with so many more ways to win, the results can potentially be impressive. Should the game go nutty, a maximum win of 18,350x the bet is technically possible. In short, for anyone looking for a rugged Viking slot alternative that packs a decent wallop, Of Sabers and Monsters could be worth a grapple.