Thurisaz

Thurisaz: Slot Overview

This doesn't happen a lot when conducting a review, but before diving into Hacksaw Gaming partner Kitsune Studios' online slot Thurisaz, a spot of research was required to understand what its name meant. For anyone else unsure of the definition, 'Thurisaz' is the third rune of the Elder Futhark, the oldest known runic alphabet, used by Germanic peoples from around 150 CE, which has been associated with strength, protection, and conflict, amongst other things. Mighty stuff, so here's hoping Thurisaz the slot lives up to its mighty name.

Buried deep within fjord-like terrain surrounded by craggy peaks is Thurisaz's game world. Kitsune Studios has populated it with two Viking warriors, one male, one female, and stuffed the background with hale and hearty Viking stuff. We're talking about more mountains, dark foreboding clouds, and forks of yellow lightning. That's the base game. The bonus round is more subdued, as play switches to an indoor stone setting like a palace, or something along those lines. In both phases of play, Thurisaz is a nice-looking slot, though its base game is the more dramatic place to be, visually at least, though the features get a boost while free spins are going.

After picking a stake of $/€0.10 to $/€100, clicking the play button spins a 5x5 gaming grid which creates wins along 19 paylines. A 3 out of 5 rating means its math model is medium volatile, and of the two RTP configurations available, 96.3% is the preferred value.

Five runes make up the low pay symbols, awarding 1x to 2x the stake for a 5 OAK win. After them come mugs, ships, ravens, female, and male characters, granting 5x to 10x for a 5 OAK winning line. Regular wilds and Dropping Wilds substitute all regular paying symbols, and both are worth 20x for landing five in a line. A cascading win mechanism removes winning symbols from sight, dropping other symbols down to refill the reels for another chance to win.

Thurisaz: Slot Features

Thurisaz's features are Frame Multipliers, Dropping Wilds, free spins, and feature buys.

Frame Multiplier

Each win highlights the winning positions with frames. Frames activate an x2 multiplier the next time they get hit by a win. Each following win on a framed position increases the multiplier by +1 up to x5. Multipliers are added together when multiple frames are part of the same win. Dropping Wild symbols and Frame Multiplier values are added together when they are involved in the same win. In the base game, frames and multipliers reset on each spin.

Dropping Wild

When a Dropping Wild symbol lands, it expands to the bottom of the reel. The number of positions it expands equals its multiplier value from x1 to x5. They appear on any reel, one per reel. Multipliers are added together if multiple expanding Dropping Wilds are involved in the same win.

Thurisaz Free Spins

Landing 3, 4, or 5 scatters in the base game awards players 10, 12, or 14 free spins, respectively. The bonus round keeps the base game mechanics. In addition, any Frame Multipliers from the base game carry over, and they do not reset till the round ends. Landing 2 extra FS scatters awards +2 free spins.

Feature Buys

Activating BonusHunt FeatureSpins for 3x the bet makes each spin 5 times more likely to trigger free spins, or for 50x, Dropping Wild FeatureSpins land at least 1 Dropping Wild. It is also possible to trigger the free spins round at a cost of 100x the stake.

Thurisaz: Slot Verdict

After solving the mystery of Thurisaz's name, the rest of the game was less of a puzzle to follow along with. The base game cycled through cascades and Dropping Wilds, but adding multipliers to positions and growing them could be few and far between. So whilst Thurisaz might come across as a Sugar Rush challenger of sorts, the gameplay loop actually felt quite different. One contributing factor is that Thurisaz uses paylines rather than cluster pays to highlight positions, so potential multipliers, for the most part, were confined to the leftmost three reels. After spinning away for a while, the frequency of getting two or more wins on the same position in order to awaken the x2 multis and beyond could be a little disappointing.

Free spins are where Thurisaz gets a chance to more confidently strut since highlighted positions and their multiplier values persist till the round ends. On a positive note, free spins did trigger often enough to boost enthusiasm, though the change from majestic mountain setting to a dingy stone room was a cosmetic step down. Even in free spins, Thurisaz laboured with producing stellar hits, though its 10,000x the stake win cap suggests it is technically capable of doing so. With a bit of luck, who knows, its position multipliers might mushroom, link up with Dropping Wilds, and boom, you've got a solid result on your hands.

In the end, Thurisaz looks and sounds rather handsome, and its features have merit. However, the niggling concern is that when it comes to individual position multiplier gameplay, it is outclassed by the likes of Sugar Rush, which is better at flexing features that feel like they could blow up at any moment. Thurisaz has its moments, but on the whole, they felt more controlled, less explosive, and somewhat less entertaining.