Valhall Gold

Valhall Gold: Slot Overview

If you were wondering, the word 'Valhall' is the anglicised form of the Old Norse word 'Valhǫll', which means 'hall of the slain'. It is said to be a hall in Asgard led by Odin where half of the people killed in battle end up, while the other half is sent to Fólkvangr to hang with the Goddess Freyja. Apt in some ways then because Valhall Gold from developer ELK Studios brings to an end the popular range of Gold slots launched back in 2019 with Ecuador Gold - a game which introduced the explorer Kane to the gambling community, who has since visited exotic locations such as Tahiti, Louisiana, and Kathmandu. This time he's found himself in Valhall, in a slot that mixes classic Gold gaming with new extras, for one last time.

If there is one thing Kane's good at, it's adapting to suit his surroundings, and Valhall Gold is no exception. In this slot, the explorer has donned Viking garb, grabbed an axe, and done his hair up to look like Uhtred, son of Uhtred from The Last Kingdom. He fits right in, too, amongst a majestic Viking setting of mountains sloping into water like a fjord before two imposing statues guarding the entrance to a regal space in the distance, accessed when free spins trigger, of burning braziers, a banquet, and a tree presumably Yggdrasil in the background. Its dense Viking atmosphere provides players with plenty of enticement to tangle with the final Gold slot.

Why don't we deal with one of Valhall Gold's sore points now? While the features and winning potential have grown as the series has progressed, RTP has gone in the other direction, producing an RTP of 94%. This applies whether playing in the normal mode, betting 20 p/c to $/€100 per spin, or when activating bonus modes from the X-iter. Highly volatile, Valhall Gold uses a dynamic gaming grid which begins each spin of the base game with 6 reels and 4 rows of symbols with 4,096 ways to win. However, it is possible to grow the reels to be 9 rows high at the most, where there are 531,441 ways to win.

Valhall Gold has 12 regular pay symbols and a stack of special symbols. The pay symbols are made up of 4 runic blocks of stone as the lows, 4 Viking/Celtic designs as the mids, and 4 high pays topped by Kane. When 6 OAK winning ways hit, the payouts are 0.3x for the runes, 0.8-1x for the pattern symbols, and 2-5x for the remaining high pays. All of these pay symbols may land in 1x1, 2x2, 3x3, or 4x4 sizes. The regular wild can appear in all of these sizes as well to substitute for any regular pay symbol.

Valhall Gold: Slot Features

With its collection of old and new, features in Valhall Gold include Avalanches, Odin's Ravens, Trickster Loki, Almighty Thor, Spike Symbols, a bonus game, and the X-iter bonus buy menu.

Avalanches

The Avalanche mechanic removes winning symbols from the grid when they hit. Empty spaces are filled by symbols dropping in, and an extra row of symbols is added to the reels as well. Consecutive Avalanche wins can grow the reels up to 8 rows high. However, large overflowing symbols can trigger the ninth row, and when symbols extend beyond the current amount of rows in general, a refill tops the other reels to the same height as the extended symbol. In the base game, each spin reset the reels to 4 rows high. Each free spin resets to the safety level. Empty spaces below big symbols are filled with matching 1x1 symbols, while empty spaces below Thor wilds or Loki symbols are filled with 1x1 wilds.

Odin's Ravens

On their own, Odin's Ravens symbols are blocker symbols. If 2 or more Odin's Ravens symbols are in view, however, they become wild, paying as a 1x1 wild.

Trickster Loki

Loki is a blocker symbol of 2x2 in size that provides a different modifier for each win evaluation. A win activates Loki, but then he is active for the rest of the round. Loki performs his feature prior to the win evaluation:

• Loki Multiplier – a multiplier of x2, x3, x5, or x10 is applied to the current win evaluation. Loki's multiplier is additive to any saved multiplier in the bonus game.
• Loki Both Ways – activates a win evaluation from left to right and right to left.
• Loki Spike Storm – adds a random number of spike frames on existing symbols, turning them into spike symbols.
• Loki Axe Fury – upgrades a random number of symbols in view into the same symbol.

Spike Symbols

A spike symbol that is part of a win replicates itself in the direction that the spike on its frame is pointing. Spikes do not transform Loki, Thor, or Odin's Ravens symbols.

Almighty Thor

This is a 2x2 wild symbol that remains sticky during a single drop.

Bonus Game

Landing 3, 4, 5, or 6 scatter symbols in the base game awards 10, 15, 20, or 25 free drops, respectively. The bonus game starts with the safety level at 5 rows after the first winning drop. The safety level is the minimum starting reel height when symbols are dropped at the start of a spin. Each winning free drop increases the safety level by +1 row up to 8. The ninth row is opened when a large symbol extends into it, where it will stay from then on.

A win with a Loki modifier in the bonus game activates the modifier's slot in Loki's inventory. The next win with the same Loki feature saves the modifier in the inventory, and the modifier becomes sticky for the rest of the round. Saved Loki multipliers are additive. When the inventory saves a Loki multiplier, all future wins are multiplied by the saved multiplier. Loki may award additional multipliers after the first multiplier has been saved. Wins subject to the saved multiplier in Loki's inventory and a new Loki multiplier are multiplied by the added sum.

The Both Ways modifier remains active for the rest of the round when it is saved on the inventory – it will no longer be awarded by Loki once it has been saved. Once the Spike Storm has been saved in the inventory, each remaining free drop has a Spike Storm activate after the symbols have dropped. Loki may award extra Spike Storms after the Spike Storm has been saved in the inventory. When the Axe Fury has been saved in the inventory, Axe Fury will activate on each remaining spin after the symbols have dropped in. Loki may award additional Axe Fury features after the Axe Fury has been saved in the inventory. Finally, when 3, 4, 5, or 6 scatter symbols hit, an extra 10, 15, 20, or 25 free drops are awarded.

X-iter

The X-iter feature provides 5 different game modes:

• Bonus Hunt – 2x the bet for one drop with double the chance to trigger the bonus game.
• Big Block – 5x the bet for one drop with a guaranteed big symbol.
• Trickster Loki – 25x the bet for one drop with a guaranteed Loki symbol.
• Bonus – 100x the bet to buy the bonus round.
• Super Bonus – 500x the bet to buy the bonus round with Loki's inventory fully active.

Valhall Gold: Slot Verdict

When Valhall Gold was reviewed, it really was a week of goodbyes. Not only did we cross paths with Valhall Gold, the final instalment in ELK Studios' popular Gold range of slots, but a couple of days earlier, we reviewed Money Train 4, the last slot in Relax Gaming's monumental train series. Money Train 4 was a titan of a final game, boosting winning potential out to 150,000x, offering a list of features as long as your arm, and rounded off with a brand new pay mechanic. Valhall Gold, by contrast, isn't as exceptional when compared to many of the Gold slots preceding it. This is not to say Valhall Gold isn't an excellent game. It's just that ELK Studios hasn't marked the occasion by going out with such an eye-searing bang.

However, Valhall Gold is a solid game which does the series proud, aside from the descending RTP values, which may have left a bad taste in the mouth. Other than that, things like winning potential have seen an upward trajectory, clocking in at 2,500x in Ecuador Gold, now tipping the scales at 25,000x the bet in Valhall Gold. Valhall Gold did come across as rather volatile, maybe just right for some, a bit too much for others, and buying bonus rounds was a real crapshoot. Such is the nature of the beast, though, and when its extensive features are firing, Loki's inventory is doing its thing, activating repeat features, then Valhall Gold has the ability to go off. Loki is sometimes known as the 'trickster god', and Valhall Gold has no problems performing its own tricks, and not always of the ha-ha kind.

Still, Valhall Gold is a well-made game brimming with excellent artwork and concepts. With all the success the Gold series of slots has garnered over the years it's hard to imagine ELK Studios completely abandoning the growing reels, avalanche, safety level set of gaming ideas completely. With how entertaining Kane and his games have been, it's rather exciting to see if and/or how the studio will do something related in the future. See ya, Kane, for now?