Viking Runecraft Apocalypse

Viking Runecraft Apocalypse: Slot Overview

Time to pop on a horned helm, sharpen your favourite axe or do what you must to mentally brace for Viking Runecraft Apocalypse, which comes courtesy of Swedish developer Play'n GO. Viking Runecraft Apocalypse is a game heavily steeped in Norse Mythology and all the accompanying visuals this slot genre entails. We're talking about characters who refuse to take any garbage rammed together in a snowy environment while the game delivers features such as Spirit Wilds, Gift of the Gods, Loki's Mischief, Power of the Aesir, Aftershock, and the Ragnarok Free Spin.

You'll need plenty of furs for this one, as Viking Runecraft Apocalypse is set in a mountainous region, with a huffing giant glaring ominously from behind a semi-transparent game grid. Perhaps ominous isn't a strong enough word for him. Ferocious might be a better one, and he helps set the scene for a take-no-prisoners style slot with plenty of pyrotechnics alerting players when special symbols and features hit. To the side of the grid, various heroes stand, depending on the state of play, such as a Mjolnir-wielding Thor, calling down lightning from time to time. Keen on Norse traditions? Then there's a good chance Viking Runecraft Apocalypse will pique your interest, thematically speaking.

Viking Runecraft Apocalypse is a cluster-paying grid slot played on a 7x7-sized matrix covered in 49 individual symbols. One of the main aims is to land at least 5 matching symbols anywhere on the grid, vertically or horizontally adjacent to each other, to create a win. Winning clusters are removed from the board, and symbols tumble down from above to plug the empty spaces. Medium-high volatile, players can pick a stake of 5 p/c to $/€100 per drop and should be sure to check the return to player percentage as the game may be available at several settings.

For symbols, Viking Runecraft Apocalypse has 9 regular pays, split into 5 runic lows, then a horn, skull, hammer, and what looks like a sword as the 4 highs. Should a 5-symbol cluster hit, the rewards range from 0.2 to 4 times the bet, while the largest clusters of 20+ matching symbols pay 8 to 500 times the bet. Wilds here are known as Spirit Wilds and appear in empty spaces after winning clusters have been removed from the reels. Spirit Wilds substitute for all pay symbols and are collected whenever they are used in a win.

Viking Runecraft Apocalypse: Slot Features

Filling the Spirit Wild collector with 4 Spirit Wild symbols triggers one of the Gift of the Gods features at random. These are:

• Odin's Power – adds 3 adjacent wilds.
• Freya's Magic – creates 2 to 4 pairs of wilds.
• Thor's Thunder – creates 6 to 10 wilds.
• Heimdall's Vision – creates 2 to 4 pairs of diagonal wilds.

Loki's Mischief

Loki's Mischief may randomly trigger on a non-winning cascade. When activated, Loki creates 5 to 8 mystery symbols which reveal a random pay symbol type.

Power of the Aesir

Winning symbols are also collected by the Runic Charge meter. Collecting 35 of them activates a random feature:

• Trumpet's Screech – transforms or destroys symbols around 3 random symbols.
• Folkvang's Force – upgrades 1 type of symbol.
• Mjolnir's Strike – destroys and transforms 6 to 10 random symbols.
• Heaven's Spear – weapon symbols are transformed into the same symbol.

Aftershock

Symbols are selected, then they get connected by transforming the symbols in between them. This feature may trigger if you are within 5 symbols of triggering the Ragnarok Free Spin.

Ragnarök Free Spin

Collecting 65 winning symbols activates the Ragnarok Free Spin. In addition, winning symbols can increase the multiplier up to x10. During this spin, all of the Power of Aesir features are triggered in sequential order. Also, players may collect up to 20 Spirit Wilds to be awarded at the end of the free spin.

Viking Runecraft Apocalypse: Slot Verdict

Sometimes games come along to remind us why their particular theme has grown to be so popular amongst slot designers and players alike. Viking Runecraft Apocalypse is one of those games that unashamedly drenches itself in common motifs but is able to put them to use in a highly entertaining way. It's a testament to Play'n GO's talents and expertise that they've gone to town with the theme, creating a thrilling game world and populating it with towering figures of Norse belief. The animations and effects regularly fire, breathing life into the game grid as well as animating the busy space around and behind it.

What's encouraging is that loads of visual effects generally means there is loads of gaming taking place. Oftentimes, this was the Spirit Wild and winning symbol collection sequences, as both go on to feed their respective meters. A solid collection flow leads to visual effects caused by one (or more) of the many modifiers firing. Much of the modification revolves around wild additions or symbol removal, all handy stuff for creating a form of gameplay that can sort of feed off of itself when all is going well. Later on, should it all climax in the Ragnarok Free Spin, then it's probably going really well.

A final capstone spin might not sound like much, but like a swing of Thor's mighty hammer Mjolnir, one might be enough, and Viking Runecraft Apocalypse can take it all the way to 10,000x the bet. Play'n GO is well-versed in creating these sorts of exponentially climaxing style slots, too. Lordi Reel Monsters is one that came to mind, though so did others like Reactoonz, for example. In summation, Viking Runecraft Apocalypse came across as a slickly executed cluster pays slot with a visual presentation as dynamic as its gameplay can be.