After dominating the sands of Ancient Egypt for what feels likes untold millennia, the unstoppable ‘Book of’ style gaming moves north to the chillier confines of Scandinavia. Pragmatic Play must’ve had a bit of time on their hands to kill and have combined Book of Ra with Vikings to produce the unimaginatively titled slot Book of Vikings. It’s hard not to be a little jaded when approaching this sort of thing for the umpteenth time. Still, Viking’s are a little novel in the book world so let’s see how they stack up.
As expected, the action occurs on a classic 5-reel, 10-payline grid set in a Fjord like environment, the grid surrounded by towering cliffs. Long ships bob up and down in the lower portion of the screen while up above lighting flashes across a purple sky. It’s all nice and Vikingy, setting the scene for the familiar dynamics to work their magic on the reels. Lessening the visual impact to a degree is a soundtrack which doesn’t hit quite so hard, though it is adequate enough to not be a distraction.
Available on any device, Book of Vikings can be played from 10 p/c to $/€100 per spin. Staying true to form, Book of Vikings is a highly volatile slot that’s all about getting scatter symbols to unlock free spins since there is little else modifying the base game. The default RTP is very decent on 96.5%, making it one of the more generous ‘Book of’ slots to choose from. Pragmatic has also made the wise decision of sticking to symbol values from the higher end of the spectrum.
While waiting for those elusive expanding symbol free spins, players score a win when two or three of a kind land from the first reel onwards. Three are needed for the low pay royals, (10-A) which produce a neat effect when they form a win. This is reduced to two or more amongst the high pays where you’ll find horns, helms, a tough Viking warrioress, and a Chief rocking a sweet triple plaited beard. Premium wins offer great returns when five of a kind land, from 75x up to 500x the bet – a property greatly enhanced during free spins.
Like most ‘book of’ slots, the actual book symbol is the most highly prized symbol in the game for a number of reasons. For one, it is the wild, replacing any other symbol to make a winning combination. Two, it’s the scatter so 3, 4, or 5 in view award 10 free spins plus an extra payout of 2x, 20x, or 200x the bet respectively.
Before free spins launch, a book flips through its pages to select one of the pay symbols as the special expanding symbol. In free spins, after regular wins have been paid, the special symbol expands vertically to cover all three positions on the reel. What makes these symbols extra special is the expanded form pays all win ways, even in non-adjacent positions. Symbols only expand if they will form a win by doing so.
The final piece of good news is hitting 3 or more scatters during the bonus awards 10 more free spins with the current special symbol. There is no limit to how many times this may occur.
So how did the Vikings go in the starring role? Just as well as any Pharaoh, scarab, or Egyptian divinity really. It’s the gameplay that ultimately counts in this type of game and Pragmatic Play has stood out of the way to not prevent the magic from happening. Book of Vikings does its thing as competently as most others in this bloated slot category, if not better.
In some ways Book of Vikings is the kind of thing a smaller studio does to make some kind of mark, and you look the other. Ah well, at least Pragmatic Play has done it in style, and Book of Vikings is an enjoyable experience from an audio/visual standpoint. Little touches like low pay symbol animations when they are part of the win are as nice as the fast-moving, moody clouds rolling across the screen.
The action is just as enjoyable too but that sort of goes without saying when following a blueprint as established as this one. At least Pragmatic Play hasn’t spoiled the formula by tinkering with symbol values or getting creative. There’s nothing worse than a studio ‘borrowing’ the Ra format and flubbing it into something unplayable. Players are no doubt used to the features seen here, which work to great effect when the right expanding symbol lights up the reels. If you’re new, buckle in for a ride where single spin wins of up to 5,000x the bet are possible.
All told, Book of Vikings offers wholesome ‘book’ gaming, and little else besides. It adds little to the genre which wasn’t there before, yet takes nothing away either. For fans of this style, Book of Vikings presents a solid alternative to the sea of Egyptian themed versions.
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