ELK Studios has their popular grid expanding Gold series about the adventurous explorer, Kane, and now it seems like Blueprint is planning on following the same recipe (not to say “blueprint”). Their first installment,Winter Fallwas clearly inspired by the Gold saga, but releasing a simple reskin job of this previous effort is perhaps not the most convincing way to compete against ELK’s popular range.
As visually pleasing as Viking Fall is, you still get pretty much the same game underneath it all, although the top-tier 96 % RTP is a tad lower. We hope this is a one-off if Blueprint plans to continue this series, as ELK always tweaks both features and location/theme per release in the Kane saga. You get the same cascading wins grid expanding experience as in the first release, with Colossal Mystery Symbols and Wilds that increase the multiplier. Nothing resets in the bonus round, of course, and the max win is Blueprint’s standard 50,000x (£250K).
You win by landing 3+ matching symbols anywhere on adjacent reels from left to right, and the premium character symbols pay between 1.1 and 2.5 x your stake for 6 of a kind wins. Winning symbols are removed via the Reaction/Cascading mechanic, and the gaps are filled with new and/or existing symbols dropping down from above.
Each cascade adds an extra row to the grid, and you can thus gofrom 4 to 8 rowswith enough consecutive cascades. The grid maxes out at 6×8 with262,144 win ways, and everything resets when you hit a non-winning cascade in the base game.
Thegolden wild symbolsteps in for all regular pay symbols to help complete winning combinations, like wilds usually do. However, each wild that lands also increases theWin-X Multiplier by +1. This multiplier resets when you hit a non-winning cascade, just like the grid size.
You can land aColossal Mystery Symbolat random times, and it will always reveal a randomly chosen matching symbol type. It transforms into regular sized pay symbols, and you’re guaranteed a win when it lands.
The Bonus Round triggers when you rack up at least 3 scatters in the same cascading sequence, and3, 4, 5 or 6 scattersgives you6, 8, 10 or 12 free spins, respectively. The Win-X Multiplier does not reset in the bonus round, and theMinimum Ways mechanicalso kicks in. The latter means that the number of achieved rows and win ways also don’t reset, and you can retrigger the feature with extra spins by landing 3+ scatters in the same round.
Finally, non-UK players, and anyone living in an eligible jurisdiction, can take advantage of theBonus Buy feature. This will set you back100x your stake, and it guarantees 3+ scatters on the spin that follows.
You get a decent taste of the base game, before we trigger the bonus round with 5 scatters at 1:16 into the 5:20-minute highlights video. This gave us 10 ‘free falls’ for starters, and you can see for yourself how much we got away with by hitting the play button below.
Fans of ELK’s popular Gold series now have a Norse viking alternative from Blueprint, as Viking Fall is clearly inspired by the Kane saga. The theme may not be as exotic as the many unusual places you get to visit with Kane, but you’re certainly in for a solid audiovisual experience nonetheless. The biggest problem is that Blueprint decided to simply make a reskin of their previous Winter Fall, which is hardly the best start to what could develop into a series.
The grid expanding cascades with possible Win-X Multiplier upgrades is never boring however, and the Colossal Mystery Symbols are a nice touch as well. Everything is enhanced when nothing resets in the bonus round, and you get the standard Blueprint50,000x potential capped at £250,000. We wouldn’t mind a more specific max win for each release to be honest, or at least a bit more transparency about winning chances (like you get with NoLimit City).
Pros
Cons
Winter Fall- is the original Blueprint release from the end of 2021, and the grid maxes out at 6×8 with 262,144 win ways also here. Cascades expand the grid, while wilds add to the Win-X Multiplier. Neither the grid, nor the multiplier, resets in the bonus round, and you get the same standard 50,000x (£250,000) max win.
Katmandu Gold- is the 5th release in ELK’s epic series about the daredevil explorer, Kane, and each cascading win adds a new row up to 8 at the most. You have Ice Climbers and Expanding Wins modifiers as well, and the bonus round comes with a progressive win multiplier for the first time in the series. This can lead to 10,000x payouts.
Volatile Vikings- is a volatile Norse-inspired release from Relax Gaming, and matching symbols pay anywhere as long as you land enough on the 6×5 grid. Cascading sequences gives you Multiplier Reveal symbols, and these build to boost your total win. The multiplier doesn’t reset in the free spins round, and you can win up to 20,000x your stake.
