Viking Mania is a digital slots game from developers Playtech that takes a much more tongue-in-cheek approach to its depiction of fearsome, bloodthirsty Viking warfare than many other Viking-themed slots games. The graphics and 3D animations, including a vibrant intro, are rendered more in cartoon or comic-book style, and in fact call to mind the Asterix books created by Goscinny and Uderzo.
Besides horse betting, Viking Mania’s five reels and three rows are displayed as simple parchments with no frame, against a pine forest background. The game features 20 bet lines, and to win players need to match at least three symbols (or two, for some icons) in unbroken succession on a bet line, beginning at Reel 1. The number of coins bet per line is also adjustable.
Basic Viking Mania Symbols
Viking Mania resorts to the standard poker icons 9, 10, J, Q, K and A as low-value symbols, rendered in a plain, bold font. Three of a kind is the minimum required for a win with these symbols, ranging from 5X the line bet for three 9s or 10s, to 125X for five Ks or As.
The higher-value regular symbols are more in keeping with the Viking Mania theme: a buxom Viking woman, a wild Boar, a drinking Horn and a red-bearded Viking Warrior. Both the Woman and the red-haired Warrior trigger wins from as little as two of a kind, and five Warriors scores the highest win in regular play: 1,000X the bet.
Three Special Icons
Viking Mania features three special icons. Each time the Giant Hammer icon lands on the middle row, it bashes an animation into life that ends with one of the letters from the word “BONUS” falling to the bottom of the reel, where it remains through further spins. Once the Giant Hammer has appeared on the centre row of all five reels, the word “BONUS” is complete, and the Viking Playtime Bonus is triggered. This involves a Viking tied to a target board, with the player offered a variety of missiles to throw at him: a tomato, an egg, a chicken, and axe and a hammer. The weapon chosen will determine the size of the multiplier applied to the win on this round, after the player has had 10 shots at the target.
The Viking Mania Wild symbol is a blond Warrior icon, which only appears on Reels 2, 3 and 4 and substitutes for all symbols except the Scatter and the Hammer to create more chances at winning bet lines. During Free Spins rounds, the blond Warrior icon expands to fill an entire reel, which enhances the winning options even more. The Scatter icon is an old-fashioned map, and it scores wins in its own right for combinations of two or more. Three or more Scatters will also trigger a Free Spins round, starting off with 10 free spins and a 3X multiplier on all wins for the round. However, free spins can be retriggered an unlimited number of times by three or more Scatters appearing during a free spins round, so this bonus feature offers some of Viking Mania’s most lucrative rewards.