Name: Wild North Slot
Item: Wild North Slot
Rating: 7.0
Author: Chris Howlett

Casino Bonuses

Provider	Play'n Go
Reels	5
Rows	4
Paylines	40
Bonus Rounds	7
Bet Range	0.20 - 50
Volatility	Low
Max Win	2,500x
Bonus Buy	No
RTP	96.55%
Our Rating	7.0

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Game Overview

This game looked familiar to me the moment I saw it – where had I seen it before? It took a lot of digging around to find the answer, but it turns out that this is not the first incarnation of Wild North that has existed. A very similar game was offered in land-based casinos some time ago by IGT, though I struggled to find anything but poor-quality video footage and a few ancient reviews, so I guess it wasn’t very popular. Play’N’Go’s take on the formula is a 5 reel 40-payline game with a casino selectable RTP of 96.55%/94.57% and a maximum win of 2,500x your stake.

The base game doesn’t have much in the way of modifiers or special features, but the Northern Lights free spins round has no less than seven different possible modes to keep things interesting. It’s a shame they couldn’t have included a little more in the main game though, to keep you playing and interested whilst you’re waiting for the scatters to drop.

Do you fancy giving the game a bit more of your time and trying out some free spins? If the answer is yes, then why not head down to our free demo slot of Wild North. It’s available and ready for you to play below.

Wild North Slot Theme, Stakes, Pays & Symbols

Wild North slot paytable

It shouldn’t take too many guesses to figure out the theme of Wild North – set in the cold, desolate arctic plains; the slot features a range of amazing animals who populate this part of our beautiful planet. I can imagine this one went down particularly well with Norwegians and other Northern Scandinavian players! I’m a sucker for Play’N’Go’s graphical style, and sometimes worry that I praise them too much for the quality of the symbols and backdrops their artists produce. I guess it just gels with my personal tastes particularly well. The soundtrack provides an interesting backdrop, but if I had to make one gripe, it would be that Play’N’Go uses the same sound win effects in all of their games – come on, guys, a little variety wouldn’t kill you, would it? Finally, If you want to try something similar to this game, you could check out Hacksaw Gaming’s Alpha Eagle or Nolimit City’s Buffalo Hunter.

Opening the paytable for the first time on Wild North, I was slightly taken aback – the wild symbol only pays 12.5x your stake for a full line of five. So, I guess the RTP must be contained in the picture symbols, right? Strangely not. The Reindeer takes the top spot yet pays half that of the wild symbol at just 6.25x your stake for a line of five. After this, the payouts drop to 5x, 3.75x, and 2.5x for the other animals before we get to the very poorly paying Ace through to the 9 royal symbols. Ouch. So what is going on here? With a 5×4 grid and 7 free spin features, I can only assume that the majority of the RTP is locked up in the bonus rounds. Keep reading to find out if that is the case.

Many developers would set the minimum bet of a 40 payline game at €0.40 per spin, but Play’N’Go is from a different school of thought – you can bet as low as €0.20 if you wish, or as high as €50.00 per spin if you are feeling truly crazy. That’s actually a little low by this developer’s standards – they often let you bet €100.00 per spin!

Base Game & Modifiers

Wild North slot base game

So as mentioned previously, the 5×4 reel set in the base game doesn’t have too much to keep you interested – this is definitely a game where you will spend almost your entire session waiting for the scatters to drop. Also, According to the paytable, this game contains stacked symbols, yet I didn’t see any during my testing during the base game – I guess it means during the bonus rounds. This is disappointing, though, as very little is going on during base gameplay already. It would be nice if you could at least hit a big win from a bunch of stacked symbols now and again.

Wild North Slot Bonus Features

Wild North slot bonus feature

Okay, Play’N’Go, you truly need to pull it out of the bag here – what have you got for us? You will need three Northern Lights symbols on reels 1, 3, and 5 to trigger the bonus wheel. This has seven segments which correspond to the following seven features:

The Great Wilderness Feature

Hit this section of the wheel, and you will receive three free spins, but don’t let the low number get you down – each free spin includes a 4×4 mega symbol on reels two to five. This feature can be super generous if you can land a wild as your mega symbol on at least one spin, but the rest of the time, you can easily end up without a matching symbol on the first reel, rendering your bonus round a zero-paying disappointment.

Wild Lynx Feature

This feature also awards three free spins, but the hook this time is that two full reels will turn into stacked wilds on each spin. Sometimes this can work out great; others, not so much. The real downside about the Wild Lynx feature is that it causes the game’s best feature – the Wild North Explorer – to finish earlier if you manage to pick it during that bonus. Still one of the better options on the wheel, though.

Running Reindeer Feature

Just a single free spin this time, but reels two to four contain huge stacks of reindeer symbols. If you manage to hit a full stack of reindeer on any of the middle three reels, they will expand to create a 3×3 mega block – this can pay huge if you have reindeer’s on reels one and five, but if not, you win nothing. You do at least get a respin with the mega block still in place though, so all is not lost.

Savage Bear Feature

Another single spin feature, this time a random multiplier of between 5x and 30x, is applied to your winnings at the end of the spin.. assuming you hit anything. This is my most hated of all seven features; it always decides it hates me. Honestly, that bear has it in for me.

Wolf Pack Feature

Yet another single spin feature; wow, come on, Play’N Go, what are you doing to us? Give us more free spins! This time, four wild wolves are guaranteed to appear somewhere on the screen, and as long as one more wolf lands, then you will receive a free re-spin. Cross your fingers that you fill as much of the screen as possible with wolves because even a full screen pays less than 200x your stake.

Eye Of The Owl Feature

This one can be good – it’s only a single free spin once again, but two huge 2×2 owl symbols will appear on reels 1 and 2 and 4 and 5. If you fail to win the first time, a 2x multiplier will be applied, and you will be given free re-spins until you win something. Sadly, the multiplier stays at 2x, no matter how long it takes to score a win.

Wild North Explorer Feature

Finally, the game’s magnum opus – hit the top section of the wheel, and you will be presented with a 20-tile grid from which you can pick cash prizes and animal symbols that take you to the other bonus rounds. You can win a lot if you avoid the Wild Lynx too early on; sadly, there are also a couple of “X” symbols hidden amongst the 20, too, just to ruin your day. I remember doing well out of this feature back in the day, but during testing for this review, I never got anything over 100x my stake. A bad day indeed.

Pros

There are seven bonus rounds that can be triggered.
A fun slot to play if you enjoy lower-variance games.

Cons

Multiple RTP levels that operators can use.
Low maximum win of 2,500x.
The slot can and does give zero-paying bonus rounds.

Final Thoughts

I can see why IGT decided to discontinue this game all those years ago, so why Play’N’Go picked it up for the online market, I am not really sure. This is a low-variance game though, and those are never really my favourite kind of online slot. You may enjoy it, but for me, there isn’t enough action in the base game, and the bonus rounds almost always end in disappointment.

7.0

Bang Average

Author Bio

Article by Chris Howlett

11 Years Slots Playing Experience

About Chris Howlett

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