Arctic Empress Slot Review

Arctic Empress Slot RTP, Details & Wager Limits

The action in the Arctic Empress slot starts with 5 reels, 3 rows and 30 paylines. Expanding reels can change the configuration though. Landing 3 or more matching symbols or wilds on a payline, starting from reel 1 create a winner.

You can start with Arctic trek at stake levels of between 20p and £40 per spin. Click on the Total Bet button below the reels and choose your level. Click on the Auto tab next to the spin button for autoplay mode. You can run up to 100 autospins in increments of 5. There are options to set win and loss stop limits too.

The Arctic Empress RTP is 95.12% which is a little on the low side. Many Novomatic slots are super volatile. The developer has toned things down slightly here though. The volatility is in the medium range. The maximum win is 900 x stake from each free spin.

Theme – Audio and Design Features – head a frozen forest bathed in the Aurora Borealis

There’s a magical feel to the design in the Arctic Empress slot. A wintry polar forest at night, bathed in the green glow of the Northern Lights, forms the backdrop to the dark blue reels.

You’ll hear a fantastical soundtrack playing in the background while you spin, punctuated by the noises of the forest and hopefully lots of howling wolves (see the Bonus section). It’s all fine in itself but the dark visuals and small reels means it can be a bit hard to decipher all the symbols, especially when the reels are fully expanded.

There you’ll find A to 10 royal symbols alongside a collection of Arctic wildlife including birds, squirrels and polar cats. The most rewarding symbol is the Arctic Empress herself, who appears to have been modelled on Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones. She awards a payout equal to 1 x your stake if you land 5 across a payline. That’s not huge. There are potentially 90 paylines on each spin though so it’s not as bad as it sounds.

This polar fantasy is available to play on all devices. The visuals can feel a bit cramped if playing on a desktop device. Arctic Empress actually plays better on a mobile device as the reels expand vertically.

Bonus Features in Arctic Empress

Novomatic has a reputation for creating simple slots. There’s a bit more going on here than you might expect then, starting with the expanding reels which can take the number of paylines up to 90. Also in play are wild reels and free spins with multipliers.

Expanding Reels feature

On any spin, you could hear ice start to crack. This marks the arrival of the Expanding Reels feature. This adds extras rows to the game engine. Each extra row adds 10 more paylines.

If the game grid reaches its maximum size, you’ll be playing on a 5 reel, 9 row machine that offers 90 paylines. The more paylines you play with, the higher your win potential technically.

Wolf Wilds feature

The cries of a howling wolf mean the Wolf Wilds feature is imminent. The whole of a reel, or better still, multiple reels, will be filled with stacked wolf wilds. These can appear on all 5 reels and can really come into their own when the game grid has been expanded to its maximum 90 payline size.

Free Spins feature

Land the Free Spins symbol on reels 2, 3 and 4 on the same spin and you’ll trigger the game’s Free Spins feature. Your reward is an initial haul of 5 free spins. However, there are opportunities to add to this seemingly meagre total.

Each time a Free Spins symbol hits, 1 extra free spin is added to your tally, up to a maximum of 17. This will give you up to 22 free spins in total. The Expanding Reels and Wolf Wilds features can strike during the free spins, just like in the base game.

Boosting your chances of a big payday during the free spins is the Ice Reels feature. If a reel is covered in ice, it comes with a multiplier attached. The more Ice Reels active, the bigger the potential multiplier:

• 1 Ice Reel = 2x multiplier
• 2 Ice Reels = 3x multiplier
• 3 Ice Reels = 4x multiplier
• 4 Ice Reels = 5x multiplier
• 5 Ice Reels = 10x multiplier

Arctic Empress Review Summary – beautiful looking slot

There’s a lot to like about this audience with polar royalty. The stacked wilds can really hit the spot if they land when the reels are expanded. A good combination of Ice Reels in the free spins can get the multipliers galloping along too.

The design is appealing too but you need to play on a mobile device for the best experience. Overall, though, the Arctic Empress slot is a solid Novomatic game. It’s only missing bigger win potential. For some reason, Novomatic slot fans will rather stick to the tried and tested Book of Ra Deluxe.

Arctic Empress FAQs

What is the Arctic Empress RTP?

The Arctic Empress return to player rate is 95.12%. Lower than the 96% average, it’s a medium variance game with wins spread amongst the 4 bonus features.

What is the Arctic Empress max payout?

The most you can win from each spin is 900 x your total stake. You can do this in the Free Spins feature as Ice Reels give you a multiplier up to 10x.

Is there an Arctic Empress free spins feature?

Yes. The Free Spins feature can give you up to 22 free spins in total. More importantly, there are special Ice Reels that are active. These can provide multipliers boosts of between 2x and 10x.

How does the Wolf Wilds feature work?

The cries of a howling wolf signifies the start of the Wolf Wilds feature. Up to 5 reels can be filled with stacked wolf wilds randomly in the base or free spins.