About This Slot
For epic slots fans, the mere mention of the name Thor, or any other Norse God for that matter, gets the blood pumping! Red Tiger have already taken inspiration from this character in their 2019 release, Thor’s Lightning, and he recently appeared in Nolimit City’s excellent Thor’s Hammer Time. Other recent Norse-themed games worth checking out if you are so inclined include Ring of Odin by Play n Go, and Lightning Strike Megaways™ by Blueprint.
In this instance, Red Tiger have done something a little bit different with the reelset, taking the classic pays both ways format of 6×4, normally serving up 4,096 ways to win, and removing 1 row from each of the middle reels to create a 2,043 win ways game. It’s all done on a magnificent-looking metal reel set with gleaming shields and epic skylines behind. It reels almost supernatural in fact and that is just what we expect from a game with a mythical narrative.
And it all comes complete with a stellar line up of features including progressive multipliers and cascading wins, super-sized wilds and symbol upgrades. Basically, all the best high variance game features currently in vogue. Let’s find out more.
RTP, Variance and Top Payout
As we said, this is high risk fun, and not for the feint hearted. You’ll get a fairly regular run of modifiers, but don’t expect big wins until you hit the free spins round and start combining features. The base game is slow and won’t reward much, so bear that in mind and don’t dive in with big stakes or you’ll burn through your bankroll in no time. The RTP of the game is a little lower than normal, at 95.66% and the top payout is advertised at 5,249x, which puts Thor’s Vengeance in the mid-range of current high volatility slots.
Symbols and Paytable
This is a great looking slot with an epic reel set that looks like something Yggdrasil might have put together. There is great attention to detail in the design of the symbols and the background they sit on. The low value icons are represented by the card suits, with 0.4x to 1x bet payouts for six of a kind.
Meanwhile, the two most important animal symbols in Norse culture, the wolf and the raven are among premium symbols, rewarding players with 2x bet and 1.5x bet respectively. Next in line is the Yggdrasil tree that will get you 2.5x bet for the max combination of six on a line. The star of the show, Thor, is worth 3x and is the only symbol that pays even for two of a kind.
Look out as well for the Thor’s hammer symbol which is the Wild that substitutes for all regular symbols and can also come as a 2×2. Finally, you’ll need three of more of the scatters to trigger the free spins round where things get really interesting
Gameplay and Features
Thor’s Vengeance is notable for an epic string of features, each set off by some dramatic events on screen, including lightning and hammer falls. Some of these will be very familiar to anyone who si a fan of the current stream of Megaways™ games, mixing free spins, multipliers and wilds to good affect. Here’s how they work:
Cascading Reels Feature
Also known as Avalanche reels, Cascading reels is the feature that is activated after each winning spin. Winning symbols are removed and new ones appear on vacant cells to try and form a new winning cascade. The feature ends when there are no more wins on the reels.
Thor’s Lightning Feature
This feature is triggered randomly and can occur on any spin. The mighty Thor will appear on the reels and summon a lighting bolt. Then, he can either remove all low-paying symbols, pick a group of random symbols and turn them into a same symbol, or turn a group of symbols into Wilds.
Thor’s Hammer Feature
Another feature that is randomly triggered. Thor will swing his hammer and make the reels nudge to form a winning combination or even add a 2×2 Wild on the reels and create a win.
Free Spins Feature
Here’s where the best stuff happens. You’ll need to land three to five scatters on the reels to set off this bonus round. Depending on the number of Scatters landed, you’ll get 8, 12, or 16 free spins. The good news is, even if only two Scatters appear on the reels there is the chance of a compensation prize in the form of Thor’s Generosity, in which on occasion he will blast lightning to turn one more symbol into a scatter and so send you on your way to free spins.
Here you get 8 spins from three scatters, and a further four for each additional scatter. These can be re-triggered. During the round a progressive multipliers is active, starting at 1x and increasing by 1x with each winning spin. Remember, all other features are also in play during the round so you can add super-sized wilds and transforming symbols into the mix.
Our Verdict
Thor’s Vengeance is one of Red Tiger’s better slot games of recent years and a worthy successor to Thor’s Lightning. There will surely be some gripes about the slightly under average RTP and the decision to remove two rows from the middle reels to bring down the paylines, but there is compensation here in the form or some classic features that are well executed. No self-respecting game developer seems to push out a high risk slot without progressive multipliers these days, so box ticked there, as is the one saying, ‘must have cascading wins’. The free spins itself is standard, but the addition of re-triggers and the possibly combinations of 2×2 wilds and upgraded symbols thrown into the mix, takes the game up a level. Just remember that the high variance means you’ll be very hard pushed to get anywhere near that 5,000x + top prize and the action can be frustratingly slow. All told though, a great looking game from a top-class developer.
