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| Title | Stormforged (Stormforged Slot) |
| Developer | Hacksaw Gaming |
| Drums. | 5 |
| Lines. | 4 |
| RTP | 96.41% | 94.28% | 92.35% | 88.46% |
| Maximum winnings | 12,500x |
| Volatility. | High |
| Date of release | March 30, 2023. |
Stormforged: Overview of the slot
Fire and ice, those two opposing forces of nature, collide again in a slot machine, this time from provider Hacksaw Gaming. Stormforged is a game largely based on Norse mythology, where the willing sooner or later encounter a guy named Surtur, who doesn’t seem too happy about anything, and a trio of Viking warriors. Surtur, also known as «the swarthy one,» if you know him, was (or is) a fire giant who inhabited Muspelheim, the realm of fire. Along with Muspelheim, the other place players visit in Stormforged is Midgard, and both of these realms have their own free spins bonus round using different features.
Midgard is where most of Stormforged’s action takes place, in a cold region of mountains, snow and ice. It’s not a place for the faint of heart, and it’s not hard to see why the Vikings were such hardy people. In those days, there were no quick trips to Lidl to buy chops for dinner. It was the kind of place where you either stocked up for the winter months or life could quickly get very tough. On the other hand, another part of Stormforged takes place in Muspelheim, where it’s hot while the rest of the game is cold. These two extremes are reflected in the gameplay, which can also be either hot or cold.
Players can rub their hands against each other to get their blood flowing before choosing to bet from 10 p/c up to £/€100 per spin and/or activate 1 of 6 options on the bonus purchase menu. The default gamble has a standard RTP of 96.41% and with a rating of 4 out of 5 is medium-high volatility (lower RTP versions are available, beware). Any device can be used for the Stormforged experience, which takes place on a 5-reel, 4-row game board with 14 fixed paylines.
Fighting slot gets a lot of fighting symbols on its reels. These are, from small to large, card ranks J-A, swords, axe, helmet, goat, bird and wolf. On a winning line of 5 such symbols the payout is from 4 to 50 times the bet. Wild symbols occupy a large place in the game Stormforged, appearing in various forms. The most basic form is the regular 1×1 wild, which can replace any regular paying symbol and pays 100x the bet for a winning line of 5 wild symbols. The Hand of Surtur and Ice Brand symbols are also worth 100x bet for 5, and Treasure Chests pays 4x bet for 5 OAK. These last three symbols are an important part of Stormforged’s features, which will be discussed below.
Stormforged: Features of the slot machine
When launched or purchased, Stormforged sends players to two different realms for two different bonus games as well as features known as Portals to Muspelheim and Treasure Chest Symbols.
Portals to Muspelheim
When the Hand of Surtur scatter symbols land and activate, they rip down, creating a portal to Muspelheim. Portals are wild and replace all paying symbols. The Hand of Surtur is only activated if the resulting portal becomes part of or creates one or more winning combinations. If the Hand of Surtur breaks through the wild symbol, a multiplier of x2 to x200 appears, which affects all winning lines through it. If a winning line is affected by more than one multiplier, they are first added together before being applied.
Treasure Chest Symbols
If Surtur’s hand passes over the treasure chest symbol, the chest is broken and its contents become available. The contents are cash prizes worth 5-2500 times the bet. If Surtur’s hand passes through the treasure chest and the wild symbol at the same time, the wild symbol multiplier is applied to the treasure chest cash prize.
Surtur’s Revenge bonus feature
A roll of 3, 4 or 5 Surtur symbols gives 10, 12 or 14 free spins respectively. The first wild symbol rolled on each reel becomes «sticky» until the end of the feature. All wild symbols on the reels from the base game, when free spins have been triggered, are carried over and become sticky. However, there can only be one «sticky» wild on each reel. When the Ice Brand Scatter is activated, it creates a portal to Midgard, piercing the bottom of the reel with its sword, smashing all the wilds or treasure chests in its path — it acts similar to the portal to Muspelheim mentioned above. A roll of 2, 3, 4 or 5 Surtur symbols gives you an additional 2, 4, 6 or 8 free spins respectively.
Warriors of the Storm bonus feature
Hitting 3, 4 or 5 Viking symbols brings players 10, 12 or 14 free spins. During this round, when the Hammer of Thor symbol is hit, it turns the reel on which it is hit into a storm reel for the duration of the feature. The storm reels are wilds for the entire reel and substitute for any pay symbol. On each spin of the storm reels, either the storm or the Viking warrior appears. Storms only make the storm reel wild and move it one position to the left on the next free spin, and move all storm reels in its path one position to the left. They will not move if there is no free space to move to. When a Viking warrior appears, it gets a multiplier of x2 to x200, depending on the symbol. Multipliers affect all winning lines through it, and when more than one multiplier is used, their values add up first. A roll of 2, 3, 4 or 5 Viking symbols gives additional 2, 4, 6 or 8 free spins respectively.
Buying bonus
Stormforged offers no less than 6 bonus purchase menu options. They and their maximum return values to the player are as follows:
- BonusHunt FeatureSpins — 3x bet, where the probability of starting a bonus game with each spin is 5 times higher. Very high volatility with an RTP of 96.27%.
- 2 Hands of Surtur FeatureSpins — 20x bet, where each spin guarantees a roll of at least 2 Hand of Surtur symbols. Very high volatility with an RTP of 96.35%.
- 3 Hands of Surtur FeatureSpins — 50x bet, where each spin guarantees a roll of at least 3 Hand of Surtur symbols. High volatility with an RTP of 96.43%.
- Surtur’s Vengeance — 100x bet on a minimum of 10 free spins. High volatility with an RTP of 96.24%.
- Fury of Surtur — 200x bet for at least 12 free spins and at least 1 sticky wild. High volatility with an RTP of 96.29%.
- Warriors of the Storm — 200x bet for at least 10 free spins. Very high volatility with an RTP of 96.34%.
Stormforged: Verdict on the slot machine
Perhaps the forces of fire and ice have established a kind of balance, because for some time at the beginning of the test session nothing particularly remarkable happened. Few wins, lots of dead spins, and a lot of tension. Stormforged had a great slow-burning feeling, as if two powerful forces were bubbling around, ready to spurt out and ignite at any moment. When that happens, the game picks up steam, but it never really gets theatrical. Even the big wins are somewhat subdued, not helped by the classic Hacksaw Gaming beep sounds that seem out of place. This is simply an observation, not a criticism, because Stormforged is a well-presented slot, no argument there. Perhaps a few fireworks to celebrate the climaxes would have fired up the adrenals more, but for a deep dive into Norse mythology, Stormforged is well worth tuning in to.
What’s most interesting is how Hacksaw Gaming has combined the theme with features. For example, instead of just inserting expanding wild symbols, portals that open the way to new realms work here. Epic confrontations often go over well: think Luke vs. Darth, Harry vs. Voldemort, Rocky vs. Ivan Drago, and here it’s Surtur vs. Viking warriors. Not only does this make for a good matchup, but it also gives Hacksaw Gaming a chance to arm the two fighters with their own bonus game. In the review, the Surtur’s Revenge bonus feature was the most common of the two, but in our experience, at least, the Storm Warriors bonus feature performed best. One of the highlights was the appearance of a pair of wilds with full-reel multipliers on reels 2 and 3, which, to put it simply, resulted in a thrilling seal. This doesn’t negate the other features, however, as Portal’s multipliers hold tremendous potential, not to mention opening up huge treasure chests, especially if a multiplier is applied to them.
Hacksaw Gaming’s slots are time-tested slots, and Stormforged is able to perform on par with the best of them with a maximum win of 12,500 times the bet per line. Stormforged may not be an easy challenge, but it also showcases the studio’s ability to put together wild symbols that roam, expand, stick or multiply along with instant cash prize chests in one exciting play.
