Prepare to Defend the Stronghold in the Crusader Slot From ELK Studios!
Mr Green Casino will shortly be adding the new ELK Studios slot titled Crusader to their casino, the official release date is the 17th March 2020.
Crusader sets the scene back in the year of 1291 with the Crusader Knights defending the last stronghold in a final stand battle, in terms of the theme essentially this just involves the Crusaders appearing on the reels and acting as wild symbols and a mixture of other Knight related symbols on the reels.
The base game is a regular 5×4 reel 26 payline slot, with a mixture of heavily stacked symbols on all the reels, on the first and last reels there are special Crusader wild symbols that can cover the entire reel and act as wild symbols.
When these land even partially in view they will nudge and move one position on each subsequent spin until fully covering the reel and acting as a wild also. To trigger the main bonus round you need to have 2 of these Crusaders wild symbols fully covering the reels at the same time which then awards the free spins bonus round where things start to get more interesting.
During the free spins round you start with 8 initial free spins with the possibility of earning plenty more, the crusader wilds on the reels are locked in place for the entire bonus round, and special new symbols are added which can increase the reel size every time they land in view awarding +1 extra free spin each time too, the regular reels can grow in size from the regular 5×4 slot into the maximum 5×12 reel slot with increased paylines up to 98.
With the wild Crusader reels remaining sticky throughout the bonus round, essentially you are looking for matching stacked symbols on the middle 3 reels which can also include wilds for the biggest win potential on this machine.
In comparison to previous ELK slots, this one seems very straightforward with a distinct lack of special features or new innovation but definitely quite volatile at the same, with increased paylines and heavily stacked wilds, one big hit can transform a bonus round, with a maximum exposure of 2500x bet!
Crusader Slot – Gameplay and Bonus Features
| Crusader Slot - Technical Summary | |
|---|---|
| Paylines | 26-98 |
| Variance/Volatility | Medium |
| Free Spins | Yes |
| Multipliers | No |
| Re-Trigger Bonus Round | Extra Spins |
| Special Features | Free Spins Wild Reels Expanding Reels Stacked Symbols |
| RTP (Return To Player) | 96.10% |
Special Features
Crusader Wild
The Crusader Wilds are present on the first and last reels, these symbols act as wilds and can cover the entire reel, landing partially in view these symbols will nudge one position on each spin to completely cover the reel before being removed.
Free Spins
The free spins bonus round is triggered by landing both of the Crusader wilds on the reels at the same time and awards a starting 8 free spins. During the free spins, there is a special Expansion symbol added to the middle reels, when this lands in view you are awarded +1 extra spins along with the reels increasing in height by one.
The reels can grow up to a maximum of 12 in size increasing the paylines to 96 also.
Crusader Slot
Overall Opinions
We found the Crusader Slot from ELK Studios to be a little disappointing to play mainly down to the fact that there are a very limited amount of special features, there is definitely some decent win potential but this really does seem like an all or nothing type slot, so either dead non-paying spins or heavily stacked 5 of a kinds in the bonus round.
With a distinct lack of base game features apart from the nudging wilds that are also the key to triggering the bonus the gameplay seems to be lacking overall in terms of fun and excitement.
In our playtests, we did manage some nice wins in the bonus round over 100x stake, but overall the fun factor and innovation is severely lacking for an ELK slot.
Terms Apply – 18+, New Customers Only, Gamble Responsibly – www.begambleaware.org
