Avalon; a Slot Take on Arthurian Legend
Ceaseless ethereal New-Age music accompanies the game play in the Microgaming slot title Avalon, an indication of romanticised theme; a yearning for the golden days of King Arthur, and his eternal isle of Avalon. The game carries this inspiration through its rich purple background and the deep, vibrant colours of its icons, many of them themed around the treasures of mediaeval royalty.
On the technical side, Avalon plays on five reels revealing three windows each, and offers 20 pay lines. Players can adjust both the number of lines they play and the bets per line, which can range from 1 to 10 coins. Some slot review sites feature demo versions of the game, allowing players to try it our for free before they commit to wagering real money.
Standard Poker Icons Jazzed Up
The overused mobile poker nz symbols crop up again in Avalon, but at least they have been designed in bright, rich-looking fonts and the royal icons adorned with castle regalia. The top prize among these icons goes as usual to five Aces on a pay line, which nets the player 150X the line bet.
There are four more Avalon icons related to royal castle life: a silver goblet, an emerald-and-gold brooch, a coat of arms and a jewelled golden crown. The crown is one of only four icons that pays a prize for two of a kind; all other symbols require three matches or better. For two, three, four or five crowns, the player wins 5, 20, 100 or 800 coins, respectively.
Three Special Icons Increase Wins
An impressive golden chest, the other base-play icon that wins for two matches or better, delivers the top prize in base play; 1,000 coins for five of a kind. During free spins rounds, however, it also turns into an extra Wild, making more winning pay lines possible.
The standard Wild, in base play and bonus rounds, is a sunlit view of Avalon through the clouds. Both Wilds can substitute for any other symbols except the Scatter. Two or more Avalon icons in succession on a pay line, starting on reel 1, also win prizes in their own right: 10, 150, 1,000 or 3,000 coins for two, three, four or five matches. The Scatter is the third special symbol.
Lady of the Lake is the Scatter
The Lady of the Lake, rendered all in ghostly white and clutching the sword Excalibur, serves as the Avalon Scatter symbol. The Scatter has a dual function, as it does in many slots. Two or more Scatters anywhere on the reels win the player a multiplier of the total bet in addition to any line wins. For two, three, four or five Scatters, the multiplier is X2, X4, X20 or X200.
Three or more Scatters also activate a bonus round of 12 free spins, with a randomly set multiplier added to all wins that can be as high as X7. The free spins can be re-triggered by three more Scatters during the bonus round. The combination of a multiplier with the fact that there are two Wild symbols during bonus rounds, along with the ability to re-trigger the bonus, can make this round extremely lucrative.