Players should get ready for a great time with this game by NextGen. Software loads quickly and is responsive. The home page reviews important symbols including the wild, scatter and four runes. A white elk is the wild symbol, while a tree is the scatter. The wild substitutes for every symbol except the tree and only appear on the third reel. Scatters pay as long as they land on one, two, four, and five. Players that secure four of these win 500 coins. Each rune consists of a different color with red being an elf, purple a spirit, blue is a squirrel and green is a snake. Two female characters icons are a green haired fairy and a blond princess. Eagle, squirrel and snake icons are the remaining game symbols. Fairies pay the most at 250 coins for five symbols followed by princesses who pay 150 coins for five symbols. Five eagles earn 75 coins, five squirrels payout 50 coins, and five snakes pay 25 coins. Runes pay the least at 15 coins for five icons.
The game is ten lines and pays from left to right. A free game bonus feature called Enduring Win Elk is triggered with one winning elk. Players can win up to ten free games that award randomly. A sticky reel is initiated when the elk lands and remains stuck throughout the free games. The next bonus feature is Call of the Elk, which is a re-spin. It continues to award free spins until none land anywhere on the reels. Both free games and re-spins payouts will be combined. Pay lines and scatters have an automatic multiplier added to the bet. They are also added together to make payouts bigger.
Graphics and colors are spectacular with pastels and vivid hues blended together. Animation is exceptional especially after a winning spin. During the Enduring Win, the elk takes up the entire reel with his full antlers on display. Reel settings are in a forest with dark green leafy trees and fairy lights floating around them. Skies fluctuate with lime green, yellow and pink clouds that move like northern lights. The largest tree is situated in the center with the scatter symbol carved in its trunk. There are no lines to take away from icons that appear as floating 3D symbols. The music is soft with bells ringing intermittently. It makes for an aesthetically pleasing experience.
Players are given 1,000 coins to start with the balance displayed at the bottom right next to the auto play and spin buttons. They glow with a neon green light and change to red allowing players to stop it during the spin process. Bets are gold coins on the left hand side of the screen with blue or red buttons to increase and decrease amounts. Players can wager as little as one cents to as much as two dollars per bet. There are no progressive or regular jackpots. However, there is a gambling feature that appears with each winning spin. Players must choose the correct suit or color to win. The suit pays twice as much as the color option. Once there is a winning spin, a glowing, golden line appears on the pay lines.
A narrative scrolls at the bottom telling the story of the elk. The elk whizzes by quickly so paying attention is critical because you can press the stop button to trigger a bonus round. I set the auto play after 30 minutes of action to see if the winning would increase. After a couple of minutes, there was a generous payout. There is more animation with each coin payout with a distinct sound made like a rock hitting a hollow tree when players earn a bonus Call of the Elk round. After this happens, either the fairy or princess appears in the middle of the screen for one free spin. Payouts increase with each princess or fairy that land during free spins.
The bonus round takes about 45 minutes of play before it is triggered by a wild elk. A screen appears with a blue globe and displays the number of free games earned. I won four the first time. You simply need to click anywhere on the screen to start the bonus round. The background changes to the bottom of the scatter tree icon and waterfalls. The elk moves his head up and down as an acknowledgement of each win. The sticky wild elk icon becomes a full elk and not three separate symbols. It is difficult to land an elk on the third reel and payouts are not as robust as they should be. The game is easy to play, has nice graphics and pretty music. Fans of this developer will enjoy playing it from time to time.
