Asgardian Stones

For a religion that hasn’t been practiced for hundreds of years, the mythologies of the Norse are very well familiar to a great deal of people. Characters like Odin, Thor and Loki have been popularised by Marvel movies and the backdrop of Norse stories has served plenty of writers as inspiration for their own fantasy worlds and the Deities that would occupy them. It’s no surprise, then, that NetEnt, being a Swedish company, wouldn’t tap into those rich, historic roots of their people, to create a new slot for us to all enjoy. Asgardian Stones offers a 5×3 playing field with 20 paylines while the sheer amount of features this game offers is astounding. The Avalanche makes the reels function in a similar way as Gonzo’s Quest, and the presence of Colossal Symbols expands this even further, allowing gamblers to increase their multiplier and secure bigger wins. One of these Colossals is a Bonus Wheel, which can reward cash prizes or free spins with Colossal Wild appearing on the reels.

The graphics are honestly amazing. NetEnt clearly wanted this slot to shine above all others. The way the symbols crack as larger icons fall on top of them and crush them into tiny pieces, the lightning bolts when they occur, and all the little details that make this release stand out visually far more than most. The obvious downside is that some older mobile devices may struggle with outputting the visuals as they are, but for a great deal of people, it’s not demanding enough to cause slowdown.

And what about gameplay? Asgardian Stones has medium volatility and a style that feels like they took Gonzo’s Quest and then expanded on it. The cascading reels system has been a hit ever since it was first introduced by NetEnt, and was copied many times now, but we’ve been waiting for the developers themselves to work on expanding it. The introduction of Colossal symbols does this marvellously, as it expands how many systems are working at any given time and how it can benefit you, and the only reason it works is thanks to the Avalanche system.

You can play Asgardian Stones for $0.20 up to $200 per each spin, which should cover everyone from the low-budget gamblers who don’t have a lot to put down to the high rollers who don’t even blink at losing $200 each spin. And with the grand prize of 2000x the wager, it’s a much easier sell to big gamblers than some other NetEnt titles. With a 96.31% RTP, the odds are generally stacked in your favour, but keep in mind that it will take a while to get one of those amazing wins. It’s just the way of the world.

The symbols are stone carvings of Norse Gods, and while they’re static, it feels like they were designed more for the Colossal icons than they were for the regular thing. When they’re small, they don’t have the same factor of awesomeness as when they appear on a 2×2 or 3×3 symbol, which really helps sell that sense of giant statue of a God that people worshipped. Alongside these, there are three poker card symbols, which look alright, but lack any sense of uniqueness.

There are several features to talk about. First of which is the Avalanche system. When a win happens, those symbols explode, and existing ones fall down to fill the empty spots – while brand new ones appear on the top. This allows for the reels to stay dynamic, and allows you to chain one win into another.

Colossal Symbols easily play into this. They can appear only partially visible, or entirely. At the right circumstances, they can trigger the Colossal Crush feature and destroy the smaller icons beneath them to increase the multiplier and potentially secure an awesome win in just one spin.

One of the Colossal Symbols is the Bonus Wheel. Asgardian Stones throws away the Scatter in favour of this, as the wheel can reward either a cash bonus or free spins. At maximum, it can give three rewards at once, and how many you get depends on the position of the Bonus Wheel on the reels, and how much of it is visible.