Ragnawolves WildEnergy

Ragnawolves WildEnergy is an Old Norse meets wolf-themed online slot from games designer Yggdrasil Gaming that combines two popular tropes together into one muscular spot. Both topics, wolves and Old Norse culture, are a regular on the review desk though the two don’t really converge into one place a whole lot. Usually, players are traipsing about the North American wilderness in an online slot when bumping into wolves, so Ragnawolves WildEnergy raised a measure of curiosity after a cursory look. The good news is the game delivered once put through its paces, through satisfying outer wrapping and well-thought-through gameplay.

With a name like Yggdrasil Gaming, the studio has to pull off something special if it’s going to do an Old Norse slot. After just a quick first look, Ragnawolves WildEnergy ticked all the right boxes, too. Its superb artwork depicts a wolf-dominated night sky in the base game, all majestic reddy clouds, stars, and blazing fire. Then, flip to free spins, and Ragnawolves WildEnergy burrows deeper into mythology and belief with a stunning view of a fiery branched tree dominating a wasted vista. It looks like this might have been where Ragnarök took place, where doom was enacted, and the Earth given over to the elements. Factor in a sweeping soundtrack with its crunchy AF bass line, and you’ve got a game you could imagine John Stark (or any of the Starks) would play up at The Wall when White Walkers aren’t trying to bang down the gate.

Players have several ways of tackling Ragnawolves WildEnergy. One is by picking a stake of 10 p/c to £/€100 and repeatedly smashing the play button, while another way is buying free spins. Alternatively, the other thing you can do is activate the Golden Bet, which costs 10x the stake to guarantee a wild symbol will land. It appears the RTP stays the same no matter the method, topping out at 96%, though lower return models are also available. Play occurs on a 5-reel gaming panel, with 3 rows of symbols and 243 ways to win.

It’s always nice to see custom-made symbols in a game like this, and for low pays, Ragnawolves WildEnergy has 4 runic symbols worth 0.5x the bet for five of a kind, then a male character, a blue-lit wolf, a red-lit wolf, and a female character as the 4 high pays. Landing a five premium symbol win pays 1 to 2 times the bet.

Ragnawolves WildEnergy: Slot Features

 

Wilds are integral to some of Ragnawolves WildEnergy’s finer moments, and the game has two of them – The Multiplier Wild and Countdown Wilds. It also has free spins and a bonus buy.

The Multiplier Wild

The Multiplier Wild may appear on the third reel with an initial value of x2. A win with a Multiplier Wild triggers respins. The Multiplier Wild is sticky and respins continue to trigger as long as winning combinations hit. All wins with the Multiplier Wild are multiplied by its value, which increases after each win in a Respins session. The multiplier resets after a losing base game spin or regular free spin, and it rises ‘in accordance with the lazy caterer’s sequence: 2, 4, 7, 11, 16, 22, 29, 37, 46,…’ with no limit.

Countdown Wilds

Countdown Wilds may land on reels 2 and 4. Winning with a Countdown Wild also starts respins. Countdown Wilds are sticky and grant 2, 3, or 4 respins – the number they display indicates the number of respins.

Free Spins

The scatter symbol may land on reels 2, 3, and 4. Hitting 3 of them awards 10 free spins. The same rules apply during free spins, except there are more wilds than in the base game. When buying free spins, players have two options. These are 100x the bet to buy a regular session of free spins or 500x the bet to buy 13 free spins, where the Multiplier Wild’s value does not reset till the feature ends.

Ragnawolves WildEnergy: Slot Verdict

The word Ragnawolves provoked thoughts about Ragnarök, otherwise known as Götterdämmerung or Ragnorökkr, which translates from Old Norse as ‘Doom of the Gods’ or the ‘end of the world of gods and men’, where ‘Giants and demons approaching from all points of the compass will attack the gods, who will meet them and face death like heroes. The sun will be darkened, the stars will vanish, and the Earth will sink into the sea.’ Thank you, Britannica, for the extra info contained in the review.

In other words, we are dealing with powerful topics here, and to its credit, Yggdrasil Gaming has risen to the occasion by developing a rather powerful game to match. For one, the graphics are stunning, from the dreamy wolfish background to the almost oppressive representation of the tree in free spins, presumably the sacred tree Yggdrasil which had (or has) roots in Niflheim, the land of the giants Jötunheim, and Asgard, where the gods reside. As you might be able to tell, Ragnawolves WildEnergy sparked a desire to delve deeper into Norse belief– a good slot can do that; push your thoughts beyond just playing to doing a bit of research to get a fuller appreciation of the game. Ragnawolves WildEnergy was one such slot due to its fine audio-visuals and deft handling of the subject matter.

The gaming side of Ragnawolves WildEnergy is good, too, although adding something a little extra to the bonus round and separating it further from the base game wouldn’t have gone amiss. In saying that, the persistent multiplier value in the more expensive bonus buy might well provide a monumental boost. As it is, what’s available proved to be a fairly entertaining ride, and the Multiplier Wild feature wasn’t a billion miles away from Yggdrasil Gaming’s DoubleMax mechanic in regards to the sort of thrills it can produce. Winning potential maxes out at 10,000x the bet, which, while not the most legendary amount around, fits well with everything else Ragnawolves WildEnergy has to offer. All in all, players after a rich, handsomely presented mythology-inspired game that doesn’t go too overboard on the mechanical side would do well to consider Ragnawolves WildEnergy.