Although we wouldn’t condone hunting, it’s a fact that it’s one of the oldest pastimes. Royalty loves hunting elks, and you get to do it virtually—and guilt-free—in NetEnt’s Elk Hunter. The slot’s North American theme and the animals on the reels – including the elk, are there for the taking. The slot boasts a scatter pays machine with medium variance, but don’t let the unusual 4x6 reel set confuse you. It’s still a simple and fun slot to play with great mechanics and special features that pay out.

Aside from the cascading wins, the top highlights include multiplier wilds and free spins. NetEnt is among the best developers on the market, so that you can expect a clean and powerful design with great graphics and gameplay features.

Elk Hunter truly looks the part, and it plays just like the most popular slots by the studio. Try the Elk Hunter slot for free and see if hunting elks is as fun as many claim. 

As a hunting-themed slot, Elk Hunter takes place in the great outdoors. The nature and choice of animals make it obvious that it’s set somewhere in North America. The 4x6 reel set is populated by the leading elk, an American eagle, a grizzly bear, and a mountain lion. You also have the game logo, which is a special symbol, and a collection of stylized card royals.

Visually, the slot features all of NetEnt’s strengths. It looks pretty great, in our opinion, especially the wilderness in the background. It’s joined by a great soundtrack and even better sound effects, which elevate the experience a few times.

The Elk Hunter slot is available on a wide range of mobile devices. You can give it a go on your Android and iOS devices from a mobile browser without downloading any casino or slot apps.

We started our great outdoor adventure by setting a bet. The slot allowed us to place bets between 20c and $200 per spin. That range is suitable for new and seasoned players both. You set your bet with the adjuster tool in the lower left corner, after which you need to hit the Spin button in the center.

As a scatter pays slot, you need six or more symbols for a cluster pop. The top payouts are for 12+ symbols, with the elk paying the most – 5x for 12 or more in a cluster. Each cluster triggers a cascade, which is a standard for these slots. Most of the gameplay revolves around the multiplier wilds, so there’s not a lot of ground to cover in the base game.

The game logo is the multiplier wild, and it can appear anywhere on the grid. Up to five wilds can appear on a spin and may come with or without multipliers. The highest possible multiplier is x10. These are applied to scatter wins – if multiple wilds participate in a win, their values are combined.

The free spins bonus round is triggered by three or more scatters in the base game. You receive seven free spins for this combination. Landing two or three extra scatters gives you nine and 14 free spins to go through. Not surprisingly, there’s a big change in the gameplay during the bonus round. While it works similarly to the base game, all multiplier wilds are now sticky.

This drastically improves the game’s winning potential. Any wild with a multiplier will now stick to the reels, and if you fill a few reels with x5 or x10 multiplier wilds, you can expect more than decent returns.

You can also click on the Buy Feature button and get seven free spins for 60x the bet.

Elk Hunter has an RTP figure of 96.05%, which is okay for a medium-high volatile game. We suggest playing cautiously and starting with smaller bets if you want to keep your bankroll intact. As for the winning potential, you can win a maximum of 2,035x the bet in the bonus round, which is a tad below what we were hoping for in a scatter pays slot with multiplier wilds.

Elk Hunter sticks to the tried and true scatter pays formula, adding only multiplier wilds to the equation. It’s not a groundbreaking innovation by any means, but it does offer solid winning potential, especially in the bonus round. If you’re looking for jackpots or big wins, however, you should look at other NetEnt slots.

But if you’re in the market for a nature-themed slot with great gameplay and solid wins, it might be right up your alley. Thanks to the gameplay that’s easy to understand and the decent features, Elk Hunter is a great pick for scatter pays beginners featured at the best casinos online.