If you get all dewy-eyed whenever Thor and Loki talk mythological shop with Hannibal Lector in Marvel’s superhero movies, then chances are you’re going to love Play’n GO’s Viking Runecraft slot. Packed to the gills with ethereal Norse mythology and boasting animations and bonus features of the very highest order; this is one online slot you’ll want to hammer again and again.

The Viking Runecraft online slot, unlike most other offerings out there, is a cascading video slot played on a 7x7 grid. Symbols drop down in the grid rather than appear on spinning reels to form winning combinations. These successful combos occur whenever you get at least five symbols in a connected cluster (i.e. where they touch each other) either horizontally or vertically. Once the combo has hit, the winning symbols disappear to allow new ones to drop in and fill their places. The game continues to cascade in this way until more winning combinations can be created.

All of the symbols used in the game are associated with Norse mythology so, alongside a selection of variously-colored rune stones, you’ll be watching artifacts like axes, hammers, amulets and helmets fall with great anticipation. Viking Runecraft also has four wilds represented by the Norse gods/goddesses Thor, Odin, Freya and Heimdall, who might look familiar from the immensely popular Hall of Gods jackpot slot.

It’s important to note that every win achieved during a game round contributes to charging the exquisitely monikered Metre of Destruction. Once this meter is full (and there are no more cascades to fall), one of the following four charge ‘effects’ gets activated:

• Lure of Loki – two different symbols are chosen then all of one type are replaced by the other.
• Scorching of Surtr – three symbols are set on fire. The fire then spreads to a random number of nearby symbols and destroys them. A core of new matching symbols then appears to give you a win.
• Judgment of Jörmungandir – an eerie serpent slithers from one end of the grid to the other to create an unbroken path of destroyed symbols, some of which are transformed into matching, randomly chosen icons.
• Fury of Fenrir – four diagonal lines of symbols are ruthlessly removed while the remaining two are changed into matching symbols.

If you manage to fill the Charge of Destruction meter twice in the same spin (or add twenty additional symbols to the meter during the feature) then you’ll trigger the Ragnarok Free Spins round.

Leveling Up

Look behind the grid and you’ll notice there’s a pattern lit up in blue which changes to yellow each time you create a winning combo. If you manage to turn the entire grid yellow then you’ll be privy to be a bit of Levelling Up. Don’t be alarmed, this just means one of the following Norse deities will pop up and award you a random feature:

• Thor – the hammer-wielder turns 5-9 symbols wild.
• Odin – the wise old boy makes two vertically connected pairs of wilds appear on the grid.
• Freya – the goddess of beauty places a cluster of four on the grid in various positions until a win lands.
• Heimdall – the god of guarding deposits one wild on each row.

In addition, clearing a pattern also gives you the chance to play the Runes of Valhalla bonus game, a Wheel of Fortune-type affair that offers the cash prize displayed in the top left-hand corner of the screen if you hit a rune.

Inventive gameplay, exciting bonus features and integral big wins ensure the Viking Runecraft slot machine has everything needed to keep even the most hard-to-please players happy.