Magical Forest Slots
Seahorses, a leprechaun and a phoenix are all thrown together across the 5 reels of the Magical Forest slot game from Stakelogic. Magic-themed slot machines are hugely popular, and developers who set the reels in a forest glade and fill them with mythical creatures are on to a winner, with punters seemingly queuing up to play games like this. It also means that those developers will need to add something unique to their games to make sure they get noticed among the numerous similar slots on the market.
In Magical Forest, Stakelogic gives us rewarding features including up to 81 free spins and a special magic wand that transforms symbols into extra wilds. Red toadstools and strange reddish trees are found in this shady part of the forest. Fairy lights rise into the branches and a magic wand sits below the reels. A silver frame surrounds the main part of the game and a tinkly soundtrack accompanies the spins of the reels. It’s a pretty generic design that’s very similar to other slots, but then Stakelogic is not trying to break new ground with the styling here. And why should it, when it’s been proven to be so successful?
Based in the Netherlands, Stakelogic is part of the huge Novomatic group of companies. Its slots follow the same rules of fair play as all games from the parent company. Stakelogic was only founded in 2015, so it’s still a fairly new operation. But under the experienced guidance of Novomatic and the Greentube subsidiary, it has released a steady stream of high-quality games. These include branded slots such as Hardwell, which is themed around the famed DJ, and unique titles like Football Gladiators, where a soccer game takes place in a Roman amphitheater.
Forest Fun
Magical Forest is available to play across multiple devices and platforms. You can enjoy all the features from a desktop PC or laptop, or you can spin its reels on mobile smartphones and tablet computers such as Android and Windows devices, as well as on iPhones and iPads.
Standard gameplay sees winning lines created when 3 or more matching symbols stop across any of the 10 paylines. Alongside the seahorse (which is some kind of magical blue creature that lives underwater – not a real seahorse), leprechaun and phoenix, we have a big red diamond that returns the top prizes of between 250x and 5,000x the line bet. There are also the regular playing card symbols 10 through to A, which fill out the bottom half of the pay table and pay you from as little as 5x, 10x, or 50x when the number 10 symbol stops across a line.
Any of the playing card symbols can be transformed in the Magical Wand feature that can occur in any spin. Before the reels start to spin, the wand selects a symbol and turns all examples of it that are visible on the reels into wild symbols. While it’s not guaranteed that winning combinations will be landed, you certainly stand a good chance of collecting payouts when this well-animated feature is awarded.
Bonus Spell Book
Although it only lands on the middle 3 reels, the Bonus Spell Book can lead to a magical free spins round where more wilds are in play. 3 books will award just 3 free games while 4 of this symbol will start 6 bonus spins, 5 will trigger 9 spins and so on. This continues until punters who get to see all 3 symbol positions on each of the 3 middle reels filled with the book collect the maximum 81 free games.
Before these spins begin, the book will open up to reveal either the seahorse, leprechaun or phoenix, which will become a wild symbol throughout these rounds. You can earn more free spins if at least 1 book lands on each of the middle reels in any single bonus game, with the new round added on to the end of any still left to play out in the current feature.
Magical Betting Options
Although you can find free Magical Forest video slots at online casinos where the Stakelogic range is featured, if you want to actually win any real cash, you’re going to have to place real wagers on each spin of the reels. Just 0.10 will be needed to get started, and this low limit can be raised by increasing the number of coins per line as well as by upping the value of each coin.
Choosing the max bet button skips this step and takes you to the high limit of 100.00 per spin, where the winnings are going to be pretty spectacular, especially when the magical creatures or wild symbol fills paylines. Tired of clicking each time you want the reels to spin? Then choose the auto option, which sets them off for as long as you want without any effort needed. You can also opt for the Fast Spin feature, and even choose the space bar on a PC as the trigger to get the reels spinning.
Leaping Leprechauns and Fiery Phoenixes
Although underwater horses are somewhat unique to this slot machine, there’s a wide choice of games that feature magic forest glades, leprechauns, or the Phoenix, but rarely on the same sets of reels.
The Lucky Leprechaun video slot from Microgaming gives you the chance to land big wins when a grinning guy in green stops across the 5 reels of this 20-line game. He turns into a wild symbol during a free spins feature, and while just 5 extra games are initially awarded, any symbols with green or gold shamrocks attached to them will add further free spins or win multipliers. Up to 1000x the total bet can be collected at the end of the Trail o’ Fortune bonus round, where our friendly leprechaun heads up the hill to a pot of gold as you spin a wheel. There are rainbow bridges to help him get there even faster in this classic Irish-themed game.
The Phoenix rises from the Fire Bird slot from Octavian Gaming, acting as the scatter symbol to trigger bonus games. It’s joined on the reels by a mysterious sorceress, a bottle of potions and a shiny blue diamond that acts as a wild symbol. It's an excellent example of the high-quality graphics and animations that this Italian slot games developer has become known for.
A Mythological Marvel
Although the theme isn’t immediately clear and the selection of mythical characters in a forest setting is unusual, we really liked this game. It looks very peaceful and relaxing in that shady glade, and the nicely designed symbols, pleasing soundtrack and animated sequences give it considerable charm.
Although the Magical Wand feature can turn symbols into lots of extra wilds, it doesn’t get triggered as often as we would have liked. However, when it transforms a playing card icon, the chances of landing a win in the following spins is pretty high. With the potential for up to 81 free games to be awarded and the extra wild mythical character in play throughout them, this can still be a game that treats you to plenty of extras.
