Guardian of the North Slot Machine
At least for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, the north is a place associated with snow, ice, and cold. The further you go, the harsher the environments get, meaning only the hardiest of men and beasts can live there. But the tundra and glaciers are also beautiful, and even in the coldest parts of the world, there is plenty of nature to see.
That’s the part of the world that’s being explored in Guardian of the North by Bally Gaming. Developed by their So-Cal Slot Shop subsidiary, this is actually one of a pair of new games, the other of which explores warmer, more southern climates. In this version, however, you’ll be dealer with a fierce polar bear who stands to protect a horde of valuable treasures. Earn the bear’s favor, and you might just be able to collect riches beyond your wildest imagination.
The Frozen Tundra
The Guardian of the North video slot is a five reel, 40 payline machine that is available to play for real money in many live casinos. As of yet, it has not been released for online casinos; that means that there isn’t a play for free version to try at this time. For all the talk of cold environs, this machine is really a treasure themed slot: most of the icons are related to riches and artifacts, rather than about snowy fields.
As in most games, the object during normal gameplay is to match identical symbols from left to right across your paylines. Players can win smaller prizes by connecting with the various card rank symbols, ranging from jacks through aces (while each is a unique symbol, they all offer the same level of prizes). For larger payouts, you want to find chalices, chests, rings, jewelry, and crowns. Also offering a high-paying prize are the diamonds, which act as wild symbols throughout the game.
One of the cool things about this machine is that every spin comes with mystery stacked symbols. Two normal icons, chosen at random, will be placed into stacked positions. These can potentially cover an entire reel, making it possible for you to earn dozens of winning combinations if you hit the same stack on multiple reels.
Grin and Bear It
Not surprisingly, the bear – the titular guardian – appears on the reels as well. These are scatter symbols, with three or more allowing you access into a free spins round. You can earn anywhere from eight to 15 free spins, depending on the number of scatters that trigger this bonus. During this feature, you’ll see even more wild symbols than normal, making it easier than ever to make big wins.
But the bears can be valuable even if you don’t hit enough to trigger tis special feature. With just one or two scatter symbols on screen, you have a change to randomly trigger one of six Guardian Mystery Features. These are exciting bonuses that give players a big boost when they hit.
As we said, there are six possibilities here, and only one will be awarded each time this feature is activated. Here’s a quick rundown of what you have the chance to trigger:
- Anywhere between two and 17 wilds may be randomly added to the screen.
- The reels where your scatters appear, in addition to one more reel, will turn entirely wild.
- One of the mystery stacks will be replaced and turned into stacked wilds instead.
- All of the low value card ranks will be replaced with high-paying symbols.
- The player will get a chance to pick from between three eggs. The one chosen will reveal a multiplier of up to 100x that will apply to all winnings on that spin.
- The player will get to pick from between four eggs. The chosen egg will reveal an instant prize of coinsp worth as much as 75x the spin bet.
The Northern Lights
With a fun theme, exciting music, and a beautiful presentation – both the graphics themselves and the cabinet this game is housed in are top notch – the Guardian of the North video slot is definitely one to look out for at your local casino. We loved all of the extra bonus features that players could randomly unlock on any given spin, which made the game very exciting every time so much as a single scatter hit the screen. The free spins game is also a lot of fun, offering players some great opportunities to win massive prizes.
We do wish there was a free Guardian of the North slot that players could try, but unfortunately, that’s not available – at least not at this time. That means we’ll just have to recommend that the next time you head down to a live venue and want to play some casino slot machines, you give this new game a try.
