Valhalla Slot Machine
The Norse mythology-themed slots have had a checkered history in the slot machine market but IGT have decided to take a punt on it with this 5-reel, 9 pay line Valhalla slot that acts as a tribute to the historic Scandinavian culture.
If you love your Norse mythology with tales of Thor and Asgard then you will want to get off your backside and get playing this slot machine. It uses the Tweak math model which was famously used in the Cleopatra slot machine so the foundations are in place for this slot to really gain a solid fan base.
A maximum bet of 180 credits gives a bit of flexibility for players that prefer to bet bigger on their slots and the maximum jackpot win for 1 credit bet per pay-line is 5,000 credits so there is scope for players to revel in some big wins here.
The volatility of this slot machine is regarded as being quite high but unfortunately the bonus hit frequency is deemed to be very low. That will not be good news to players that love to chase their bonus prizes and free spins. IGT state that the bonus action is designed to cater for true gamblers. Interpret that as you will! Big risk with high reward is our view point!
Theme
As stated above, Norse mythology is the theme and previous slots we have played under that flag have been a bit hit and miss. On the plus side, there was Viking Vanguard from WMS but then on the down side there was Microgaming's Yggdrasil – The Tree of Life.
This slot machine delivers a true feeling of Norse mythology but you could be forgiven for mistaken the Viking men and women who appear across the reels as your average Scandinavian fishermen and women from the 900AD era as opposed to individuals relating to Norse mythology and the likes of Thor, Odin, and Loki.
Viking ships representing the Scatters on the reels portray a sense of the Norse theme and the Wild orbs are a bit out of place but they deliver 2x multipliers on any winning combinations so we can forgive that randomness and move on… or maybe I'm just not educated enough in the Viking age or Norse mythology to understand what they are supposed to be. They do look cool when the dynamic effect kicks in though.
Features
The bonus features can make or break a slot machine like this so it is important to see what they offer. Unfortunately, there is not a wide choice of bonuses on offer here but at least it offers a captivating feature.
Treasures of Valhalla Bonus – Yes, the game values this bonus feature so much that it transforms the reels from being the regular Valhalla reels into the Treasures of Valhalla reels. So if you're looking for footage of this game on YouTube and you keep seeing reels with Treasures of Valhalla on the top of the reels you are watching the right video. This is triggered by hitting three or more Viking ship Scatter symbols across the reels. You will then be rewarded with 15 free spins. The free spins can be re-triggered which is a treat.
Summary
Valhalla seems to be having an identity crisis. The name suggests it is a Norse mythology slot because Valhalla was a grand hall in Asgard. However, the characters on the reels look like Sven and Bjorn that have been dressed up in Viking gear and dragged down to the harbor in Oslo.
The solitary bonus feature is hard work to trigger and even though some players might get a kick from trying to beat the machine this game will fill the average slots players with nothing but frustration and a feeling of regret at ploughing endless amounts of coinage into this machine. IGT can do better than this slot machine.
If you love your high-risk, high-reward slots then this might well be for you but if you value your time and tolerance levels then you might want to give it a miss.