Play Dark Queen for Free

There are loads of fairy tale themed slot machines available in the market, which is no surprise given the fact that these narratives are so universally loved by people all over the world. So how does Dark Queen compare?

Well, by visuals alone, this is a very impressive game. The graphics appear as hand drawn illustrations, done in such a way as to look almost realistic yet still enchanting enough to seem otherworldly. For example, one symbol depicts a hooded dwarf character whose beard is realistically rendered while his other features are caricatured to emulate the fairy tale aspect of the theme.

Other characters include Snow White holding the poisoned apple and the Dark Queen herself who is giving off some serious evil vibes. There is also a red squirrel symbol and the Huntsman's quiver, as well as a sack of jewels and a magical lantern. There are also two objects that are central to the fairy tale story – the magic mirror and the poison apple. And, as it goes, these two icons are also very important in the narrative of this slot machine.

The magic mirror and poison apple both act as wild symbols. The former is a straightforward wild icon which will replace other symbols to complete paylines and reward wins. On its own, this magic mirror symbol rewards the games biggest payout win because five in a row will offer a 1,000x line bet multiplier.

The poisoned apple, on the other hand, doesn't have any value on its own and it will only appear on the 1st reel of the slot machine. However, when the apple appears, it is a random wild and will intoxicate all royal card icons (A, K, Q, and J), thus turning them into extra wilds which will replace all other symbols. In essence, this symbol holds the potential for some knockout wins.

The 20 paylines of this slot machine are fixed, which means that players are somewhat limited in the range of stakes that they can place as bets. In fact, the bets available are: 20, 40, 100, 200 and 400. Those values indicate the total bets so you will have to divide them by 20 to work out how many credits are placed per payline.

The reason you will have to do that is because all wins are awarded with a multiplier that applies to the bet per line rather than the total bet value. So, if you line up five magic mirrors for example, you will receive a 1,000x line bet multiplier. The Dark Queen and Snow White both offer a 500x multiplier while the dwarf and squirrel pay out 200x. The Huntsman's quiver, the bag of jewels and the magical lantern will pay 150x each and the generic playing card icons all pay 100x.

Each symbol will pay smaller wins when four or three are aligned from left to right and you can see how much they reward according to your chosen bet by examining the game's information menu. This can be accessed by tapping the cog icon and then the (i) button.

There are a couple of extra features in store for spinners of this slot machine, both of which are standard fixtures in many EGT designed games. The first extra element is a gamble game which allows players to play a 50/50 risk on any winning amount from the main game that is less than 35x the value of the total bet. Guess the correct colour of the card and you will double your win but guess wrong and you will lose it all.

The other special feature is a “Jackpot Card” game. This is activated completely at random, giving lucky punters a chance to find three matching card suits from a pile of 12. Locate three suits and you will win the corresponding jackpot bonus.

Dark Queen is a slot machine which has a lot of style and substance. Visually, this is one of the most captivating fairy tale slots in the market with its traditional style illustrations and authentic symbols which evoke the original Brothers Grimm story. In terms of gameplay, the slot is packed with decent features such as an extra wild triggered icon and a double-or-nothing gamble game. Perhaps the only thing missing is the opportunity to play some free spins, but we can't have everything now, can we?