Ancient Forest Slot
With our review of Ancient Forest - the new online 5-reel slot from Novomatic - you can unearth a fantasy world of dragons and fairies. You may even discover a magical progressive jackpot if your spins are successful.
Gamblers can enter a mysterious forest where the elves play but look out for the elf fairy who is responsible for triggering a massive six-figure progressive jackpot.
Let's brush off the Lord of the Rings DVDs, grab our trusty sword, and bravely head into the woods for a closer look.
Classic 5-Reel Gameplay from Novomatic
The Ancient Forest video slot has been produced in conjunction with Novomatic's online casino partner, Green Tube. If you are familiar with Novomatic's other online slots, you'll recognize much of the look and feel of Ancient Forest.
Our Ancient Forest slot review reveals a game that looks like it has come straight out of a land-based casino. The game uses the familiar Novomatic jingle that plays as the reels spin. There's also a celebratory sound effect that kicks in after you hit a winning real cash spin.
There are 10 paylines in total in the slot. This is definitely a game for the Novomatic classic slots fanatic. There is also a range of betting levels that can be adjusted on the game screen. Don't forget the customary Novomatic Autoplay function either. This is a simple Stop/Start Autoplay that can be turned on or off at the tap of a button.
Find the Elf Fairy Wild for Big Jackpots
There's one thing that struck us while compiling our Ancient Forest online slot review: this Novomatic gambling title is very similar to other Novomatic games.
The characters seem to resemble those found in popular Novomatic video slots like Lucky Lady's Charm. In fact, when you form a winning payline with the elf fairy, she will wink at you as you collect your coins. That's a classic Novomatic feature that appears in several of the developer's games.
The fairy in the free Ancient Forest slot machine also acts as the game's wild. She will substitute for all regular symbols to help form winning combinations. The fairy also pays a cash prize. Two wilds pay 10x your line bet, three wilds 200x line bet, and four wilds 2,000x. If you land five wilds on an active payline you will bag the game's giant progressive jackpot.
Further down, we found dwarves, dragons and fountains in our Ancient Forest slot review. The cheery dwarf pays out 2x to 600x if you hit two of a kind to five of a kind on the reels. The dragon pays 20x to 500x, and the magic fountain 15x to 400x.
The low-paying icons are the familiar royal symbols like the A and K (10x to 120x), and 9, 10, J and Q. These pay 2x to 100x for two to five of a kind.
Find the Tree Scatters and Hit the Free Spins Bonus
A review of Ancient Forest wouldn't be complete without an in-depth look at the bonus features. While the elf fairy is responsible for wilds and progressive jackpots, there's also room for a free spins game.
Fans of free spins video slots will enjoy the bonus game in Ancient Forest slot. It is triggered by landing three or more tree scatters anywhere on the reels. As well as a real cash prize worth 50x to 4500x, you will also activate 20 free games.
The 20 free spins total is pretty generous in relation to other classic Novomatic video slots. In addition, players can enjoy an enhanced 2x multiplier on any wild symbols they hit. You can also retrigger the free spins by landing three or more extra scatters during the bonus round.
Try These Novomatic Slots for a Big Bonus Thrill
An Ancient Forest online slot review has reminded our team of other fantasy-themed games from Novomatic. Immediately we think of Novomatic's 40-payline Elven Princess slot.
Built on four rows and five reels, there are plenty of opportunities to hit big payouts in Elven Princess. You can also hit a free spins bonus by landing three or more scatters on the reels. Players win 15 free spins with a 3x multiplier attached to all wins. Look out too for the recognizable princess who acts as the wild symbol.
And no Ancient Forest review would be complete without a mention of Novomatic's Lucky Lady's Charm Deluxe slot. The central figure is, again, a beautiful maiden who acts as the wild symbol.
As in Ancient Forest and Elven Princess, the scatter triggers the free spins round. In both the online and land-based versions of this popular slot, the scatters can appear quite regularly. In fact, you will win a prize worth 2x your line bet just for hitting two scatter symbols.
Hitting three scatters will activate the free spins feature where 15 free games are awarded. All wins are multiplied by 3x. However, there's a reason Lucky Lady's Charm Deluxe is so popular with the players. The free spins round can retrigger multiple times during the feature. It is possible to find yourself hitting 45 or 60 spins before the bonus ends.
Seek the Riches From This Ancient Forest
Players of all budgets love to have a shot at winning a video slot progressive jackpot. It's always nice to see Novomatic coming out with another progressive, but this big prize is hard to take down. The wilds simply don't appear that often, and you will need five of them on one of the 10 paylines to trigger the jackpot.
The 20 free spins put Ancient Forest online slot just ahead of popular Novomatic games like Lucky Lady's Charm Deluxe in the opinion of our review team. But for our bankroll, we'll stick with that Irish-themed slot every time.
