Arctic Magic slot: Meet polar bears in Microgaming's latest release

"Bright Eyes" and some of his friends from the north have made an appearance thanks to Microgaming's newest release slot Arctic Magic. Set in the frozen north, the game features five Arctic creatures all with strange glowing eyes, but Art Garfunkel tunes are very much not in tow.

So does this ice-cold slot give you chills and leave you feeling cold, or will its magic warm you up to its 9-pay lines and 1111x jackpot prize? We decided to take a closer look to find out.

Overview

• Game: Arctic Magic
• Developer: Microgaming
• Reels: 5x3
• Pay Lines: 9 (non-selectable)
• Minimum Bet: 0.09
• Maximum Bet: 45.00
• Jackpot: 1111x
• Free Spins Bonus: Yes
• Other Bonuses: No
• Progressive: No
• Volatility: High

Presentation

The presentation of the Arctic Magic slot is rather pretty, although I find the fact that Microgaming have used somewhat linear, geometric designs for the mountains and trees a little off putting. To me, it resonates of some strange French cartoon. The colours used and the effects of the mountain and trees against the night sky, with aurora showing, is very effective though.

The soundtrack is also gentle and would be described as easy listening. It is a little bland to tell the truth, but at least it is not as in your face as some soundtracks on slots, which have you reaching for the mute button within a few seconds.

The animations in the game are also nicely done, but with just nine pay lines, it can be hard to hit some of those higher value wins and this is largely why this is a higher variance slot game.

What is on the reels?

There are 13 symbols in total on the reels, which may be an unlucky number for some, but it does fit in with the higher variance them of the Arctic Magic slot. Eleven of those symbols are standard symbols and they start with the six playing card symbols, which go from the 9 through to the Ace.

One nice touch is that the 9 is the lowest paying symbol, along with the 10, Jack and Queen, but you can win a small amount by landing just two nines on a pay line. The win is just 20% of your total bet, but it is at least a win. Wins on these slots range from around 0.6x your bet up to around 11.1x your total bet.

All the symbols offer somewhat odd amounts as multipliers for wins and this continues with the higher value symbols, which are five different Arctic Creature, but ones with rather terrifying 'magical' looking eyes, which to me makes them look like zombies. The animals are a hare, a fox, a deer, a wolf and lastly the polar bear. The wolf and polar bear offer wins for just two symbols landed on a pay line and they also pay the largest amounts of 83.33 times your stake for the highest value win.

There are two feature symbols on the reels too, the Wild and Scatter and they offer access to the main bonus features of the slot as outlined below.

Wild features

The Arctic Magic symbol is the Wild symbol in the game and it is used in two different ways on the slot. First of all, it can substitute for any of the standard symbols on the reels to help create additional pay line wins. Best of all, if your winning line contains a Wild, then it will automatically apply a 2x multiplier to the standard win. This feature does trigger relatively frequently too, so it can be the source of some key base game wins.

The other way the Wild is useful is that it can appear across all five reels and so you can land some massive prizes if you can land two or more across one of the nine pay lines. Wins range from 1.11x your bet up to 1,111x your bet if you can land all five Wilds across the reels on a single pay line on single spin. However, with just nine pay lines in play, that is a tough task.

Free Spins features

The key to the Free Spins feature in the Arctic Magic slot is the Snowflake Scatter symbol. When you land two, three, four or five of these across the reels, then you trigger a pay-out which ranges from 2x up to 500x your stake. Three or more of the Scatters also triggers a Free Spins bonus round, where you will receive 15 Free Spins.

During Free Spins, all wins are subject to a 3x multiplier, which really does ramp up the value of the bonus considerably. Furthermore, if you can hit three or more Scatters during your 15 Free Spins, you will trigger another 15 Free Spins which will be played through immediately after you have completed your first batch.

Best feature of the Arctic Magic slot

There's no doubt that the Wild symbol is a key part of the base game and is often responsible for the better value wins you land in that part of the game, many of which can be key to hitting a profit on this higher variance slot, but the real star of the show here is the Free Spins bonus round. It can be tricky to hit, it is a high variance slot for a reason, but usually when you do, it is worth it, especially if you can land a re-trigger of Free Spins to increase the number you have to 30. When that happens then a pretty decent win is usually assured and if you get very lucky, you can hit some massive wins.

Conclusion

Fans of simple, higher variance slot games that have their own potentially lucrative Free Spins bonus round, will find plenty to enjoy with the Arctic Magic slot. It is slickly presented, as all Microgaming releases are, and it does have some great value wins available. However, the fact that there are just nine pay lines means that these wins don't come along too often (usually around once every three spins). Sensible bankroll management and a healthy bankroll will allow you to see the best of this slot, but it is probably not one for those with a smaller bankroll or who don't like higher variance games.

You can play Arctic Magic slot at any of the Mega Moolah casinos.