Noble Sky slot from Neon Valley Studios features a 5000x top jackpot prize

Steampunk slots eh? You wait almost two years for one and then two come along at once! In addition to the release of the excellent new Mega Moolah slot Fortunium Gold, we are revisiting the same theme once again here in the new Neon Valley Studios slot release Noble Sky.

Fear not though, you are not simply getting the same story rehashed once again. Noble Sky takes a very different approach to the Steampunk genre, with an airship as its central motif. The ship can often be seen in the backdrop of the slot, which is a very nice touch and the game design is very different to that in the other Steampunk game.

This is a medium to low variance game that offers 5x3 reels and 25 pay lines with a minimum bet of just 0.25 per spin, although higher rollers can play for up to 50.00 per spin if they prefer. The game does not have a Free Spins round, but does have a Respins round and a Jackpot Bonus game which has four different jackpots available with up to 5,000x your bet available to be won.

So how do all these different elements combine under the Noble Sky? We decided to take a look to find out.

Overview

• Game: Noble Sky
• Developer: Neon Valley Studios
• Reels: 5x3
• Pay Lines: 25 (non-selectable)
• Minimum Bet: 0.25
• Maximum Bet: 50.00
• Jackpot: 5,000
• Free Spins Bonus: No
• Other Bonuses: Yes
• Progressive: No, but does have four separate standard jackpots
• Volatility: Low to Medium

Presentation

Steampunk seems to be all the rage at the moment what with the release this month of the Fortunium Gold Mega Moolah slot too and the same theme is used here, although Neon Valley Studios have given the game a very different look. The way the slots are designed, with the cogs in the backdrop and the link to the Jackpot Vault is very nicely done. Add to this a gentle soundtrack that makes you want to play and it is an enticing game before you even hit spin.

However, once you start playing and trigger some of the bonus features of the slot, then the whole steampunk vibe of the game comes alive with some truly superb animations and sequences that really enliven the game. Neon Valley have done a superb job with this slot in terms of how it looks and sounds.

What is on the reels?

There are ten standard symbols on the reels and these are split into broadly two groups. The first is the somewhat dull playing card lows, although they have been given a little bit of a steampunk feel in how they have been designed. Wins on these symbols range from 0.2x your bet up to 4x your bet.

Higher value symbols include a number of items from the theme of the slot and are a compass, a hat with built in goggles, an airship air-hostess, a lady who likes like the pilot and a rather dapper looking chap who is holding what appears to be some kind of magnifying glass. Wins on these symbols range from 0.4x your bet up to 20x your bet, however you can win on just two symbol lines with the top two ranking slots (albeit they are small value wins of 0.2x your bet).

One thing to note is that the higher value symbols on the reels can be stacked in the game and as such it is possible to win across multiple pay lines with these symbols, especially when paired with Wild symbols. You will also notice gold coins overlaid across lower value symbols, the purpose of which is explained in the Free Spins section below.

Wild features

There are Wilds on the reels in the Noble Sky slot, but they are somewhat different to your usual Wild symbols. In this game, the Airship is the Wild symbol and it is always in a stack three symbols high. It can substitute for all the standard symbols we have outlined above in the base game to make a winning combo.

However, if you fill a reel entirely with Wild symbols then you trigger the Airship Wild Respins bonus, which is the main bonus feature in the game. In this bonus feature, you will trigger a respin of the remaining reels and the stack of Wilds you landed will also move one place to the left on the reels until it falls off the screen.

In addition to this, on each respin you also trigger a Multiplier Trail which starts at 1x for the first respin and then increases onto 2x,3x, 5x and then 10x for any subsequent respins. Obviously, it is more beneficial for players to land these Expanding Wilds on the latter reels, particularly reel 5, to offer them the best chance of a healthy payout and the maximum number of respins (which is five).

Free Spins features

Given that the Respins with Stacked Wilds bonus outlined above is the main feature of the slot, there is not an additional Free Spins bonus round in the Noble Sky slot. Instead though, there is a Jackpot bonus game called the Vault Bonus feature.

As you play Noble Sky, you will see Gold Coins overlaid across standard symbols. As you collect these coins throughout the game, each one offers you a chance of unlocking the Vault Bonus feature. When you do, you then get to play a simple picking game, where you select from 12 coins behind which lies one of the jackpot prizes. When you match three jackpot prizes, that is the jackpot you will win.

The jackpots are the Mini Jackpot (15x your bet), Minor Jackpot (40x your bet), Major Jackpot (500x your bet) and the largest is the Grand Jackpot (5,000x your bet and the game's top cash prize).

Best feature of the Noble Sky slot

I really like what Neon Valley Studio have done with this game and in particular the bonus features. I always feel it is a brave choice to make a game without a dedicated Free Spins round given how popular these are with players but the two main bonus features of this slot do give it added attraction and the best and easiest to trigger is the Airship Wilds Respin bonus which can see you land some sizeable wins in the base game and which also offers more regular action than the Vault Bonus which is much more difficult to trigger, but which itself offers the slots highest value prize of 5,000x your bet.

Conclusion

Noble Sky is another fantastic slot in what has been, in my view, the best month for new slot releases in a very long time, perhaps ever, from Microgaming. Neon Valley have produced some cracking games over the years for Microgaming and this one is up there with the best of them. The lack of Free Spins, which often hampers many similar games, is not even a consideration here given the Airship Respins bonus and the Vault Bonus just adds another layer of excitement to the game-play. This is a very cleverly designed game that has been superbly executed and one that is another must-play slot from Microgaming this September.