Ashoka Slot Demo Preview

Ashoka Slot Review 2024 – ELK Studios

ELK Studios are back with another (hopefully) incredible release with Ashoka!

Ashoka was a prominent figure in the 3rd century, and he was often known by his more prestigious title, Ashoka the Great. Ashoka the great was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire from 268 – 232 BCE, and what a guy he must have been to feature in ELK’s latest new game.

It’s a fine posthumous accolade in our eyes, but to most, he’s known as prominently for spreading Buddhism across ancient Asia. He also allegedly killed his brothers so that he could ascend to the throne, we’ll try our best to focus on his more admiral qualities.

Ashoka seems quite different to their last two games Rabbit Royale and Pirotes, but does it take influence from any other ELK classics?

Let’s find out.

Ashoka Slot – The Base Game and Features

Ashoka is a scatter pay slot with 6 columns, 8 rows and dropping symbols.

Forming a win requires at least 8 of the same symbol to be present on the screen, and when wins are formed the symbols explode, leaving room for new symbols to fall into place.  Winning symbols also clear off some blocker symbols that would otherwise restrict the possible number of symbols, so some decent momentum can really get Ashoka going.

One of the features we like is the handy little indicator at the top of the screen that tells you when you have enough, or if you’re close to having enough symbols to form a win.

Wild Symbol

Wild Symbols substitute for any regular symbol. These are removed once they have contributed to a win.

Big Wild Symbol

The Big Wild Symbols count for as many 1×1 Wild Symbols that would fit within them.

For example, a 2×2 Big Wild Symbol is 4 individual wilds.

This proves to be an effective feature, especially in a Scatter Pays slot.

Charged Wild

The Charged Wild Symbol is a Wild with multiple ‘lives’, so to speak.

The Charged Wild can last for up to 3 wins, and is removed after the last win.

Multiplier Symbols

Ashoka makes use of Multiplier Symbols to further its appeal and potential, with both Multiplier and Super Multiplier symbols in play.

• Multiplier – The Multiplier Symbol adds its value and activates the Win Multiplier when there are winning combinations in view.
• Super Multiplier – The Super Multiplier functions in much the same way as the regular Multiplier Symbol, but it will also reactivate for each avalanche.

Ashoka – Free Spins

3 Bonus Symbols anywhere in view will activate the Bonus Game with 10 Free Spins.

In the Bonus Game, inactive bonus symbols will become active when vertically adjacent to a winning symbol.

• 2 Activated Bonus Symbols – + 5 Free Drops
• 3 Activated Bonus Symbols – +10 Free Drops

Super Multipliers will carry into the bonus game and persist between Free Spins

Ashoka X-iter Bonus Buy

The X-iter Feature offers bonus buy features to those within jurisdictions that allow it.

• Bonus Hunt – Offers a higher chance to trigger the bonus at the cost of 3x the bet.
• Charged Wilds – Buy a game round with all Wild Symbols as Charged Wild Symbols. Costs 10x the bet
• Super Multiplier – Buy a game round with one guaranteed Super Multiplier Symbol. Costs 25x the bet
• Bonus Buy – Buy into the Bonus. Costs 100x the bet
• Super Bonus – Buy into a Bonus Round with a guaranteed Super Multiplier. Costs 500x the bet

Ashoka Slot – Our Verdict

ELK Studios can do no wrong at the moment. We had our reservations about Ashoka because it deviates from the go-to Gold Series that we love so much, but it proved its worth. We felt the same about slots like Pirotes and Rabbit Royale now that we think about it, but those too proved their worth.

Ashoka carried itself well in the Base Game with a frequent cameo from some of its multiplier features, and the momentum ramped up to exciting levels when the wins just kept coming. However, the ultimate goal is of course Free Spins, and it was there that we saw Ashoka the Great in all his glory.

Results weren’t always amazing, as per the standard for slot games, but it was surprisingly exciting for us on a more frequent basis than we expected. At full swing, Ashoka was nothing short of exhilarating, but we wonder once more what its appeal will be like to a UK audience.

It’s no surprise that the X-iter Feature once again makes an ELK Slot phenomenally exciting, but these features are locked away to UK players, and not much is done to counteract those regulatory hurdles. The Bonus Hunt would be a good start. Ante Bet features aren’t outlawed (yet), and to have it in some of ELK’s smash-hit games would make them infinitely more appealing.

In our opinion, Ashoka is still super exciting no matter where you’re playing it, and if you’re lucky enough then you may even hit the maximum win of 25,000x, which makes it much more capable than some of their other recent titles.