Halls of Odin Demo
Halls of Odin Slot Review
After being welcomed with open arms into the Home of Thor, Backseat Gaming grants us access to the Halls of Odin in a follow-up release. This Norse Mythology release gathers the power of the Gods in every spin, with a chance to land Mystery Gates and uncover multiple Free Spins modes.
Backseat Gaming has come a long way since their first-ever slot release, Lord Venom. While Backseat Gaming are one of a few software developers as part of Hacksaw Gaming’s OpenRGS platform, they’re an independent and creative studio with many tricks up their sleeve.
In Halls of Odin, we find ourselves in the company of darkness, depicted by the foggy village backdrop. This game unlocks the power of Odin through special Gate symbols, which expand to reveal Paytable symbols, Wilds, or rewarding Coin Prizes.
We’re no strangers to Norse Mythology. Good old Thor and the Allfather Odin have appeared in more slots than movies at this point. Were Wikipedia credited with a filmography for slots, a slotography, if you will, then the list would be quite lengthy.
Were there an oscars award ceremony for slots, then very few would take home the silverware. The name of a prestigious god alone isn’t enough to garner high praise, but perhaps Halls of Odin can be a nominee, or even a winner?
Base Game & Features
Halls of Odin is the latest highly volatile release from Backseat Gaming, introducing 5 reels, 4 rows, and 14 fixed pay lines. Wins are established when 3, 4, or 5 identical symbols land from left to right, starting from reel 1.
The highest-paying symbol falls to the Golden Wolf, awarding full payouts between 5x and 25x your bet. The 8 remaining symbols, in the form of helmets, swords, crows, and card suits, award varying payouts between 0.2x and 15x your bet.
Wild symbols are part of the paytable, substituting for all symbols within a winning combination on any of the reels. Lastly, Bonus Scatters are responsible for triggering up to 2 Free Spins modes, available on all reels in the base game.
Mystery Nudge Gates
Mystery Gates are special 4-high, Golden symbols that can appear fully or partially in view on the reels. If they appear partially available, they will nudge up or down until they are fully expanded on the reels. For every nudge, the Global Multiplier will increment by +x1.
Once a Mystery Gate covers an entire reel, it will open to reveal either Paytable symbols, Wilds, or special Coin Prizes. If multiple Mystery Gates fall within the same spin, they will reveal the same type of symbol.
Coin Feature
When individual Eye symbols are revealed as part of the Mystery Nudge Gates, they will award any of the following Special symbols:
- Scatters: Only available during a Free Spins mode. Once revealed, this symbol awards an additional +1, +2, or +3 Free Spins
- Cash Prizes: Award 3 tiers of cash prizes between 1x and 1,000x your bet (Bronze, Silver, & Gold)
- Collector: Gathers all cash prizes and the value of other collector symbols before awarding a Respin
Global Multiplier
With each spin, the Global Multiplier begins at x1. Each time a Mystery Gate falls upon the reels, it will increment the Global Multiplier by +x1. If a Mystery Gate nudges in either direction, each nudge will also increment the Global Multiplier by +x1 per nudge.
At the end of each spin, the Global Multiplier will reset to x1, while all Cash Prizes and Collector symbols are added together and multiplied by your total bet to determine the outcome, which is then added to the Total Win of the round.
Halls of Odin Free Spins
The Odin’s Trial Free Spins mode is triggered when 3 Bonus Scatters land within the base game, awarding 10 Free Spins.
In this round, the base game mechanics are followed, with an increased chance of landing Mystery Gate symbols. In addition, each Mystery Gate that lands will become sticky on the reel, revealing paytable symbols, wilds, or coin prizes with each spin. Each Global Multiplier increase remains persistent throughout the entire feature.
Lastly, +1, +2, or +3 Free Spins are awarded when Mystery Gate symbols reveal an FS symbol during Coin Prizes.
Fury of the Gods
Alternatively, landing 4 Bonus Scatters in the base game triggers the Fury of the Gods Free Spins mode, awarding 10 Free Spins.
Again, this mode follows the same base game mechanics, while awarding an increased chance of triggering Mystery Gate symbols. Furthermore, each Mystery Gate is held in its position until the end of the session, revealing high-paying symbols, wilds, or coin prizes. Finally, the Global Multiplier remains persistent throughout spins.
Triggering additional spins requires Mystery Gate symbols to reveal FS Scatters during coin prizes, to award +1, +2, or +3 Free Spins.
Featurespins & Bonus Buy
Players may purchase any of the following Featurespins & Bonus Buy options:
- Bonushunt Featurespins: Each spin is 3 times more likely to trigger a Free Spins mode for 2x your bet (96.3%)
- Runic Featurespins: Guarantees at least 2 Mystery Gates in each spin for 50x your bet (96.32%)
- Odin’s Trial: Awards 10 Free Spins, sticky Mystery Gates, and a persistent Global Multiplier for 100x your bet (96.18%)
- Fury of the Gods: Awards 10 Free Spins, sticky Mystery Gates, and a persistent Global Multiplier, where high-paying symbols are revealed for 200x your bet (96.24%)
Each of the above options awards a volatility score between very high & extreme. The max win potential for this game is 15,000x your bet. If a single mode reaches this, the current mode ends, and the player returns to the base game with the qualifying amount.
Our Honest Verdict
Halls of Odin is fairly similar to another in the Backseat catalogue, Commander of Tridents, which is incidentally a ‘rip off’, if you want to call it such, of Mystery Museum and those like it within the Push Gaming catalogue.
We find that many slots like this have a fatal flaw, or perhaps even a couple of flaws. Firstly, the bonus round is only exciting some of the time, and usually towards the end of the bonus, in most cases. Slots like this require a build-up of Mystery Nudge Gates, and a lower number of them or even none of them can make the bonus feel like a snooze fest.
In fairness, the multiplier that accompanies the Mystery Nudge Gates can make the coin reveal feature quite exciting, and the multiplier can be high enough that a lucky roll of coins can pay out fairly decent wins.
Our second gripe with this particular game is that it doesn’t employ the pay anywhere mechanic seen in slots like Mystery Museum. It either connects on a pay line or it doesn’t. Numerous rounds of testing this revealed only one Mystery frame, leaving us relying on coins and praying for a decent multiplier, while other rounds revealed frames in inconvenient places.
We get it, it’s gambling, and things don’t always go your way, but our experience with it was disproportionately negative. It feels like the objective is coins, not the symbols it can reveal. Coins being the main draw is fine, we suppose, and the multiplier multiplying the coins does make up for it somewhat.
Overall, Halls of Odin is good, but nothing spectacular from Backseat Gaming. Its 15,000x win potential might draw some big win hunters, but its gameplay is unlikely to grip enthusiasts.
*The images found in this slot review are currently from Demo Play. On average, our reviews are written prior to the initial release date and before real play is available.
