Great Wild Elk

If you like games that have a nature or fantasy theme with great graphics, then Great Wild Elk is a title that you'll enjoy. This game has exceptional graphics with a transparent background on the reels that really makes it easy to see everything that's going on with a giant, magical tree in the background. This is a title that's based primarily around normal game gameplay without needing to trigger a special feature to get chances for a ton of value, which makes it stand out on the gameplay side as well. NextGen definitely did a good job with making sure that you're getting exciting gameplay from the very first spin in this game.

Game Format

The format of this slot is pretty straightforward, and there's nothing crazy going on in the layout department. There are five reels and three rows, much like most video slots out there today, and it has 10 paylines. This is an atypically low number, but it works out well for the way the features work. You get to choose your total bet size per payline, and because the paylines are always static and can't be changed, your total bet size will always be 10 times your line bet wager. This gives you a total betting range of $0.10 to $20 per spin based on line bet wagers of $0.01 to $2 per payline.

It's worth pointing out that the game is set up visually to really emphasize the high-quality background and symbol set. They've done this by removing the traditional reel structure, so there are no lines separating the reels themselves, but they work normally as if there were.

Basic Symbol Wins

A lot in this video slot is based on the regular symbols that you'll find on the reels, so we're going to start off by looking at those. The elf woman pays 250x for five of a kind, and the woman in purple pays 150x for five of a kind. Each of these symbols pay for just two of a kind, and they're the only symbols that are like that.

There are three mid-range symbols, and along with the two high-level symbols above, they're important for a feature we'll discuss below. Five eagles gets 75x, five squirrels earns 50x, and five of the snake symbol will give you a 25x payout.

The lower tier of symbols are all runes, and they come in red, purple, blue or green. They all pay 15x for five of a kind, and they're all really important for the following feature.

Rune Transformation Feature

The runes themselves aren't worth much in terms of payouts, as is the case with all low-tier symbols. However, if you get the Elk's Light Feature, which is randomly triggered at the end of a spin, then you'll have all of the runes on the screen randomly turn into one of the top-tier or middle-tier symbols, which means big payouts for you.

Wild and Scatter Symbols

The elk is a wild symbol, and it shows up on the middle reel only. It substitutes for everything but the scatter, which is a blue glowing sort of symbol, just like the one you see on the big tree in the background. This symbol shows up on the first, second, fourth and fifth reels only, and it will pay you 500 times your entire bet (like a 5,000x line bet) for four of a kind. That is the largest regular win in the game.

Enduring Wins Feature

The elk wild symbol only shows up on the middle reel, but it's responsible for a free spins bonus feature called Enduring Wins. You start off with between 4 and 10 free spins, and you'll get a starting guaranteed payout called the Enduring Win value. The entire middle reel will be wild, and every time you get a scatter on the reels during your free spins, the guaranteed Enduring Win payout increases. You can also get a re-spin during this feature as well when scatters appear for even bigger payouts.

Overview

Great Wild Elk is a good example of NextGen putting together a very visually appealing game that still has strong gameplay values. It's hard to find anything to complain about in this title, and there's plenty to get excited about. If you like games that have a lot of features that are based on the regular gameplay, and if you like titles that have free spins features that are simple to earn, then this is a game you won't be able to get enough of.