Play For Free Champions of Rome Pokie Machine
At the height of its power, the Roman empire sprawled several continents, controlling most of the then-known world. A powerful nation that turned the Mediterranean sea into ‘Mare Nostrum’, what Rome wanted, Rome got.
The constant thirst for expansion meant the demand for slaves and riches was always satisfied, and the very best would find themselves fighting for the amusement of the citizens in the capitol. Today, you join one of these poor souls, and fight for your life and freedom in Champions of Rome, Yggdrasil’s latest release.
It offers great graphics and fun special features, such as various Wilds being created on the playing field, two types of free spins, and a battle against the Beast that only occurs during the extra turns bonus.
Developer
If you are a fan of slots, you will know that the 2012-2013 time period was a resurgence in the industry. New studios entered the fray, and brought interesting gameplay and varied ideas to the table, carving themselves a piece of the pie. Yggdrasil falls under this story, founded in 2013 by Fredrik Elmqvist, a former NetEnt CEO.
From there, this Malta-based studio led the charge with HTML5, abandoning the ageing Flash platform, and made sure all of their games are available for both desktop and mobile devices. 2018 was a successful year for Yggdrasil, as they won Innovator of the Year at the IGT Awards, and we can only hope they can excel in the current year, too.
How to Play it
The title is played on a 5×3 board with 20 fixed paylines. That means players cannot turn certain paylines on and off in order to lower their minimum bet. Instead, gamblers can increase or decrease the coin value, which impacts the total cash bet.
The user interface is done in a traditional Roman style, using dark-red and gold, stone, marble and wreaths to make it fit with the background image. Setting the Buy Bonus option as a square Roman shield was an awesome touch. Players can set their wagers between $0.20 up to $100 per spin, which is an awesome bet spread for both casual gamblers and high rollers.
The Autoplay function allows you to choose how many auto spins you would like to play, up to 1000, but it does not give you the option to set a win or loss limit, or a single win threshold.
The slot has fun visuals, though most of them are set on the reels. The background image depicts a crowd cheering on and observing a gladiator fight, and while it makes for a great picture, we do wish some minor animations were around.
Yggdrasil’s release makes up for it elsewhere – in awesome screen transitions when certain special features are triggered, and when symbols form winning combinations, as everything from the smallest coin to the fiercest soldier shows off when part of a pay.
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Special Features
Landing two Scatters rewards one of three different Wild-based bonuses. Swords places 2×1 or 1×2 Wilds in random positions on the reels. Mace creates 2×2 Wilds on the playing field, and Trident adds four random Wilds to the board.
Three, four or five Scatters grant free spins with an increasing starting cash prize. Players can play Training Mode, that lets them keep all their wins, but offers no multipliers, or they can try their luck in Deathmatch mode, where they can choose to play fewer free spins but with an increased multiplier.
The downside of Deathmatch mode is that if you do not win a certain cash value, you lose all the money accumulated during the extra turns. To make up for it, gamblers get a consolation prize. These can be cash prizes between 40 to 200 coins, or five free spins in Training Mode.
When free spins start, the Sword, Mace or Trident gladiator is randomly chosen to fight The Beast. The gladiator you get is the Wild-based bonus you receive while playing the special feature. When the gladiator weapons hit the Beast, it adds an extra free spin.
Maximum Payouts
The title has a medium-high variance with a maximum win worth 1200x your total bet. The RTP for this Yggdrasil release is 96.4%, which is average for video slots.
Summary
Superb visuals, engaging gameplay, and lucrative bonuses all come together to create a fantastic game that players will be enjoying for a long time. Only improvements we could suggest would be to animate the background image, and to let gamblers pick the gladiator that fights the Beast during free spins.
