Excalibur
Excalibur is a medieval themed slot by top casino developers NetEnt. It’s based on the story of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. You’ll see signature characters such as Merlin and the Lady of the Lake, plus shields displaying different standards on the reels in this legendary slot game.
How To Play Excalibur Slot
It’s always best to get to grips with the features and rules of online slots before spinning the reels. Click on ‘Paytable’ to review the values for each prize symbol and the bet line mappings. Bet line wins pay if in succession from leftmost to right on an active bet line.
King Arthur is the best paying of the standard symbols at 500 coins for 5 in a row (based on bet level 1). However, it’s the wilds that hold the key to the jackpot at 10,000 coins for 5 in a row. Wild symbols are represented by the sword in the stone and substitute for all other symbols except the golden wild and scatter symbols. This makes it more likely that you’ll hit a winning payline when a wild is in play. The golden wilds are a golden sword in the stone and can only appear on the middle reel. These symbols have a 4x multiplier that supersedes the standard wild in the event that the two combine.
Scatter symbols are denoted by the holy grail and can combine anywhere across the reels. 2 scatter symbols will apply a 2x multiplier of your total bet. Get 3 scatter symbols for a 5x multiplier and 10 free spins. 4 scatter symbols gives a 25x multiplier and 20 free spins. Get 5 scatter symbols for a huge 500x bet multiplier and 30 free spins. Free spins wins are given a 3x bet line multiplier, except additional free spins won during the free spins round. During free spins, bet line wins from wild and golden wild symbols are multiplied by the wild multiplier as well as the free spins multiplier.
Setting up the game is really easy to do and takes just a few seconds. Start off by setting how many bet lines you wish to play by clicking the ‘Bet Lines’ button, noting the path of each bet line as you add them. Next select the ‘Bet Level’ which sets the amount of coins bet per bet line. Finally, choose your ‘Coin Value’ remembering that the overall cost per spin will be affected by the number of active bet lines and the bet level. For example a coin value of 0.20 at bet level 2 with all pay lines active will cost 8.00 per spin (0.20 x 2 = 0.40 x 20 bet lines = 8.00). The ‘Max Bet’ button will set the bet level to 4 and initiate a spin, so remember to check your coin value before clicking this as the overall bet will be 80 times the coin value displayed.
You can customise preferences via the four buttons in the bottom left. The spanner icon allows you to toggle the use of ambient sound and sound effects. Volume is adjusted via the speaker icon and the question mark opens the help menu. The Auto button allows you set the number of spins to be executed when you press ‘Autoplay’ and has advanced options to control when to stop the feature.
With Excalibur video slot, you can either click for each spin by clicking the green circle with white arrows or use the auto-spin function. If you wish to execute a skill-stop, simply click the spin button again before the reels have settled.
Excalibur Slot Tips
Excalibur online slot is not widely available but can be played at NetEnt casinos such as Casumo and Redbet Casino for example. Unfortunately, it is not available on mobile. You won’t find this game featured in any welcome offers and it does not make for the best choice when trying to meet the wagering requirements of a casino bonus. This is because there can be lengthy lean spells between significant wins. Conversely, this is a suitable game to play if you’re hoping for a relatively big win, albeit not the life-changing amounts of cash that are available on progressive jackpot slots.
The wilds are rare in this game and the golden wilds even more so. This is an underlying factor to why winning bet lines are few and far between. However, if you are lucky enough for them to spin in then the returns can be favourable due to their respective multipliers. Hitting the jackpot payout of 10,000 coins for 5 wilds is extremely rare but does remain a realistic possibility.
If you’re lucky enough to get three or more scatter symbols and unlock the free spins, then it’s possible to get a big win as bet line wins are tripled. We were lucky enough to hit the golden wild in a round of 10 free spins which yielded a tidy 2,413 coin payout. With this in mind, you can see the potential of getting 20 or even 30 free spins, remembering that your total bet will also be given a nice multiplier before you enter the free spins round and that wild multipliers combine with free spins multipliers during the bonus game.
Is Excalibur The Right Slot For You?
Excalibur slot rates as a medium to high variance game in which winning paylines are quite hard to come by. There are some small wins from time to time and the occasional big payout which can offer some sizable casino rewards. The RTP is 95.1% which while not terrible, is comparatively low when compared to other NetEnt slots. This gives the casino a house edge of 4.9% and makes Excalibur a game for players who are chancing their luck without expecting to recoup stakes in the long-term.
The Arthurian theme of the game is carried off to good effect. The reels are set in a medieval picture frame as if hung on the castle wall at Camelot. It’s a game that can be played at a brisk pace due to the minimalist animations and lack of any bonus games. Even the free spins round plays much in the same way as the base game. The one real note of excitement comes when you’re waiting for a scatter symbol to unlock free spins as the remaining reels spin on as a swell of noise builds to a climax.
Anyone who likes knights in shining armour and anything to do with the legend of King Arthur is bound to appreciate this game. It does however, lack the bonus features and up to date graphics of more modern slots.
