Ice Hockey
The Ice Hockey online slot by the game developer Playtech was originally launched back in April 2012. With a unique feature based around you deciding which teams are going to be battling it out for the title, this may be an ice cold game but the heat can be turned up if you manage to hit the top single payout of 10,000 coins.
Ice Hockey by Playtech is a 5-reel and 3-row video slot with a maximum of 15 pay lines. As these are not fixed, you can set how many you want to be active during any spin of the reels. With plenty of features that include wild substitution symbols, mixed pay symbols, scatters, a Pass the Puck bonus and free spins bonus, there is certainly lots of action with Ice Hockey slot.
How to play Ice Hockey Video Slot
When the game loads, the first thing you must do is decide which two teams will be playing against each other. Just select the opponents and click on the continue button to load the main game screen. You will probably notice that the game looks a bit dated compared to the more recent Playtech Slots but don’t let this put you off playing the game. The backdrop is an Ice Hockey goal and net and the slot is predominately blue in colour with bright flashes of reds, yellows and then team colours.
This game, like the majority of online slots, makes use of some standard card type symbols. These are 9, 10, J, Q, K and A. These form the lower value symbols of the game. The higher value symbols are then team players from the two teams that you chose at the start of the game. However, during play, you will see options to change the teams if you wish. The special symbols consist of a Puck, which can activate the Pass the Puck Bonus, the Ice Hockey logo as the scatter symbol, a Net as the wild symbol and a Free Games symbol.
Before playing the Ice Hockey online slot you should set your cost per spin. You can do this by using the line bet button. You can set this from 1p all the way up to £1. You can then set the number of active pay lines from 1 to 15. Adjusting these options means you can set your cost per spin from 1p (15p for all pay lines to be active) up to a maximum of £15. However, we always recommend that you set the cost per spin to a value you are comfortable with.
To start playing Ice Hockey you just need to select the large orange coloured button on the right-hand side of the bottom part of the game screen that says ‘Spin’. You will also see an ‘Auto Play’ button. Clicking this option allows you to have the game spin the reels automatically. You can set the number of spins up to 99. There is also a Bet Max button which will spin the reels at your current coin value per line multiplied by all 15 pay lines.
As you play the base game you will be looking to match symbols on an active pay line and this can include the wild symbol. The wild will replace all other symbols apart from the scatter symbol, the free games symbols or the puck bonus symbol. It also does not count in mixed pay mode. This option is where three of your team player symbols which are not identical appear side by side on adjacent reels and on an active pay line. Symbols from the first team are matched from left to right while symbols from the opponent team are matched from right to left.
During the base game, you can land the scatter symbols anywhere on the reels and they don’t have to be on adjacent reels. You will receive a cash prize by landing between two and five scatters. You will also be looking to try and land the free spins bonus round which will offer the chance of the biggest cash prizes.
You need to land a Free Games symbol on reel 1 and 5 and then you will active the free spins bonus and awarded 12 free spins. The team flag that triggered the free spins will determine the team players that will appear in the free spins bonus round. During this feature, wins can be created from both left to right and right to left. Free spins are not able to be re-triggered during the bonus round. Once the free spins are completed you are returned to the base game.
The final feature in this game is the Pass the Puck bonus. If you land a puck on reel 2 or reel 4 and there is a team player either immediately to the left of reel 2 or right of reel 4 next to the puck you will activate this feature. The player will then shoot the puck and you will win 3x the total bet for each player that touches the puck.
Ice Hockey Video Slot Tips
On the bottom left of the game screen, you will see a button with the word ‘info’ in the middle. Selecting this will allow you to view a series of 5 screens that give information about the game including the main features as discussed above. You can also view the coin payout levels for the number of matching symbols on a pay line along with a grid view of how the wins are generated. These screens help familiarise you with the game and what you need to do to get the best wins possible.
If you are new to playing the Ice Hockey video slot, then you should initially try out the game in Freeplay or demo mode at one of our recommended online casinos. This means you can spin the reels as many times as you like for fun without having to spend your own cash. You will see how the gameplay works and then if you want to play for real you can switch to real cash play at any time. If you would like to play Ice Hockey for free then you can at Paddy Power Casino.
Is Ice Hockey the right video slot for you?
The Ice Hockey video slot has a theoretical RTP (return to player) of 95.26% with all 15 pay lines active giving a house edge of 4.74%. We tested the game over 100 spins at a £1.50 cost per spin and found the game to be a low to medium variance game. We never had a dry spell of more than 5 spins without a win and quite a few of the cash rewards were of a decent size at times.
You will enjoy playing Ice Hockey if you are looking for a game that has quite a good length of extended game play time and has a good mix of features. If you have a free casino bonus at hand then this is a slot worth considering to help turnover the wagering requirements.
