Katmandu

Overview of Katmandu slot

Katmandu is the fifth instalment in the Gold series from the developers at ELK Studios. The slot features the adventurer Kane and is a huge step forwards for the developers and the first time they have ever offered a bonus buy option. When it comes to implementing features that the developers are offering for the first time you tend to find that they approach it either cautiously or full speed ahead, into the unknown. ELK Studios may have decided to model themselves with this slot on Nolimit City, which means it is a two-option bonus buy approach. It is not just this huge buy-in that makes this slot standout as it also offers a gorgeous location, great features and the highest potential that has ever been offered in this series.

Theme & Design

To date the developers have done an amazing job of ensuring that the slots have been set amidst some stunning locations and this is no exception. The 6-reel and 4,096-win ways game area has two Buddhist pillars each side and there is an exotic temple situated in the background lit up by the Himalayan sun which can be seen far in the distance. You will not see the temple in the game until you activate the bonus game and until this time it sits behind a huge Oriental door. In the same way as the other slots in this series the view pans in and out in accordance with the rows which are either being added or removed. The developers at ELK should be commended for creating such a stunning and unique scene which is complemented by the superb audio track to provide a slot that makes a big impact.

Gaming Experience

The first thing you may notice is the spelling of the slots name may appear to be spelt wrong, however “Katmandu” is another way that you can spell the word Kathmandu, this is merely an older English version of spelling the name of the place which refers to the capital city of Nepal which sits at the bottom of the Himalayan Mountains. It is at this point that the hero of the slot Kane has come to seek some comfort. Kane is absolutely exhausted from travelling the world in search of gold and arrives at the mountain to seek inner peace. However, as Kane always seems to fall into success it is here that he stumbles across the ancient remains of a golden temple. With any luck he is not planning on stealing any of the artefacts from a local monument.

The slot plays out over a 6-reel set and offers a huge 4,096 ways to win and can be played on all devices. There is a good bet range on offer which starts from a minimum of 20p per spin and a maximum of £200 per spin. The superb visuals are coupled with a pleasing set of statistics and there are three separate return to player levels on offer, dependant on which of the bonus buy you have chosen to purchase. The return to player starts with the default rating of 96.2% going up to 96.3% which is the second tier buy in, and then increases to 96.4% in the Buy Super Bonus. The developers at ELK have also increased the potential for players and although this slot is rated as 7/10 and although this is still considered high it is not as harsh as it could be, and slot has a hit frequency that stands at 22.4%.

To land a winning combination, you must land three or more of the same symbols on your reels going from left to right. There are enough symbols to make this relatively easy and these start with the lower paying symbols being the playing card Jack through to Ace, next are the mid ranged symbols and include symbols for the earth, fire, air, and water, which are finished with the high payers that are made up from turtles, dragons, tigers, and Kane the adventurer. The value for the premiums varies from 2x – 4x the stake. The final symbol is the wild which can substitute for all the symbols to create winning combinations apart from the bonus and Ice Climber symbols.

Game Features

When it comes to the features there is always something new in this series of slots, which means that you always get a unique and exciting feature to look forward to. These are not obvious, but it is obvious that the developers have put a huge amount of effort into the features and it shows. This slot benefits from Avalanches, Big Symbols, Expanding Wins, Ice Climbers, Multiplier Free Drops, as well as the brand-new Buy Feature.
At the centre of the features are the Avalanches which is activated after every win, as the winning symbols are removed so that new symbols can drop onto the reels from above to give you another chance to land a win. There is also an extra row added to the grid and this goes up to 8 high. The Avalanches keep coming all the time wins are created.
If you are familiar with this series of slots you will know how much ELK Studios enjoy their large symbols and you will come across these in slot. They come as massive, huge, and epic symbols of 2x2, 3x3, or 4x4 size and these can make an appearance on any set of symbol drops.

You need to watch out for the Yin and Yang styled symbol which in this slot is the Ice Climber. Landing two of these symbols activates the Ice Climber feature. In this feature all the symbols that are above the Ice Climbers will be replaced with either high paying symbols or wilds whilst all the symbols below turn wild. If you land the Ice Climber on the 8th row you will have an additional row added to your reels and this gives you a massive 531,441 ways to win.
The wilds or ay symbols can land with a golden arrow attached either above or below the symbol or both above and below. The golden arrow is the Expanding Win Symbol. When the symbols are used in a win, they will expand in the direction of the arrow replacing all symbols that are in their path.

The main attraction in the features is the free drops which are activated by landing three or more of the bonus symbols during a drop sequence. Landing 3, 4, 5, or 6 bonus symbols in view and you will be rewarded with 10, 15, 20, or 25 drops. These free drops can be retriggered also which is excellent news. The bonus game in this slot is different from the others in the series as it is complete with a win multiplier which starts at 1x, then every time you land a bonus symbol that is marked with an “X” the multiplier increases by +1.

Finally, we have the bonus buy, where there are two options. The first is a typical 100x the bet outlay to buy 3-6 bonus symbols on the next drop. The other is the Buy Super Bonus, which will also provide you with 3-6 bonus symbols, but here the win multiplier is also in place and starts from 10x, however, this is not a cheap option as you will have to pay 500x your bet.

Conclusion

ELK has created a fabulous slot that features all the good parts from the other games in this series. They have not stopped there though as they have also added new features and a great audio-visual. I enjoyed testing this game and rate it a solid 9.5/10 and I am more than happy to recommend this fabulous slot.