William Tell and the Wild Arrows

Themed around the famous Swiss Folk hero William Tell, this online slot game transports players back to the 14th century to spin wooden reels and dodge arrows in their quest to score big wins. Designed by iSoftBet, experienced developers have created this game with an eye for aesthetic appeal and playing experience. Mechanically, this is a five-reel, three-row slot game with 25 pay lines and an RTP of 96%. The top payout that a player may receive on one spin is 10,000x the stake. William Tell and the Wild Arrows is available on mobile, tablet and desktop platforms.

William Tell and the Wild Arrows Overview

The bonus content for this game is focussed chiefly on the hold and win feature. However, a couple of other modifiers are also in play. These start with William’s wild Arrow feature that is triggered at random. When activated, the modifier will transform five regular symbols on the board into wilds to help players find more wins. The other modifier in this game is the Gessler’s Greed bonus. This, again, is triggered at random and removes all low-paying icons on the board to encourage higher-value wins. All features will be explained in more detail later in the review.

William Tell and the Wild Arrows Theme and Symbols

The story of William Tell, which this game is themed around, dates back to the 14th century and is set in the Swiss canton of Uri. According to legend, William Tell was an expert marksman renowned for his crossbow skill. The Habsburg Empire had recently annexed Uri, and the new Austrian ruler, Gessler, had imposed an authoritarian rule on the people of Uri. Gessler had placed his hat atop a pole in the village square and commanded that all citizens bow to it whenever they passed. One day, William Tell and his son, Walter, were out hunting in the woods and happened to pass by the village square. Tell refused to bow to Gessler’s hat and was arrested for his defiance. Gessler then issued a challenge to Tell, saying that he would be spared execution if he could shoot an apple off his son’s head with his crossbow. Tell successfully shot the apple off his son’s head and was released. However, Tell was arrested again for his defiance and sent to prison. In prison, Tell managed to escape and led a successful revolt against the Habsburg Empire, resulting in the liberation of Uri and establishing Switzerland as an independent country.

The background for this game is an image of the Swiss countryside. The Swiss pastoral is known for its stunning panoramas of rolling hills, lush green meadows, snow-capped mountains, and pristine lakes and streams. The scenery is quite varied, ranging from the flat plains of the Rhine Valley and the Jura Mountains in the north to the rugged terrain of the Alps in the south. The countryside is dotted with colourful chalets, picturesque villages, and old castles. Some of this is captured in the image shown behind the board. The playing board for this game has been designed to resemble a wooden market stall that one may see in a town centre during the 14th century in Switzerland.

The symbols for this free slots no deposit are split into low-paying, high-paying and special symbols. The low-paying symbols in this game are the J, Q, K and A in playing card royals. The A is the most valuable of these, worth 2x the stake for the top combination. The more valuable icons are the crossbow, tree, castle, and the four characters from the story, with William Tell being the most valuable. He pays out at 16x the stake for the top combination. The specials in this game are the bonus icon and the wild.

Game Play

William Tell and the Wild Arrows is played on a 5-reel, 3-row machine with 25 fixed pay lines. To win combinations, players must land three or more matching symbols on pay lines moving from left to right, starting from the leftmost reel. The betting range for William Tell and the Wild Arrows is 25p to £25 per spin. To adjust their bet levels, players can toggle their stakes up and down using the tool located at the bottom left-hand side of the screen.

Further information, including a short tutorial and a display of the paytable, can be found via the menu button in the right-hand corner of the screen. The spin and auto spin buttons are located in the centre of the screen. Volatility for this slot is rated in the medium to high range. The return to player percentage for William Tell and the Wild Arrows is 96%, which is average. The biggest payout that players can win on one spin is 10,000x your stake.

William Tell and the Wild Arrows Features

The first bonus feature in this game is the Gessler’s Green bonus. It may trigger at the start of any random base game spin and remove all low-paying icons from the playing board, helping you to find more valuable wins.

William’s Wild Arrow feature is the next feature in this online slot. It again can trigger at the end of any base game spin. When triggered, it transforms five regular icons on the board into wilds to help players find more wins.

The main feature here, however, is the Hold & Win feature. To trigger this feature, players must simultaneously land five or more of the bonus re-spin icons on the board. These triggering icons are then carried over to the bonus round and frozen to their position displaying a multiplier. When this feature begins, the player is given three re-spins. If any new bonus icons fall onto the board, these also become frozen to their position, and the number of re-spins is recharged to three. Re-spin bonus symbols can carry values of anywhere between 1x and 100x the stake.

If an arrow hits one of the empty grid slots during the bonus round, it will split it into four. This mechanic is called the Split Zone and means that up to four re-spin symbols can land, whereas beforehand, only one could. If the arrow hits a re-spin symbol, the symbol is split into four instances possessing the same value as the original symbol. It will then count as a winning spin if the re-spin symbols are hit, meaning the spin count is recharged to three. This game also offers three jackpot prizes by landing multiples of special jackpot icons on the reels.

Conclusion

The iSoftBet studio has clearly put some thought into this product, and it shows from the symbols to the more developed features. With a high degree of originality, this game presents a novel and layered gaming experience with a fun theme and a decent win potential. With a decent RTP and a nice top payout, players can also be reassured that this game could be much worse in terms of its potential for returns. Try also Buffalo, a fun demo game full of bonus.