Crystal Quest: Frostlands

Overview Crystal Quest: Frostlands

Crystal Quest: Frostlands is the latest slot game produced by the independent digital game designer Thunderkick. Some of their other games include Big Fin Bay, Cosmic Voyager and their Beat the Beasts series, all of which have been met with praise from reviewers, Slots 777 included. Typically for Thunderkick, this newest game is saturated in colour and is very much a no holds barred kind of assault on the senses. The game follows the adventure of a blonde-haired heroine who is trying to reveal precious gems from the ice they have become trapped in.

Crystal Quest: Frostlands is also full to the brim with bonus content. Players will notice that there is an avalanche feature, which gives you the chance of creating more winning combinations from one spin. Also included here is a multiplier feature, expanded symbols feature and a generous free spins game. This latter feature comes with a special modifier called the Wild Explosion feature. This comes into play if players land a free spin that does not trigger a win and involves a wild exploding to cause a fresh avalanche.

Theme and Symbols

The theme for this game feels like two themes that have been joined together. One of them being the typical crystals/gems motif that so many designers are fond of. The other is the frozen north – the aurora borealis, pine trees, snow etc. Although this sounds a little jarring in concept, the two harmonise quite well as you can trick yourself into believing that these perfectly hewn gems may have belonged to an ancient civilisation and that this game is about finding them in the ice years later.

The background for this game is the quintessential setting of a Nordic paradise. This means that the Northern lights sparkle across the night sky whilst below the land is absolutely still and amazingly quiet, the snow dampening all sounds. To the left and right of the playing window is a clue to the native forest that grows here, the pine needles peeking out from underneath a thick layer of snow.

The board on the other hand starts as a fairly recognisable 6-reel, 4-row Tetris style board. There are no clearly delineated reels, only columns of symbols stacked next to each other. Each symbol as you will notice is encased in a thick cube of ice. This has the pleasing effect of each symbol sliding down the reels like an ice cube into a glass. Things get a little more visually complicated when the expanding symbols feature is activated.

There is quite a range of symbols for this game, however, they are split into very understandable groups which we will explain. At the bottom end of things value-wise, are the 8 gem symbols. In addition to these are the blonde-haired ‘commander’ and the Yeti, both pay 5x your stake for 6 on a pay line. The Yeti doesn’t look like a conventional Yeti however, it is more of a green, club wielding monster. Joining these is the wild symbol, which for this game is golden W and the free spins scatter which is the treasure chest.

Game Play

Crystal Quest: Frostlands is played on a 6-reel, 4-row board. There are 4,096 pay lines available to play on. To create winners in this game players need to match a minimum of 3 of the same symbols across a pay line from left to right on the reels.

The betting range for Crystal Quest: Frostlands is between 10p and £100 per spin. To change the stake levels, players can click on the coins symbol located underneath the spin button. The spin and auto spin buttons are located to the bottom-right of the playing window.

For the paytable and other information, players should click on the small menu button located at the very bottom left-hand corner of the screen. The return to player percentage for Crystal Quest: Frostlands is 96.16% which is slightly better than average. The volatility is rated at the higher end of the spectrum. The maximum win that is achievable for this game is 15,000 x your total stake.

Features

There are 5 distinct and fantastic features included in this game. The first of which is named the avalanche feature. Creating a winning combination in this game triggers this feature. When a win is formed, the winning symbols are taken off the reels and replaced immediately by a new set of symbols that tumble in from above. This avalanche does not count as one of your spins and helps you create more winners from fewer spins. The feature will continue until the new set of symbols does not trigger a win.

The second feature for this game is called the Multiplier feature and is active on the base game and the free spins game. Every base game spin starts with an active multiplier of 1x. For every consecutive avalanche that you manage to trigger, the multiplier grows by 1x. However, the multiplier will be reset to 1x if you trigger a winless avalanche in the base game. In the free spins round, on the other hand, the multiplier will continue to grow regardless of any winless avalanches. The current multiplier at any time whilst playing the game is displayed to the left-hand side of the screen.

Next is the ‘Massive Symbols’ bonus. Every symbol in this game bar the scatter and the wild are susceptible to becoming larger thanks to this feature. They can either grow to 2x2 in size or 3x3. The massive symbols are triggered randomly and can come as part of an avalanche, crushing the symbols that are underneath them.

Finally, Crystal Quest: Frostlands comes with a special free spin round too. To trigger this round, players must land 3 or more of the treasure chest scatters on the reels. You will be rewarded with 12 free spins for 3 scatters and will be given an extra 3 spins for every scatter landed above that threshold. This free spins round comes with a specific modifier called the Wild Explosion feature. This feature is activated when a free spin avalanche does not cause a win. If this should happen, an exploding wild will enter the reels and destroy all of the symbols on that reel, effectively triggering a second avalanche.
As we have already discussed the multiplier feature is active in the free spins round and continues to grow despite any winless spins.

Conclusion

Crystal Quest: Frostlands is a slot with many positives and few negatives. To start with, the visuals, graphics and theme have all been well thought through and designed to a high standard. Secondly, the features are sublime, especially the free spins round with the exploding wild modifier. And if this wasn’t enough, players have the chance of winning a great top prize of 15,000 x their total stake. Crystal Quest: Frostlands is a comprehensively attractive game from all angles.