While Egyptian gods turn to appear more on the gambling market, NetEnt gets back to its root and comes up with a Norse culture-inspired slot. In the Riches of Midgard: Land and Expand slot, Thor, Odin, and Freya are finally back together after a lasting hiatus. The last time NetEnt featured the Norse mythological gang was 10 years ago inHall of Gods, so let’s dive in and see what’s new in Midgard.
As the title implies, loading the game will take players to Midgard, a Norse realm where humans live, one of the Nine Worlds. Set somewhere in the middle of Yggdrasil, Midgard is a land connected to Asgard, the realm of the gods, by the rainbow bridge. Countless legends carol those lands, telling stories of how Odin defeated Ymir and constructed the world out of his flesh, blood, and bones. Midgard plays a central role in the Old Norse mythology, so it’s easily found to be featured in dozens of slots, and NetEnt also used those legends as a source of inspiration while developing Riches of Midgard.
The actions take place across a 3×3 grid with 9 ways to play, set in a massive wooden mechanical construction with lots of cogs and metal chains. The backdrop showcases a vast valley with immense mountains in the rear. True to NetEnt’s meticulous approach to the game’s appearance, the graphics are sharp and lovely. A piece of medieval soundtrack plays whilst you spin the reels, capturing the essential Nordic vibes and adding a final touch to the atmosphere.
Playable on any device, Riches of Midgard: Land and Expand offers players to place wagers from 0.1$ to 200$ per spin. The Swedish studio probably aimed at mainstream masses, for the slot is powered by a low-medium volatile math model. The RTP is solid at 96.03%, which is the average level within the industry. WhileHall of Godswas capable of delivering massive payouts thanks to the progressive jackpot, this one has surely failed to impress. All players can hope for is 435x of the bet on a single spin, so it’s weird that NetEnt included the word ‘Riches’ in the game’s title.
The symbol collection includes 10 regular symbols, split into two categories. The pay symbols start at the low end with 10-A royals, followed by 5 premiums, including in ascending order by ham legs, horns, and the god trio, Freya, Thor, and Odin. 3 symbols on a line are required to score a win, while premiums need only two. Full combos of royals award from 0.4x to 0.8x of the bet and premiums are worth from 1 to 15 times the stake.
The title hints at what to expect from Riches of Midgard. The game is focused around expanding symbols and Respins, which are triggered with the help of Hot Spot zones. We’ve already seen Hot Spots featured in an older slot from NetEnt,Cash Noire, but here the developers take a different approach and place them outside the reel set. Let’s lay everything out in order.
Two 1×1 Hot Spot positions sit on either side of the main grid and they don’t take part in regular line wins. Landing 2 matching symbols on both Hot Spots plus at least on two reels will trigger the Land and Expand feature and award a Respin. During the base game, only high-paying symbols can appear in the Hot Spot positions. Triggering symbols will expand to entirely cover the respective reels and get locked in place. Even non-adjacent reels pay. If matching symbols appear on all three reels, they will expand and award a win on all active ways to play.
Should 3 Thor’s Mjolnirs appear simultaneously on the reels, players will be awarded 8 Free Spins to start. The feature can also be extended, with each Scatter symbol landing during the bonus game awards +2 additional spins, without any limitations. Moreover, it expands the reel set by adding an additional row at the top or at the bottom of the grid, with the fully unlocked 3×7 grid producing 29 ways to play. Another major addition is the Wild symbol, which now can land in the Hot Spot positions to substitute for any other regular symbol in the second Hot Spot. During the Free Spins, both high and low paying symbols can land in Hot Spots.
While Riches of Midgard: Land and Expand manages to stick out from the crowd with the unique gameplay, it still fails to provide a lot of reasons to spin the reels on it.
With eye-catching visuals and exciting format, 435x of the bet is surely not the win cap you expect from such a game. We already mentioned NetEnt’s previous Norse-themed slot,Hall of Gods, which came with the same volatility and even lower RTP but boasted a 4,314x potential. And that’s excluding the progressive jackpot, which once was inherited by a lucky player in an amount of £7,822,217. Hence, Riches of Midgard: Land and Expand is unlikely to make players switch to it.
All up, it won’t win everyone’s heart for sure but will be a nice option if you look for something light-hearted and relaxing to play. Otherwise, it’s obviously not the best slot we’ve seen so far from NetEnt.
Riches of Midgard Land and Expand
