Member Reviews

In the ancient lands of Egypt, the old Gods stir in their tombs. The time is nigh for them to rise once more, and that dream shall be realised in the Valley of the Gods, a 5×5 reel slot by Yggdrasil.

As you play more, the reels open up further and further, transforming the playing field and creating new paylines, going from 45 ways to pay up to a whopping 3125. Each win causes a re-spin as scarab cards disappear, and the re-spins keep chaining so long as you keep winning. Once all the scarab cards disappear, the fun part truly begins.

This system is the core behind Valley of the Gods. Because of this, you’ll find that the game doesn’t offer gamblers Scatters or Wilds. Instead, all you will find on the reels are the visages of Egyptian deities and various symbols related to them.

Developer

It seems like only yesterday that Yggdrasil made the big splash in the gambling world. Making better slots with interesting features, rather than focusing on building a big portfolio and having a release ready for each month was the mantra on which it was founded.

It operates from Malta, and the developers often boast pretty visuals, unique systems that show they’re trying to break past the regular mould, and their iSense Platform that certainly seemed to prove itself well. Several awards later, gamblers are still in love with Yggdrasil, and they show no signs of stopping what they do best.

How to play it

It certainly won’t surprise people to find that the game is gorgeous. Everything looks crisp and clear, the animations are very smooth and solid, and the haunting, mysterious music helps to make you feel as if you’re wandering through a sandy valley that time itself forgot.

As far as gameplay goes? It fits the standard Yggdrasil bill of medium to high variance. The way the system is set up, you will brush into small and medium wins from time to time thanks to the re-spins and scarab cards making way for more icons to appear, but all the big wins are setup to play along with the special features on offer. It doesn’t quite hit the same high notes as some other slots, but big, mouth-watering wins are still more than possible.

Special Features

So, with the Wilds and Scatters thrown out the window, what does Valley of the Gods use to entice their player base? The answer lies in the way the reel is set up, and how that impacts the player. From the start, you don’t have a 5×5 reel.

Instead, you work with a 1-3-5-3-1 setup, like in When Pigs Fly. However, unlike there, your reel doesn’t expand – rather, wins remove the closest scarab card from the playing field, which opens up other symbols to appear there.

The second part comes with the re-spin bonus. Each time a win occurs, a re-spin happens. These re-spins can be chained so long as you get win after win. And that means that with enough re-spins, you can open up the reels fully, which then prompts additional features to appear.

The pillars on the left and right side of the reel become active once the full 5×5 playing field is unlocked. The one on the right will collect red gemstones from any win, while the one on the left will do the same for blue crystals. They fill up as time goes on, and once you get five, it bumps up your health or your multiplier. The more health you have, the more dead re-spins you can last through without going back to a limited playing field. Whereas the growing multiplier is self-explanatory.

Maximum Payouts

As such, you can probably tell that single wins can be intriguing, if you’re looking to squeeze the absolute maximum out of Valley of the Gods, you should be aimed at growing the multipliers. The title boasts a 96.2% RTP, and we’re inclined to believe that it’s possible.

There’s no upper limit at how many re-spins or multipliers you can rack up, so at the end, it boils down to how lucky you are. The biggest score we came up with 300 or so spins was 200x our wager, but there’s certainly possibility to go even higher.

Summary

It feels nice knowing that in a sea of low variance titles, Yggdrasil still continues to stick to its guns. The core loop of re-spins, chasing certain symbols to build lives and multipliers, and getting knocked back down and having to re-open the entire reel gives you ups and downs that will keep many players spinning in hopes for that all time high.

The developers continue to live up to their quality reputation, so if you’re in the market for a new slot to play, we can warmly recommend a trip to sunny Egypt.