I initially thought that Ashoka was just an unusual name for an online slot, but a little research soon revealed that ELK Studios are much better informed than I am! As it turns out, Ashoka – popularly known as Ashoka the Great – was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire around 230AD. Ashoka’s empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent – an area roughly analogous to modern-day Afghanistan and Bangladesh – so I have no doubt he wasn’t short of a dollar or two! This is a cluster pays slot, and as with most of this developer’s machines, Ashoka offers a below-average RTP of 94% alongside an above-average jackpot of 25,000x the players’ stake.
ELK always loves to pack their slots full of special features, and this one is no different. For a start, Ashoka includes a wide variety of wild symbols – giant wilds can appear in 2×2 and 3×3 configurations, whilst the charged variety will persist on the playfield between rounds. And it’s not just the wilds – the game also features several types of multipliers, along with bonus and special bonus symbols used to activate the all-important free drops feature. As always, ELK’s trademark X-iter bonus buy facility offers five options ranging between 3x and 500x the normal price per spin.
Will Ashoka live up to his nickname for you? You never know until you try! Our free demo slot of Ashoka is available to play below:
| Provider | Elk Studios |
| Reels | 6 |
| Rows | 8 |
| Paylines | Cluster Pays |
| Bonus Rounds | 1 |
| Bet Range | 0.20 - 100 |
| Volatility | High |
| Max Win | 25,000x |
| Bonus Buy | Yes |
| RTP | 94.00% |
| Our Rating | 8.0 |
Ashoka Slot Casino Bonuses
Ashoka Slot Free Play
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Ashoka Slot Theme, Stakes, Pays & Symbols
ELK is an interesting developer; that much is for sure! Their games are almost always packed to bursting with bonus rounds and special features, making them quite the task to review in depth! Take their recent Propaganda or Avalon Gold releases, for example – fantastic games for sure, but I sometimes end up feeling a little bit confused by the multitude of things listed within the (often more than a dozen page long) rules and paytable pages. This latest release is another feature-packed machine, but it isn’t quite as over the top as other recent games. As for the Ashoka theme, that’s definitely an interesting one – I don’t know of any other similar games, that’s for sure!
The highest-paying combinations offered in this game are awarded for hitting 15 or more matching symbols anywhere on the reels. The biggest prize of the lot is 100x the total bet and is paid for 15 or more wild cat symbols. The rest of the high-paying symbols are much less interesting – coloured geometric shapes that feel a bit out of place in a game with this sort of theme. The red square will get you 50x your bet for a maximum 15 symbol combo, whilst the yellow, green, and blue shapes will get you 30x, 20x, or 15x, respectively. As for the low pays, these have been colour coordinated to match the more valuable symbols; 15 Aces or Kings will return 5x the current stake, whilst the Queens and Jacks are a tad less valuable at 3x each. Whilst there’s nothing hugely exciting about the prizes offered here, it’s worth mentioning that all symbols are stacked on the reels too.
Sadly, the usual problem with ELK’s recent machines rears its ugly head here. The minimum/maximum bet limits are fine at €0.20 and €100.00, respectively, but there is a severe lack of intermediate options for those who like to play somewhere in between.
Base Game & Modifiers
The playfield used in Ashoka is unlike any other game I can recall playing before – there are six columns of eight rows each, but many of the available positions are filled with blockers on most spins. The only other games I can think of that use a similar setup are the ‘Temple Tumble‘ slots, which I suspect this game is heavily based on!
Wild Symbols
There are three different types of wild available in Ashoka – the regular variety needs no explanation, but the other ones are much more interesting! Giant wilds can appear in 2×2 and 3×3 configurations, each equivalent to the same number of symbols the giant symbol occupies on the reels.
The best type of wilds, however, are the charged ones – these will stay in place after they form part of a winning combination, potentially allowing you to use them several times over.
Multiplier Symbols
If one or more of these special symbols is visible when a winning combination is evaluated, then your total win is multiplied by the sum of their values. There’s also a ‘super multiplier’ that functions similarly to the charged wild, remaining in place for several spins after it first appears on the reels.
Ashoka Slot Bonus Features
Bonus scatter symbols can appear on all six reels in Ashoka, but you’ll only need to hit three to trigger the main bonus round. Strangely, I couldn’t find any mention of a benefit to hitting more than three scatters – the paytable doesn’t tell you anything as far as I could see. This is a real shame if there is no benefit to hitting more than three trigger symbols!
Free Drops
In this mode, the multiplier symbols present in the base game become even more valuable as they stay on the reels between spins and for the duration of the bonus round. Unfortunately, that’s basically the only addition to this part of the game – I was hoping for a little more, if I’m honest!
X-iter Bonus Buy Feature
As always, ELK has included plenty of options in the menu of their bonus buy facility. For 3x the normal stake, you can activate ‘bonus hunt’ mode, effectively a bonus bet that increases the chances of triggering a feature by 500%. All wilds can be transformed into charged wilds for 10x the normal price per spin, whilst 25x buys you a single round with a guaranteed super multiplier symbol.
The main free drops feature with ten free spins can be purchased for 100x the current stake, and there’s also a ‘super bonus’ option that is only available via the X-iter menu. This one comes at a huge price – 500x the current bet – but in return, you get a bonus round with a guaranteed super multiplier symbol. Is it worth it? Honestly, it’s hard to say. Your mileage may vary, as they always say, but I don’t think my bankroll could stretch to this one!
Pros
- Interesting and unique scatter-pay gameplay.
- A huge jackpot of 25,000x the total bet.
- Plenty of base game features to keep things interesting.
Cons
- The bonus round was surprisingly uneventful and doesn’t offer much over the base game.
- A super bonus cannot be won via regular play.
Final Thoughts
What can I say? I complain when ELK puts too many features in, and now I’m thinking of complaining because they didn’t do enough with their bonus round in Ashoka! They can’t win, can they?
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