Developer Hacksaw Gaming’s latest work titled Stormforged arrived in our inbox today with seemingly little to no fanfare – I’d heard absolutely nothing about this game prior to playing it for the first time today, so, of course, I had no idea what to expect! The introductory text tells us to ‘Behold the clash of ice and fire!’ in this 5-reel, 4-row online slot with a maximum jackpot of 12,500x times the player’s stake. Like many other games from this developer, Stormforged has an unusual payline setup – there are 14 of them for some reason, why not 15? I have no idea! As for the RTP, this can vary between 96.24% and 96.43% depending on whether the bonus bet or bonus buy facilities are utilised.
The feature set includes a base game modifier dubbed the ‘Portals to Muspelheim’, which is effectively an expanding wild feature that comes with multipliers of up to 200x. If the portal feature happens to cross paths with a treasure chest symbol, you may be lucky enough to receive a cash prize of as much as 2,500x your total stake. The reels include two sets of scatter symbols – the ‘fire’ scatters trigger the Surtur’s Vengeance free spin mode, whilst the ‘ice’ variety is used to invoke the alternate Warriors of the Storm free spin mode. Judging from the prices on the bonus buy menu, the latter feature seems to be the more valuable of the two; that being said, there’s also an alternate Surtur’s Fury mode available exclusively via the bonus buy menu as well. If, like me, you live in the UK where bonus buy facilities are prohibited; this is all very frustrating indeed!
Well, I’m sold, evolved, and ready to behold… the clash of ice and fire, I mean! Are you? Check out our free demo slot of Stormforged, available to play below:
| Provider | Hacksaw Gaming |
| Reels | 5 |
| Rows | 4 |
| Paylines | 14 |
| Bonus Rounds | 2 |
| Bet Range | 0.10 - 100 |
| Volatility | High |
| Max Win | 12,500x |
| Bonus Buy | Yes |
| RTP | 96.24% |
| Our Rating | 7.7 |
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Stormforged Demo Slot
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Stormforged Slot Theme, Stakes, Pays & Symbols
Storms can be a little bit scary, can’t they? The power of nature knows no bounds, as anybody who has ever witnessed a tornado first-hand will undoubtedly tell you! But they can also be sort of ‘badass’ in a way too, which makes them an excellent theme for an online slot! Pragmatic Play has had a blast with their Eye of the Storm online slot, and let’s not forget Playtech’s Age of the Gods: God of Storms, too – it probably isn’t the greatest game, yet I somehow find myself playing it quite regularly for some reason! Stormforged looks much better than both of those titles, but we’ve come to expect as much from Hacksaw by now. The big question is, does it pay better than the competition too?
The paytable is laid out in an unusual manner, with seemingly no rhyme or reason for where the high and low-paying symbols have been placed. The two Scatter Symbols will pay you 100x your bet if you hit all five of them, but unfortunately, there’s no payout for hitting three or four. The same is true of the Wild symbol, which also pays 100x for a full payline of five of a kind. The high-paying symbols feature animals – a Blood-Eyed Wolf is the most valuable with a return of 50x for all five symbols, closely followed by a Crow at 40x and a Ram at 30x. The medium pays include a Horned Helmet with a payout of 20x for a complete payline, an Axe at 15x, and a Pair of Swords at 10x. As for the low pays, there are just four royals divided into two groups – five Aces or Kings will get you 6x your bet, whilst five Queens or Jacks are a little less valuable at 4x for all five symbols.
A wide range of different wagers is permitted in Stormforged, with the minimum bet per spin set at just €0.10. The maximum limit of €100.00 should be more than enough for even the highest of high rollers, and there are plenty of intermediate bets to suit everybody in between.
Base Game & Modifiers
The basic gameplay of Stormforged doesn’t hide too many surprises, although the unusual payline layout can be a little disconcerting initially. I frequently found myself surprised at certain combinations of symbols not returning a win, but this is to be expected when there are just 14 lines and an enlarged 5×4 reel set. On the plus side, this also means that when you do hit a win, it tends to be a little larger than you might expect!
Portals To Muspelheim
The Hand of Surtur symbol appears as a four-fingered flaming claw. Whenever this symbol lands, it will rip downwards to the bottom of the reel where it appears, creating a portal to Muspelheim!
These portals act as wild symbols by themselves, but if the Hand of Surtur also happens to pass through an existing wild symbol on the reels, it will reveal a multiplier that will be applied to any other winning paylines that intersect with it. The maximum possible portal multiplier is 200x.
Stormforged Slot Bonus Features
There are two alternate free spin modes included in Stormforged – one representing fire, the other ice. The two sets of scatters are very easy to tell apart but seem to have an annoying habit of showing up in combinations that do not trigger either bonus round!
Surtur’s Vengeance Free Spins
Three, four, or five Surtur scatters will award 10, 12, or 14 free spins, respectively. In this mode, the first wild symbol that lands on each reel will become sticky until the end of the bonus round. There can only be one sticky wild symbol on each reel, so cross your fingers that they land on an active payline!
Warriors Of The Storm Free Spins
Three, four, or five Viking scatter symbols will award 10, 12, or 14 free spins, respectively – just as with the previous feature. However, these free spins work very differently; Thor’s Hammer has now been added to the reels and will transform any reel it lands on into a Storm Reel.
At the start of every free spin, all storm reels will reveal either a Viking Warrior or a Raging Storm. There are three different Viking warriors with varying multipliers of up to 200x, but the Raging Storm is the real star of the show as it acts as a stacked wild that moves across the reels on every consecutive spin after it first appears. Multiple Raging stacked wilds can appear on screen simultaneously, and when combined with the highest-value Viking Warrior symbols, you have a definite shot at hitting the game’s maximum 12,500x jackpot!
Pros
- Two free spin features to trigger.
- Well developed game & interesting theme.
- Higher than average max win on a Hacksaw slot of 12,500x.
Cons
- The payline structure may frustrate some players.
- Variable RTP models may be used by online casinos.
Storm Forged Slot Review Final Thoughts
I’ve been toying around with this game for half the day now, and I just can’t get enough of the Warriors of the Storm free spins! It’s a shame that the feature seems so hard to trigger, but when it does, the wait is usually worth it! Unfortunately, I never managed to get anywhere close to hitting the game's jackpot, but it would be freakishly good luck if I had. Hopefully, that will happen when I am playing for real money instead.
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