Skibblings: Slot Overview
The world of fiction bursts with weird and wonderful creatures from the floating eye Beholder from Dungeons & Dragons to Shoggoths, those amorphous blobs of protoplasm from H. P. Lovecraft, and beyond. Software provider ELK Studios has gotten in on the act and created a fantasy creature of its own to fill its online slot Skibblings. The critters in this game, the Skibblings, are small, green, goblin-like creatures that live in a dungeon, and they are not happy. Fed up with heroes stomping on them and taking the loot, the Skibblings, led by their king, are fighting back, their principal weapon being a cannon that can blast all sorts of bedlam onto the reels.
The game sheet might mention a dungeon, but the Skibblings’ home is actually a pretty cool place to live. We’re deep underground for this one, as sombre music accompanies images of stalactites, and ye olde houses balancing precariously on ledges. The vibe is sort of Evil Goblins xBomb or Goblin Heist Powernudge, and ELK Studios has commissioned its art people to create a visually appealing fantasy world that’ll no doubt have players rooting for the Skibblings to overcome the stomping, looting heroes.
A 5×4 matrix is the active play area, where there are 14 Skibbling lanterns between symbols, and 178 ways to win. A highly volatile math model can be found down here in the grotto, generating an RTP of 94% when betting $/€0.20 to $/€100 per spin, or when buying features from the X-iter.
The list of paying symbols is made up of lower value backpacks, blades, potion bottles and books, awarding 0.5x to 1.25x the bet for 5 OAK plus four character symbols worth 2.5x to 5x the bet for a 5 matching symbol combination. Wilds, in all forms, substitute any regularly paying symbol, and the avalanche mechanic removes and replaces winning symbols with a symbol drop to fill gaps to provide more chances to win.
Skibblings: Slot Features
While trying to figure out what a Skibbling is, take a look over the features, which include Skibbling Lanterns, Cannon Blasts, Skibbling Rain, Bonus Rain, Paladin and Wizard symbols, a bonus round, super bonus round, and X-iter bonus buys.
Skibbling Lanterns
When a winning combination passes through a lit Skibbling lantern, it is collected into the cannon. Depending on the Skibbling lantern colour, it awards a different number of Skibblings. Crossing a high, mid, or low value Skibbling cannon adds 10, 3, or 1 Skibbling to the cannon, respectively.
Cannon Blast
The Cannon Blast feature triggers when there are no more wins and the cannon holds 5 or more Skibblings. It begins with a respin that shoots all Skibblings from the cannon. A Skibbling can land on any position that does not contain a sticky symbol – wilds, Paladins, Wizards, and scatters. When a Skibbling lands, it transforms into a mystery symbol. If it lands on a mystery symbol, that symbol multiplier increases. When all Skibblings have landed, the reels stop. All mystery symbols reveal either matching symbols or wilds. The multiplier remains on the symbol when it is revealed. If this creates a win, the avalanche feature continues.
Skibbling King
The Skibbling King may trigger Skibbling Rain or Bonus Rain. The Skibbling Rain feature may trigger at the start of any spin or free spin, adding Skibblings to the game grid, which act as if they were shot onto the reels by the cannon. The Bonus Rain feature may trigger during any spin in the base game, adding 2-5 scatters/super scatters to the grid.
Paladin and Wizard Symbol
The Paladin symbol may land on any spin. It is wild and activates when part of a win, collecting all Skibblings from lit lanterns and adding them to the cannon. After the win is paid, the Paladin is removed along with any directly adjacent pay symbols, continuing the avalanche feature. The Wizard symbol may also land on any spin, is wild, and activates when part of a win. It lights all unlit Skibbling lanterns in any combination of the high, mid, or low value lanterns. After which, the wizard and all payout symbols explode from the grid.
Bonus Game
Hitting 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols triggers 5, 6, or 7 free spins, respectively. A combination of scatters and super scatters triggers the super bonus game, where every free spin starts with a Skibbling Rain. In the bonus game, all collected Skibblings in the cannon remain between spins, and landing a scatter awards +1 spin. The Cannon Blast feature is not triggered until there are no more winning combinations at the final free spin. After the Cannon Blast occurs, no more scatters can land on the grid.
X-iter Feature Buys
The X-iter is where players can activate various bonus modes. The Bonus Hunt costs 2.5x the bet to buy a spin with more than 4 times the chance of triggering a bonus game. At 5x, the Mega Bonus Hunt makes each spin more than 8 times more likely to do so. A King Spin costs 25x to guarantee a Skibbling Rain or Bonus Rain, and the super bonus is guaranteed if a bonus game is triggered. Otherwise, the regular bonus costs 100x to buy, while the super bonus can be bought for 250x.
Skibblings: Slot Verdict
With Skibblings, ELK Studios continues its knack for turning odd ideas into inviting slot worlds that fizz with imagination. This time, instead of adventurers raiding a monster’s lair and riding off with loot or a princess, players get to see things from the other side – that of the rebellious ‘monsters’ who finally get a chance to fight back. Though there isn’t much fighting really, it’s more an excuse to launch Skibblings at the gaming area. Perhaps their king isn’t so concerned for their welfare? Anyway, the narrative twist gives Skibblings personality, and the goblin-like characters, fun animations, and subterranean setting all come together to create a well-presented underworld uprising.
If you’ve sampled Print Studios slots such as Royal Potato, Skibblings lanterns have a definite SuperSpinners look about them. In practice, they function quite differently, though, where in Print Studios slots they work as multipliers, while here they’re lanterns that collect Skibblings to the cannon when wins pass through them. Both desirable events, even if they produce different outcomes. In Skibblings, it’s all about piling mystery symbols onto the reels, or better yet, piling them on top of each other to increase multipliers. At some core level, the gameplay is quite primitive, but slick production values increase the charm, as does the particular delivery method of getting mystery symbols on the grid.
Skibblings ended up being an entertaining slot that features a cast of new characters, a 10,000x win cap, and an interesting mystery symbol twist. Bonus rounds are interesting, too, in that they hold their most potent effect back until the end of the round, so if you like slots which ratchet up the tension, then stacking Skibblings in a cannon and blasting them on the very last spin is worth a look.
