Stormborn: Slot Overview
Students of Norse mythology, or avid online gamblers, will no doubt be aware of Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir. Forged by dwarves and possessing mighty powers, Mjolnir is not only a weapon of devastating proportions, but it is also able to bestow blessings. For some reason, the fabled hammer awaits a new wielder, or at least it does in Hacksaw Gaming‘s online slot Stormborn. As Marvel put it, ‘Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor‘, meaning not everyone will be able to even lift this mighty device. Not everyone will be able to walk away a champion in Stormborn either, but the game possesses no less than five bonus rounds to potentially find out.
Snow, snow, and lots of snow soak the background, so if you like cold, dark, dingy weather, Stormborn will be a real treat. It might be a harsh environment, yet such a place clearly forges strong warriors. One of them, presumably the God the game info speaks of, accompanies players through the game. Not sure who he is, but his bulging muscles and big hammer mean he’s not someone to mess around with. With hints of Rise of Ymir, Stormborn presents a merciless, unforgiving game world where the strong thrive and the weak get eaten.
Stormborn is a high-volatility slot set on a 5×4 grid with 14 fixed paylines, where wins are awarded left to right starting from the first reel. Players should be aware that four RTP versions exist, with the most favorable ranging between 96.27% and 96.32%, depending on the chosen bonus feature. Speaking of bonuses, there are four distinct options available through the feature buy menu, and bets range from 10c up to $/€100 per spin.
The game’s pay symbols are 10-A royals, mugs, horns, weapons, rams, and two character symbols. Royals pay 2x the bet for 5 OAK, the rest are worth 6x to 10x when landing a 5 OAK combination. Wilds help connect wins by substituting pay symbols, and they land on all reels. A wilds-only 5 OAK combination is worth 10x the stake.
Stormborn: Slot Features
Stormborn drops Thunder Respins in the base game and in three of its five bonus rounds, all but one of which may be bought from the feature buy section.
Thunder Respins
In the base game, landing at least 5 Coin symbols triggers Thunder Respins. Respins land only Coins, Collector Chests, or blanks. Coins and Chests stick until no new ones land, ending the feature. Coins reveal random cash prizes: Bronze (0.5x-4x), Silver (5x-20x), and Gold (25x-500x). Collector Chests gather all Coin values on screen, and if they have a multiplier, it boosts the total by up to x20.
Bonus Choice
Landing 3 or 4 scatters in the base game triggers the Bonus Choice menu. With 3 scatters, players may choose Stormbreaker or The Wild Storm. With 4 scatters, the options are Legacy of Lightning or Hammer of the Heavens.
Stormbreaker
This feature awards 3 free spins. Each free spin triggers a new Thunder Respin sequence, and a minimum of 2 Coins and 1 Collector Chest will land during each sequence.
The Wild Storm
Wild Storm awards 10 free spins where all wilds stick until the end. Wilds can carry multipliers up to x100, which apply to any win they’re part of – multipliers add together if multiple wilds are involved. Filling a reel with 4 wilds creates a sticky Wild God Reel, combining their values into one multiplier. Landing 2 or 3 scatters adds +2 or +4 extra spins.
Legacy of Lightning
This bonus keeps the mechanics of Stormbreaker, except at least 4 Coins and 1 Collector Chest will land during each Thunder Respins sequence. In addition, landing a Mjolnir symbol multiplies a random number of Coin symbols by x2 to x20.
Hammer of the Heavens
This feature keeps the mechanics of The Wild Storm, with the addition of Mjolnir symbols, which add a random multiplier of x2 to x20 to a random number of wilds or Wild God Reels at the end of the current free spin. When the free spin ends, all wilds revert to their original multiplier value for the next free spin. Landing 2 or 3 scatters adds +2 or +4 extra spins.
Blessings of the Bifrost – Hidden Epic Bonus
Hitting 5 scatters in the base game triggers 5 free spins in this hidden bonus round. It has the mechanics of Legacy of Lightning with the added benefit of landing at least 5 Coins, 1 Collector Chest, and 1 Mjolnir symbol per Thunder Respins sequence.
Feature Buys
Here, players can activate BonusHunt FeatureSpins for 3x the bet to make each spin 5 times more likely to trigger a bonus round, or Godly FeatureSpins for 50x to guarantee a Thunder Respin with at least 3 Coins and 1 Collector Chest at the start. Heir of Thunder costs 100x and lets players choose Stormbreaker or The Wild Storm, while 200x buys Mighty Mjolnir, where players can choose Legacy of Lightning or Hammer of the Heavens.
Stormborn: Slot Verdict
Stormborn is definitely not short of bonus rounds for completist gamblers to tick off one by one. What may make the job quicker is that there are only really two bonus templates that the others branch off of. Hopefully that didn’t kill the buzz, because while none of the features in Stormborn score massively on the originality scale, they’re all quite punchy, and they get better the further up the chain you can go. Thunder Respins are the gateway feature, available even in the base game. Aside from them, the main game hasn’t got a lot going for it. A limited number of winning lines with average symbol values and non-multiplier wilds can only go so far. One consolation for base game grinders is that Stormborn is one of these Hacksaw Gaming slots with a hidden bonus which can only be organically triggered, never bought.
Another thing is that the game’s 15,000x win cap is available in all game modes, which means Thunder Respins on their own can swing like the mighty Mjolnir. Head butting the win cap is no doubt more likely to happen in a bonus round, though. As already noted, none of the bonuses tear up the rule book to do things in a shocking new way, but all are solid performers. Coin collection is an ever-popular mechanic, as is some sticky wild action. What ups the ante in Stormborn is the Mjolnir symbol, which can add significant multiplier boosts, while the finishing touch is the heavy-duty warrior angle, rich in Norse sights and culture.
Hacksaw Gaming might well be critiqued for not imbuing Stormborn with more one-off features. That is definitely a valid point, but at the same time, what’s here performs well, there’s a bit of variety and for a slot which has both dependable coin collection and sticky multiplier wild action all in one place, it’s a well-made option.
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