Quick history lesson: Poltava is the battle where Peter the Great defeats the great Swedish army. If you appreciate the great ups and downs of war (and gambling), you’ll love Poltava. This new slot by Elk Studios is designed for those with greater risk appetites.
There are also many wonderful elements of war and battle baked into the game. For instance, the Marching Reels feature has troops moving from reel to reel while building up massive winline combinations. The extra spins get all fiery and intimidating!
Game Basics
Poltava is built with five reels and 40 (fixed) paylines. The game accepts wagers between 20p to £100 each. Do note that high-risk slots are not limited to high-rollers only. Even if you have a smaller gaming budget, you can still have yourself wonderful adrenaline rushes and gripping gaming experience.
As I mentioned in the introduction, Poltava is a highly volatile slot. You’ll find fewer but higher wins. In contrast, low volatility slots are designed to pay out frequently, but with smaller wins. The high volatility of Poltava is almost like a reference to war itself. Times can get hard, and you begin to question how much longer you can play without bleeding out.
You hang on for as long as you can because you know that great fortunes are around the corner. Victory, when it comes, is twice as sweet. You’ve survived the chaos and outlasted the house. On average, the game has a payout percentage of 96.4%. So, even if times get rough (i.e. very little wins), remember that the game is fair and you’ll win what you deserve.
Seven symbols can make up winning paylines in Poltava. The three high value ones are the mighty battle horse, the cannon and the brave soldier. These guys offer up to 200x your wager. Then, there’s the usual array of royal card symbols (10, J, Q, K and A) that payout between 25-100x your wager. The Poltava logo acts as the game’s Wild symbol, replacing all other symbols to create winning paylines.
Bonus Features
Another reference to the army here! In the Marching Reels Re-spin feature, the game’s symbols go into army formation. The feature is triggered when you get an entire stack of cavalry, artillery or infantry symbols on reel three. This is considered a full combat arm.
Almost instantly, more of the same symbols enter from the left and join the formation. Of course, more symbols means higher chances of wins, even bigger wins at that. Over the course of few re-spins, these troops move across the screens and build up in size. A battle army symbol could cover a full reel. Your chances of winning increase dramatically.
Secondly, there’s the Flames of War extra spins, which is triggered by three Lion bonus symbols. You get one extra spin for every Bonus Lion symbol that you gathered on screen. The lion symbols that triggered the game are immediately transformed into special Wild symbols and held in place for the duration of the extra spins. Together, they create a fiery wall of flames. All the easier to get four- and five-of-a-kind wins!
How Does The Game Perform?
Poltava is Elk Studios’ most dramatic slot yet! The symbols are bold and masculine, a far cry from their light-hearted slots like Taco Brothers and Wild Toro. Yet, under the hood, Elk Studios maintains its laser focus on the mobile platform compatibility. It throws wind to the typical mobile design constraints – small screens, varying technical performance, limitations to battery life – and created a game that can be enjoyed on the go.
The Feature That You Should Look Out For
Elk Studios’ slots have a unique feature built into them called Betting Strategies. Basically, the gaming studio helps players earn as much as they can. There are four pre-defined settings to choose from:
- Optimizer – You bet a certain percentage of your balance; choose between 1%, 2%, 5% or 10%. The absolute bet amount changes automatically each round, so you wager more when you can and scale back when your bankroll is in trouble.
- Jumper – Bet is raised by one level after every winning round, so that you reinvest your winnings and maximize your chances when you can
- Leveller – Bet is raised by 2 levels after every consecutive loss, so that you recover all of your losses when you win and maintain a steady bank balance.
- Booster – Bet is raised by one level after a loss, so that you recover your losses immediately in the next spin.
If you activate a betting strategy, the game automatically adjusts your bet levels so that you don’t have to. Much more helpful than AutoSpin! Anyway, you don’t have to adopt any betting strategies if you choose not to.
And Finally…
The Poltava slot game is as volatile as it is dramatic. The graphics and animations are fiery, but the slot gaming engine even more so. Those big wins come on really hard and deliver a proper thrill to the senses. I usually consider myself a fairly safe slot player. Yet, Poltava made me question my preferences.
The 20 minutes I spent playing Poltava offered a refreshing, reinvigorating gaming experience that I enjoyed thoroughly. I highly recommend Poltava to anyone who’d dare try this slot.
