Shields of the Wild - Review, Demo Play, Payout, Free Spins & Bonuses

Introduction

If you are looking for a good old medieval-themed online slot, quit now, as this atmospheric game delivers plenty of medieval thrills, spills, and bonus opportunities.

The key symbols used are shields, important gear to medieval armies, as well as swords, which act as the wild, scatter and upgrade icons.

Are you ready to do battle for king and country alongside some seriously brave knights? Let's see!

Theme & Graphics

Shields of the Wild opens to a fitting backdrop of mountains, grasslands, and a lone tree, watched over by two noble warriors armed with fine swords. Perhaps this is the scene of a recent battle, being checked out by the king and his knight?

Regardless, players get a glimpse into medieval life and combat, a time where brave armies went into battle to protect their kingdom, and perhaps make their fortune along the way.

The symbols are designed from a limited, mostly drudgy colour palette; some are made from plain wood, while others feature an animal head design.

Shields of the Wild RTP & Volatility

Playing slots in demo mode is fun, but it’s still nice to try to win a good number of coins. This game, a good example of NextGen slots, has an attractive Return to Player percentage of 96.53, with a medium to high volatility status.

How to Play Shields of the Wild

Part 1

a)    Get familiar with the slot

Many online slots follow a fairly limited template design, with the control panel across the bottom of the screen/reels. Shields of the Wild looks a bit different displaying only the current balance, total amount wagered, and the sound toggle in the traditional space.

b)    Set up the slot to suit you

Here you decide on bet sizes, if you want sounds, and if you plan on playing in manual or auto mode.

These key controls, (including +/- to adjust bet size, the autoplay button, & the menu), sit halfway down on the right side of the screen, around the spin symbol. Information on rules, settings, and so on can be found via the menu.

c)    Check things over

Before play, just do a quick check. It’s always good to set limits on the time and coins you devote to online slots, to ensure that all play is for fun first and foremost.

Bet Sizes & Paytable Wins

Online slots with a decent bet range are always attractive, so players can enjoy the 13 options on offer from Shields of the Wild. From a cautious 0.10/0.30/0.50/, through to the higher end wagers of 40/50/100, there is a place on the scale to suit everyone.

Max-win 2,500x

Volatility Medium

Top RTP 96.53%

Paytable Data

Seasoned players know that when it comes to payout numbers, they can be low but frequent. This is the case with Shields of the Wild, where the puny rewards for many symbol matches could easily mean this fun slot is overlooked.

Let’s look at payouts (measured in coins), which apply when matches of 3-5 identical symbols on the reels trigger a win.

-    The Wild. The highest paying icon, easily identified as the image consists of the slot title written on an oblong card.

o    5x - 250
o    4x - 100
o    3x - 30

-    The shields. There are 8 in total, none of which have any particularly noteworthy characteristics to share, except for their lower than typical values. These also pay for three, four, or five matches on the reels, with some examples below.

o    The red shield = 5x - 250, 4x - 50, 3x - 25
o    The 7 others = (5x) 20-75, (4x) 8 - 40, (3x) 5 - 20

Unlike most online slots, this game does not have any specific groupings of higher and lower value icons.

Shields of the Wild Bonus Features & Free Spins

There are two major ways to snag extra coins and other goodies in this game - one involves upgrades and the other the always attractive free spins. Let’s look at the key points of these bonuses, and how players can snag them.

Shield Wall feature

-    This is triggered at random points during the main game.
-    It involves arrows being fired at the reels, followed by a series of icon upgrades.
-    Upgrades to the next best paying icon can continue up to 8 times.
-    Wilds and scatters do not upgrade or drop from the reels during this feature.
-    The total winnings are paid at the end of the feature.

Marching Stacks Free Games feature

o    3 - 5 scatters (in any position) are needed to trigger this special feature.
o    These special stacks always start from reel 5 before marching across the reels.
o    Icon values are based on how many scatters were won.
 
-    3 scatters = 5 icons from those with the lowest values
-    4 scatters = 5 taken from the middling range.
-    5 scatters = 5 from the best paying icons.

o    This bonus feature runs until all 5 reels feature the special stacks.
o    Free spins can be triggered again at the end of each full bonus game, which offers the potential for serious coin wins.
o    Players will always finish with at least 20x the wager made when they play this feature.

Our Verdict

The bold title ‘Shields of the Wild’ conjures up expectations of conflict, strong characters and adventure through a game with a compelling storyline, so first impressions may deceive. However, the pleasant surprise was discovering there is more to this game than there first seems, especially with the bonus features.

Shields of the Wild may not have the instant visual impact of, say, Barbarian Fury demo slot, but what it lacks in looks, it makes up for in content.

Disclaimer: Shields of the Wild trademark / license is owned by Next Gen. This site is not endorsed by Next Gen.