Excalibur Slot

“Excalibur” is the sword of King Arthur, the legendary defender of Britain in the 5^th and 6^th centuries against Saxon invaders. The legend of Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table has inspired countless tales and folklore stories, and now the Excalibur Slot by NetEnt.

This slot is an older NetEnt release and so does not come with the 3D frills of more recent NetEnt creations (such as Gonzo’s Quest in our Adventure Slots section). Nevertheless, it’s a well-constructed, colorful game with medieval and magical themes, featuring famous characters from Arthurian legends. Excalibur comes with two wild symbols and a free spins bonus triggered by the scatter; yet without an interactive bonus round, we think it might struggle to keep players interested for long unless they’re playing for real money.

Symbols

Excalibur’s special symbols — the wilds and scatters — display some modest animations, mainly of the pulsating variety, when triggered in payline. Other than that, the reels feature characters from the legends of King Arthur and high value playing cards from 10 to Ace in the form of shields bearing a crest. The characters are as follows:

• Merlin the Wizard
• Morgana the Witch
• The Lady of the Lake
• King Arthur
• Lancelot and Guinevere
• A Black Knight

The symbol you most want to see coming up on the reels is King Arthur. If you’re playing for real money, he pays out 750 coins for 5 symbols. All the character symbols pay out a jackpot for more than 3 symbols on a payline (anywhere between 10 coins and the maximum of 750). The playing cards pay up to 150 coins (for 5 Aces). The 10 Card pays 2 coins for 2 symbols.

This game’s special symbols are:

• WILD – the sword Excalibur embedded in the rock
• GOLDEN WILD – a golden version of the sword Excalibur
• SCATTER – the Holy Grail: a magical, golden goblet filled with wine

Wagers and Jackpots

Excalibur is a 5-reel, 20-payline slot. There are four “Bet Levels” – NetEnt’s version of bets per line. This means that you can bet up to four coins per line (on up to 80 lines maximum). Coin bets are modest in range, from 0.01 to 1.00 in whichever currency you play in for real money. The maximum potential jackpot on this game is 120,000 coins. Hit the Bet Max button if you want to go all in.

Other ways to win

Excalibur is not a progressive jackpot game but there are ways to boost your winnings.

• WILD – when you hit a winning payline with a WILD substituting for another symbol, a x2 multiplier is applied to your prize. The wild cannot substitute for the scatter.
• GOLDEN WILD – this appears on the third reel only. If it completes a winning payline for you (by substituting any other symbol) your winnings will be quadrupled.
• SCATTER – If you land more than three scatter symbols on a spin, you’ll win free spins (10 free spins for 3 scatters, 20 free spins for 4 scatters, and 30 free spins for 5 scatters). Your winnings from these free spins come with a x3 multiplier.

Music, audio and graphics

Although Excalibur is not NetEnt’s most stunning slot creation in terms of graphics and animations, its symbols are detailed and in keeping with the theme. Medieval flute music plays in the background, and you’ll also hear the sound of horses whinnying and stamping their hooves. A cheery fanfare of trumpets plays when you win too. All in all it NetEnt have managed to create the atmosphere of a medieval court.

The Last Word

Excalibur is most likely to appeal to players who are already fans of the King Arthur stories. Players who are betting for real will enjoy the game for longer than those playing for fun. Seven out of ten.