Katmandu Gold slot review (Elk Studios)
Our adventurer is on his way to the Himalayas after his successful missions in the Rocky Mountains, Ecuador, Tahiti and the Louisiana swamps. Now he’s in Katmandu, the Nepal capital, at the foot of the impressive Himalayan Mountains. Yes, it’s adventurous and, above all, breathtaking!
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Attention, please! Elk Studios sends Kane on a mission to the Himalayas
Our hero, Kane, replaced his cowboy suit for winter clothes because up in the Himalayan mountains, it is, of course, much more extreme.
And this slot (the 5th Gold version) is also more extreme in other aspects.
Katmandu Gold: for starters, the max win is 10,000x the bet
To put in perspective, that’s twice as high as the other Gold slots (including the Black River Gold slot).
As of mid-2020, Elk Studios has decided to double the maximum win from 5,000x to 10,000x.
SLOT: KATMANDU GOLD | SOFTWARE: ELK STUDIOS
Number of paylines: 6 reels with 4 up to 9 rows, 4.096 up to 531.441 ways to win (win all ways)
RTP and variance: 96,2% (main game) – 96,4% (Buy Bonus), Medium to High variance
Maximum win: 10,000 x the bet, or $€1.0 million
Betting range: $€0.20 – $€100
Bonus features: Free spins, Bonus Buy Feature
Casino Hipster verdict: HOT! Adventurous, stunning animations and excellent gameplay
Katmandu Gold slot – Gameplay and Features
Katmandu Gold starts with 6 reels with 4 rows each and has 4,096 ways to win according to the win all ways mechanic.
Again you’ll see the Avalanche (cascading) mechanic, where you get a free respin after a win. Winning symbols disappear and make way for new symbols.
After each win, an additional row of symbols is added, getting you more ways to win. If you win 5 consecutive times, you can end up with 9 rows of symbols. It gets you a staggering 531,441 ways to win (calculated as 9x9x9x9x9x9=531,441).
The high-paying symbols are Kane, a golden dragon, a golden lion and a golden reptile. The medium-paying symbols are four emblems, and the low-paying symbols are J, Q, K and A.
The Wild symbols are gold-coloured, as well as the Bonus symbols.
Mini Features: Expanding win, Big symbols and Ice Climber
The slot has three features, making the main game pretty enjoyable to play:
- Expanding win: allows you to land reels with identical symbols.
- Big Symbols: as with Black River Gold, you occasionally spin symbols of 2×2, 3×3 or even 4×4 in size. Very lucrative with win-all-ways!
- Ice Climber: if you climb up the mountain, you’ll encounter two or more ice symbols, which upgrade lower-paying into higher-paying symbols and possibly even Wild symbols.
Free spins – Also, Elk Studios has introduced the Buy Bonus feature
If you manage to spin 3, 4, 5 or 6 scatters, you activate 10, 15, 20 or 25 free spins (Elk Studios calls these the “Free Drops”). You’ll get the Standard Bonus or (if you’re fortunate) the Super Bonus.
It is also possible to buy these with the Buy Bonus Feature.
- The Standard Bonus costs 100x the original bet.
- The Super Bonus is worth 500x the original stake.
Below, I’ll explain the differences between the Standard Bonus and the Super Bonus.
Free spins – ascending multipliers
The main advantage (compared to the main game) is that you get a total multiplier. It increases by +1 once you spin a Bonus symbol. The multiplier is applied to all wins for the remaining free spins.
If you have won (or bought) the Super Bonus instead of the Standard Bonus, you start with a total multiplier of no less than 10x.
Yes, that helps and explains why it costs 500x to buy these.
Payout percentage (RTP)
The payout percentage of Katmandu Gold is 96.2%. The RTP is 96.3% if you buy the Standard Bonus free spins with the Buy Bonus Feature. If you buy the Super Bonus instead, the RTP is 96.4%.
The variance (volatility) of Katmandu Gold is high
Elk Studios gives a score of 7 out of 10 for the variance. And that is surprising, as it implies that the variance is medium to high (and the 4 other Gold slots have a high variance).
It’s not what I expected, as the maximum win is doubled (from 5,000x to 10,000x).
It must imply that either most of the top wins will be around 1,000x or that the odds of landing the Super Bonus are minimal (unless you buy these, of course).
So, who’ll like the slot? And who won’t?
Players who like adventurous slots will have a great time. Graphically it looks perfect, and the gameplay offers more than enough depth. The downside? You need a bankroll!
