The latest gem from Elk Studios is now available to play. Step back into the Middle Ages and join the future King Edward I of England, our brave Crusader. While he and his knights seek to defend the City of Acre against the Mamluks, you can spin those reels to capture some treasure. Like Poltava: Flames of War, which is also based on an historic battle, the graphics are less cartoonish than Elk’s trademark style. Nevertheless, once again Elk have produced a slot that’s a visual feast for the eyes.
Crusader – gameplay
With the besieged Castle of Acre and a fiery sky as the backdrop, you have a fight on your hands. The base game consists of a 5 reel, 4-row layout with 26 paylines. Available to play from as little as 10p a spin up to £100 a spin, this is a slot for players of all budgets. To win the war you’ll need a strategy. This being an Elk slot, you can try out their trademark Betting Strategy feature. Choose between Jumper, Optimizer, Booster and Leveller, or create your own.
Crusader – symbols
As usual Elk Studios pay great attention to detail and apart from the low-paying A, Q and K symbols, everything else is beautifully linked to the medieval theme. There are three different shields, a broad sword and a bible. The highest paying symbol is a bejewelled goblet – the fabled Holy Grail perhaps. The wild is a red cross on a gold background. However, there is also our brave Crusader who appears as a stacked symbol that will cover all four rows and is important for the Crusader Wild feature.
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Crusader – bonus wild features
The Crusader Wild only appears on reels 1 and 5. If you land a Crusader Wild on either reel and it only partially fills that reel, it will nudge up one row at a time. The other reels will respin while the nudges continue until he fills the reel. However, landing two stacked Crusaders, one on each of reels 1 and 5 will trigger the Crusader Wild feature and reward you with 8 free spins. Our brave Crusaders remain sticky during these spins.
Crusader – expansion casino game
Once our two Crusaders are fully filling reels 1 and 5 and have triggered the free spins, there’s yet another bonus in store. An expansion symbol – an upward-pointing arrow – now appears on reels 2, 3 or 4. This is where the real fight for the castle and its treasures begins. This arrow sees all 5 reels expand one row at a time, triggering an additional free spin each time. The reels expand up to a maximum of 12 rows. Each new row adds more paylines up to a total of 98 which gives you a nice edge against the casino. The edge is definitely something that should be taken under consideration when choosing which game you should try in India according to this guide about casino games.
Final thoughts
We’re always excited to see a new game release from Elk Studios. As you’d expect, Crusader has beautiful graphics and some entertaining and enjoyable unique features. It’s a medium to high variance slot with an RTP of 96.1%. In the base game, you can expect a flow of small to medium wins. In the bonus game, that expansion symbol lands frequently enough to keep the adrenaline flowing. The maximum win is a pretty decent 2500x your stake. Overall, we think Crusader will be an entertaining addition to the ELK Studios stable.
