You’d expect an epic historical slot in the well-known visual style of Elk Studios, but Ivanhoe is a three-reel fruit machine.

And Ivanhoe is a good one, too; it is one of CasinoWizard’s favourite Elk Studios slots. Ivanhoe features a progressive free spins game with five levels, it has 17 paylines, and the maximum possible win is 300,000 coins.

The game was released in mid-2017 and sparked a slew of hybrid online slots that combined mechanical reel slot setups with modern-day technology.

Introduction, including RTP and variance

This slot does things a bit differently than other three-reel fruit machines, as it has a whopping 17 paylines, which would be the equivalent of applying the 243 ways to win mechanics to a 3×3 board.

It will be a win if you get three symbols on adjacent reels.

The theoretical return to player (RTP) is 96.30%, which is plenty for this type of slot, and the variance seems to be medium.

Ivanhoe gameplay and paytable

The game has six main symbols, and the three low-paying ones are the Cherry, Lemon, and Watermelon. These don’t pay much and never amount to anything substantial.

The three main symbols produce all the wins you’ll care about; the BAR, Blue 777, and Red 777.

The paytable is, therefore, very unbalanced, and the best-paying symbol pays 37.5x better than the worst.

This increases the variance but offers the player a chance to win a decent amount of money, even in short playing sessions if he’s lucky enough.

Ivanhoe bonus features

Uncommon for fruit machines, Ivanhoe has a free spins game. When you land three Scatter symbols on your three reels, you’ll trigger the bonus game with 5 free spins. The Scatters are three symbols high, and you need to land at least 2 parts of 3 for it to count as a landed Scatter.

During the free spins game, every extra Scatter you land will give you +1 free spin.

The bonus game has levels, and you’ll progress through the game by winning coins.

The first level is the Ambush! which has a 2x win multiplier, and you’ll advance to the next level when you win 2,500 coins.

Then you’ll get +3 free spins for advancing a level and will play The Joust with a 3x multiplier, and you have to win a cumulative total of 8,000 coins.

Robin’s Rescue has a 4x multiplier, and you must win 20,000 coins to reach this level.

The Joust Part 2 has 5x, and an 81,000 coin requirement, and finally, Return of the King will give a 6x multiplier.

This bonus game is enjoyable to play and very rewarding. On every level, you’ll see animated sequences of what’s going on, and the multiplier will help you reach your target.

So will the Crown Wild symbol which appears only in the free spins game. Ivanhoe may be just a fruit machine, but this is one of the better bonus games overall and probably the best you can see in three-reel slots.

CasinoWizard’s verdict: 4 out of 5 stars

Ivanhoe is one of the better three-reel slots out there, and it beats the competition in its niche by offering a spectacular progressive free spins game with five levels. This is an excellent slot, and it may even be played by the average slot player, not just the three-reel slot fan.

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