In March, Microgaming launches Crowned Eagle as the newest addition to its popular Untamed series.
Microgaming Untamed
Untamed by Microgaming is a series of online slot machines that focus on a specific wild animal and feature photorealistic graphics and authentic sounds. The series currently consists of Untamed — Bengal Tiger, Untamed — Giant Panda and Untamed — Wolf Pack. These machines all use Microgaming’s highly popular 243-way format, which essentially has 234 active bet lines each spin.
243 Ways
With basic video slots, players opt for the number of active pay lines by choosing the number of coins in play. That format can lead to unnecessary complexity, so land-based casinos began tinkering with the idea of providing players with a bunch of lines, or ways to win, that were automatically active, and they offset that advantage with a built-in bet multiplier. When the format became successful, Microgaming followed suit and opted for a 30 bet multiplier, which means that if a player chooses a one-cent coin, then the total wager per spin will be $0.30.
Crowned Eagle
The Untamed slot machines aren’t the same. Although they do all follow that 243-way format, they also each bring a unique configuration to the table. In the case of Crowned Eagle, the available features are Collect-a-Wild, Lucky Nudge, Your Gamble and Soaring Wilds, which Microgaming developed from scratch specifically for this machine.
Collect-a-Wild, Lucky Nudge and Your Gamble all appear on other Microgaming machines. Your Gamble is like the gamble feature on most slot machines; after a win, the machine offers a 50-50 chance to enhance the winnings. Your Gamble differentiates itself by giving the player 20 opportunities and no upper limit. Lucky Nudge is similar to the classic nudge feature, and Collect-a-Wild is an on-the-reels bonus game that can pay out more than 1.8 million credits.
Soaring Wilds
In Untamed — Crowned Eagle, free spins are awarded by getting three scatter symbols anywhere on the reels. During free spins, the soaring wild is active, and it randomly soars across the screen turning one or more symbols wild. The Soaring Wild can turn multiple ways into winners, and since each soared wild has a built-in win multiplier, the jackpot potential is even higher than on a standard spin.