Play Riders of the Storm for Free in Demo Mode by Thunderkick

Riders of the Storm review

Theme and Storyline

Riders of the Storm is set in a world of steampunk aviators piloting their airships through storm clouds.

They are armed with harpoons and equipped with anchors, hooks and ship’s wheels according to the charming reel artwork. Though the main tone and atmosphere comes from the billowing wine-dark clouds that roll in the background as windswept rain lashes the reels.

It’s a cool theme for a slot and one that stands out as something with potential for interesting designs.

Graphics, Sounds and Animations

Unfortunately, the possibilities offered by the world of steampunk designs are in rather short supply in Riders of the Storm. The reels have three characters on them, each of which is well drawn, but the remaining symbols are simple pictures of a boathook, a wheel, and an anchor and a compass. There is not even an image of the airship that is hinted at in the opening artwork.

The soundtrack, on the other hand, is excellent. A real mid-century movie score of a piece with plenty of rain sounds mixed in.

The win and spin sounds are well chosen, feel thematic, and gel well with the neat – if very basic – animations.

Gameplay

Riders of the Storm is a five reel slot. It uses an any way wins system where wins are made by sequences of symbols running left to right anywhere on adjacent reels starting with reel one.

There are three rows, which makes the win system 243 ways.

To spice things up, there is a choice of three bonus games, should the player trigger the bonus. There is also a fourth option that will randomise the bonus game.

Wilds, Bonuses and Free Spins

The Wild symbol substitutes for all symbols except the Scatter symbol and come with either a two, three, or five times multiplier.

During the base game, if the Mystery Wild Reels is triggered, between one and four reels will be made into all Wilds. This happens at random in the base game only but can result in some pretty tasty wins when it does.

Three or more Scatters trigger the Bonus Game. This starts with the player choosing from four different free spin games. A low volatility option with a multiplier of x2 and 15 free spins, a medium option with 10 spins and a x3 multiplier, and the version that fits best with our preferred slots strategies – the high volatility option with just 6 spins but a multiplier of x5.

During the free spins, Wild symbols become walking Wilds, staying on the reels and moving to the left. Hitting three or more Scatters will retrigger the free spins with a randomised number of spins.

Bet Sizes, RTP and Variance

The return to player of this game is 96.14% (96.15% if the player opts for the medium volatility version), very close to our yardstick for average of roughly 96%.

The range of bets on the site we tested ran from a minimum bet per spin of $/£/€0.10 up to a maximum of $/£/€100.00 per spin.

The volatility of this game is determined largely by the players choice of bonus. The best version for our preferred slot machine strategies is for the player to choose the highest possible volatility.

Conclusion

Although the theme of Riders of the Storm is a little underdeveloped in this Thunderkick's game, the slot itself is a solid piece of machinery which works well and looks pretty good.

The soundtrack is excellent and the RTP is decent. The high volatility bonus works well with our slot strategies and the mystery wheels add some ongoing excitement.

We would strongly recommend this slot.