Dark King Forbidden Riches Slot Review, Demo Play, Payout, Free Spins & Bonuses

Dark King Forbidden Riches Review

Knights, swords, spells, and magical creatures are the things we love so much about the fantasy genre. In the brand new slot by NetEnt, you'll find all those and even more. Not to say that fantasy-themed slots are novelty within the gambling industry, though, the developers have gone a little further with their Dark King: Forbidden riches game, adding not only common elements of the notorious genre but also 'seasoning' it with impressive details, making it more like the Dark Souls series in terms of the visual style and overall atmosphere.

NetEnt comes up with their own vision of how a true fantasy-styled slot must look and be played. Aside from the impressive looks, Dark King can offer you a bunch of exciting features to enliven the gameplay, though, it comes with a bit quirky math model, to be honest. Nevertheless, the slot is definitely promising and the end result surely gonna make some waves among slot enthusiasts and casino hounds, so let's find out whether this title is yet another banger from the provider with the big name or is it just a remarkable look that will be the main reason why players will feel drawn to spin the reels on it.

Dark King: Forbidden Riches - Design and Symbols

As alluded to earlier, it really looks like NetEnt decided to produce a Dark Souls look-alike slot, and those who have ever tried the above-mentioned gaming masterpiece know what we mean. The first thing that catches the eye when loading the game is the gloomy atmosphere with a slightly eerie factor. The actions take place in the Dark King's lair, and NetEnt has obviously used the Gothic style as a source of inspiration and the main vector while developing this one. The reels are set in the midst of a dark chamber where men skulls make up the backdrop. The scenery is really grim and at the same time immersive providing that fans of the genre will definitely love it. Dark King himself stands to the left of the reels, attired in heavy dark plate armor with the blue eye glowing amply through the helmet. He casts his spells when the extras come into play, so whenever he put his sword down to raise the arms, you're in luck.

Dark King: Forbidden Riches Reel Screen

The general look is complemented by the epic orchestral music that plays whilst you spin the reels. It fits the scene perfectly as it captures the essential gloomy vibe and adds a final touch to the gameplay.

It picks up the tempo though when you hit bonus features, and paired with the top-notch quality sound effects contribute to creating a truly immersive atmosphere. 

The paytable also offers a bunch of impressive-looking symbols. As the title implies, Dark King is a top star here, followed 4 his subjects, all looking like epic bosses from the Dark Souls game series. Thanks to the meticulous NetEnt's approach to the design, the pay symbols look fantastic as they're all depicted in detail and correspond to the theme perfectly. Even the low-paying ones come with a dash of personality, represented by a common pack of 10-A royals, though enhanced with the fantasy-inspired font to give them some originality. A glowing blue orb is a Wild symbol, which substitutes any other regular symbols and at the same time has the same value as the top-paying Dark King on top of everything, so keep an eye for these specials.

You'll require at least 3 symbols on a single line to score a win, while 5-of-a-kind combos will award much worthier payouts. Thus, the low pays award from 2.5x to 5x of the bet prizes for matching 5 instances of the same symbol on a payline, while the premiums are worth from 12.5x to 25x times the stake. 

Dark King: Forbidden Riches - Technical Info

When it comes to the technical aspects of NetEnt's brainchild, it impresses and frustrates at the same time. As already mentioned above, the math model is a bit quirky indeed, and you'll know why in short. The game is played across a common 5x3 sized layout with 20 ways to play.

It's powered by a medium to high volatility, so don't expect to be showered, and better keep that in mind while adjusting your bets to survive in the long run since you won't have a lot of those smaller wins to keep you afloat. NetEnt is helping though with a solid RTP of 96.06%, which is slightly above the average level within the industry. 

True to NetEnt's style, the betting range is rather wide. To challenge the Dark King you'll have to equip at least 0.2$ per spin, while the highest bet option reaches 400$ per spin. The betting range would certainly appeal to both high-rollers and casual less risky players, who will undoubtedly find their preferred wagers. Speaking about high-rollers, all of them can hope for a whopping win of 800,000$ on a single spin when playing with the max bet option, of course. However, you won't benefit too much here when dropping into the action with lower stakes since the payout potential is actually poor.

The maximum payout doesn't exceed 2,000x of the bet, which is way lower than you would like a medium-high volatile game to have, thus, betting big might not be actually worth the risk.

Dark King: Forbidden Riches - Bonus Features

It terms of the bonus features the game looks less impressive than when speaking of the visuals. Those looking for dozens of features as well as any innovations to the gameplay may not find anything here to get super fired. The Wilds play the central role in the NetEnt's dark fantasy slot. They do not only act as common Wild symbols, assisting you in making winning combinations or enhancing already existing ones, but are also the key to boosting the potential to lead you to big wins.

Whenever 2 or more Wilds land onto the reels during both the base and the bonus games, the Multiplier comes into play. The number of Wilds on the screen corresponds to the Multiplier value, thus the more Wilds you manage to land, the higher will be the Multiplier. It's capped at 5x, though, so landing 5 Wilds will be the most you can get.

Should at least 3 precious red gem Scatters appear, the Free Spins feature will be activated. They can land anywhere onto the grid, and 3, 4, and 5 Scatters award 10, 12, and 15 Free Spins to start respectively.

As soon as you proceed to the bonus game, a hotspot cross-shaped zone will be added to the middle of the reels, something alike the Crime Zones in Cash Noire.

Any Wilds landing into the hotspot zone become Sticky for the duration of the feature plus add 1 additional Free Spin. However, the maximum Multiplier value remains the same so you won't be able to get more than 5x.

Dark King: Forbidden Riches - Verdict

NetEnt has done a great job of developing this title. In terms of the visual style for sure. It's dark, grim, with immersive atmosphere and stunning sound effects. We have to pay tribute to the design team who managed to bring outstanding visuals to their creation as well as complement the gameplay with the sounds of exceptional quality. Unfortunately, the visual styling will be the main reason why players will be attracted to give it a try since the math model and the feature set leave much to be desired honestly.

The gameplay is rather basic and obviously not what you would expect NetEnt to come up with. Not to say that 2,000 times the stake is a meager amount to hit, though, we've seen a lot higher payouts so far, and when taking into consideration the volatility level it leaves anything but a disappointment. Moreover, the base game may feel like boredom at times since you'll have to manifest a great level of patience waiting for the features to pop up. Even when you eventually land a couple of Wilds on the same spin it won't guarantee you hitting a massive jackpot for sure. The only way to getting anywhere near the maximum potential is triggering the Free Spins feature, though, it might be quite a challenging task.

All said and done, Dark King: Forbidden Riches seem to have more downsides than advantages. With the visuals being all right and even more, while the features paired with the math model result in a so-so overall impression, to be honest. Anyway, it's still entertaining and even though it won't win everyone's heart, the fans of the genre will supposedly give it a couple of spins and some may even love it after all.