The Towering Pays engine developed by Yggdrasil partner GamesLab has yet to gain major traction and reach the mainstream, and this dynamic reels experience has a long way to go if dethroning the Megaways engine is their goal. Towering Pays Excalibur, on the other hand, does not appear to be a viable breakout game. 

Towering Pays Excalibur

The graphic presentation is less striking than in the preceding Towering Pays Valhalla, and despite the addition of new elements, this medieval Arthurian endeavor comes out as overly complicated, incongruent, and clunky. You get a slew of features, at the very least, if that’s your thing, and it’ll take some time to process everything.

The premium animal and character symbols pay between 1 and 6 times your stake for five of a kind wins, while the King Arthur Wild substitutes for all other pay symbols to assist in completing winning combinations. The wild symbol appears on all five reels and pays ten times your wager when five occur on a payline. You can activate the Quest Bet, which costs slightly more per spin but includes an additional Hold & Spin function. The Excalibur Magic feature is triggered whenever the stacked Excalibur symbol appears on reels 1, 2, or 3 in the base game, fully or partially visible. It’s essentially a mystery symbol feature, since each Excalibur Sword that lands transforms into a random pay symbol.

The Excalibur Swords can appear on any reel during the Camelot feature, including all five reels when the 5×8 grid is maxed out.

The Stage Play function is triggered if the Excalibur Sword appears in at least one place on each reel. Each time, this adds +1 row, which equals +10 win ways, until the grid reaches a maximum of 8 rows and 65 win ways. The grid remains extended at the same bet level throughout, and it resets only when the Avalon feature concludes.

At random periods, the Prize Multiplier may be applied to winning lines, and the magnitude of the possible multiplier varies according to the grid size. The multiplier increases with the number of additional rows added, and it ranges from x2 to x10. The Avalon Feature is triggered during base game play when the Excalibur sword appears in at least one place on reels 1, 2, and 4 on the fully loaded 5×8 grid.

Three Feature Wheel symbols on reels 1, 3, and 5 activate the Feature Wheel, where you can win one of four bonus rounds, free spins, the Hold & Spin feature, or Wheel Upgrades, which increases your chances of landing the more lucrative features. All Bonus Rounds provide six free spins, and you begin on a 5×3 grid that has been reset. Each time the Excalibur appears in at least one spot on all available reels, you receive an additional spin.

The Lancelot feature includes more frequent reward multipliers, and the Merlin function includes a guaranteed prize multiplier with each win. The Excalibur symbol may also appear on reel 4 during the Arthur bonus round, and you may also benefit from the reward multiplier more frequently than in the base game. The top-tier Camelot bonus round has the potential to award the Excalibur sword across all five reels, but only if the grid is fully loaded. Additionally, you receive more frequent, but not guaranteed, reward multipliers with each win.

The Win Spin feature has guaranteed Excalibur swords that cover reels 1, 2, and 3, allowing for the spinning of only reels 4 and 5. While the grid does not increase during the win spin feature, each spin is assured to result in a win. When the Quest Bet is engaged, the Excalibur mystery symbol occasionally reveals shield symbols, and the Hold & Spin function is triggered when at least six shield symbols are shown. Each additional shield over 6 widens the grid by one row, up to a maximum of eight. You receive three respins while the triggering shields are locked in place, and any new sticky shields reset the respins counter. Each shield contains a random prize, and completing the grid earns a 1,000x multiplier. Also, you can win the Feature Wheel by collecting shields.

Quotes from the Press Release

“Towering Pays Excalibur is another exciting addition to our portfolio, brimming with modifiers, stages, and features that will appeal to gamers of all tastes,” said Stuart McCarthy, Yggdrasil’s head of product and programming.

“In this really epic mission, players will wield the legendary sword Excalibur as they journey through the regions of Arthurian legend in search of large prizes.”

David Johnson, CEO at ReelPlay, added: “Our collaboration with Games Labs has seen us produce some fantastic games and Towering Pays Excalibur is no exception. The entertaining, immersive, and feature-rich game takes players on a memorable adventure.”