Shadow Summoner Elementals

Shadow Summoner Elementals: Slot Overview

Summoning powerful entities from other realms here to do your bidding. Dunno, it often seems to go pear-shaped in the long run. The being ostensibly has more power than the summoner, and it sooner or later manages to throw off the shackles of the spell to wreak havoc. A bit like Disney's 'Fantasia' when Mickey Mouse enchants a broom to carry buckets of water to fill a cauldron, which becomes unstoppable. Another unstoppable phenomenon is the march of the scatter-paying slots, and here's one more from software provider Fantasma Games titled Shadow Summoner Elementals.

As usual for a Fantasma slot, Shadow Summoner Elementals comes with richly drawn artwork, though it is rather darkly lit a lot of the time. In it, a lady named Isabelle, holding a glowing book, is placed beside the reels as are various meters to track players' progress. The dominant colour scheme changes depending on the Elemental Meter progress, brightening up for the free spins round before returning to the dark once the round is complete. The quality of the artwork is such that Shadow Summoner Elementals has an appearance which is pleasing to the eye. Maybe both.

Sitting between meters and summoner is a 6-reel, 5-row gaming grid creating winning combinations via a scatter-paying mechanism. When 8 or more matching pay symbols sit in view on the reels, a winning combination is formed, no matter where the symbols land. On the inside resides a medium volatile math model, landing wins at a frequency of 26.94% while generating a theoretical average RTP of 96.31%, though return values vary depending on the current progress level. The return value also changes to 96.42% when using the Scatter Boost Bet Mode. When switching to this mode, the stake increases by 1.5x, causing the frequency of triggering free spins to increase by a factor of 3.01. It can only be activated once reaching level 4, while base bets range from 10 c to ￡/€120.

Shadow Summoner Elementals has 4 low pay symbols and 4 high pay symbols linked by colour. The lows are diamonds, clubs, spades, and hearts, then 4 imp symbols are the high pays. 8 OAK winning scatter combinations pay 0.3 to 2.5 times the bet, maxing at 3 to 25 times the bet for 12-of-a-kind. Wild symbols can come onto the board but only from the Spread feature. Wilds substitute for all regular symbols in win evaluations. The symbols part of a winning combination disappear, and new symbols fall in, creating win opportunities. The Respin feature also activates the Avalanche. Avalanches continue until no more winning combinations appear. Scatter symbols do not trigger an Avalanche.

Shadow Summoner Elementals: Slot Features

Avalanches, the Elementals Meter, multipliers, Elemental symbol features, free spins, and bonus buys are Shadow Summoner Elementals' list of features.

Elementals Meter

The Elementals Meter starts at level 0, and there are 4 unlockable features. Each symbol in a winning combination adds +1 to the Elemental Meter. Wild symbols contribute +1 even if used in more than one win. At the end of a spin, if the meter reaches 200, the Elementals Meter levels up and unlocks 1 new Elemental symbol as well as its corresponding Elemental feature. The meter cannot be increased more than 200, and it resets to 0 after levelling up.

• Level 1 – unlocks the Tome of Ice symbol with the Spread feature. Having a Tome of Ice symbol on the reels activates the Spread when there is no win. The Tome of Ice symbol spreads, turning itself and up to 4 surrounding regular symbols into wilds.
• Level 2 – unlocks the Tome of Corruption symbol with the Explosion feature. Having a Tome of Corruption symbol on the reels activates the Explosion when there is no win and no Tome of Ice symbol present. It explodes, removing surrounding regular symbols in a 3x3 area adjacent to the Tome of Corruption symbol. One random regular symbol is selected to be spawned in all exploded positions.
• Level 3 – unlocks the Tome of Thunder symbol with the Respin feature. Having a Tome of Thunder symbol on the reels triggers the Respin feature when there is no win, no Tome of Ice, and no Tome of Corruption on the screen. It removes up to 12 random regular symbols, then spawns a multiplier symbol at its position, with a value equal to the number of removed symbols. An Avalanche then takes place.
• Level 4 – unlocks the Tome of Fire symbol and Upgrade feature. Having a Tome of Fire symbol on the reels activates the Upgrade feature when there is no win, no Tome of Ice, Tome of Corruption, and Tome of Thunder on the reels. It selects 1-4 low-pay symbols and upgrades them to their corresponding high-pay symbols. It turns itself into a random high pay.

Unlocked Elemental symbols can land on the middle four reels and activate their feature on any spin. After completing a round of free spins, the entire Elementals Meter progress is reset back to zero.

Multiplier

Multiplier symbols may appear on the middle four reels in the base game and free spins. They land with values of x2 to x100. When an Avalanche sequence ends, the value of all Multipliers on the screen is added together and applied to the total win.

Free Spins

Scatter symbols are present in the base game on all reels at Level 4. Landing 4 scatters triggers free spins. Free spins start at level 0, and 4 feature spins are awarded. The 4 Elementals – Tome of Ice, Tome of Corruption, Tome of Thunder, and Tome of Flame are discharged in a random order. The Feature spin is guaranteed with the latest discharged Elemental symbol on the initial spin. Each symbol in winning combinations adds +1 to the free spins Elementals Meter. When the meter reaches certain thresholds, free spins level up by awarding another +4 free spins, and the 4 Elementals recharge. The thresholds for levelling up are: First level up – 80, second level up – 100, third level up – 120, and fourth level up – 140.

The meter cannot be increased more than the threshold and resets to zero after levelling up. After the fourth level, the maximum free spins level is reached. During the round, whenever a Multiplier symbol hits, and the spin is a win, the multiplier is added to the Total Multiplier. Whenever any new Multiplier hits and results in a win, the Total Multiplier is also used to multiply the win.

Buy Free Spins

Buying free spins costs 100x the bet from the base game. The RTP when buying the round is 96.64%.

Shadow Summoner Elementals: Slot Verdict

Fantasma Games' CEO mentions making slots that are 'heavily inspired by gaming', and the team has managed to bring this about in Shadow Summoner Elementals. There's never any question you're playing an online slot, but the theme, look, and constant levelling up or down provides a touch of a video game element. Like a magically minded RPG where the main character is a mage on a quest to level up so they become powerful enough to rid the realm of devious sprites. If you like that sort of thing, then Shadow Summoner Elementals might fit your taste, and despite the influx of scatter-paying slots, Fantasma Games has made one which is unlike any other.

This even though there are familiar features such as multiplier symbols and the way they function, like in Pragmatic Play's Gates of Olympus, one of the modern-day Godfathers of scatter-paying slots. The multiplier values in Shadow Summoner Elementals aren't as impressive, though they are complemented by the 4 Elemental Meter features, including spreading wilds which is a ballsy inclusion in a scatter-paying slot. Levelling up provided a fun challenge, and rest assured, the Elemental Meter saves progress between spins - you don't have to collect 200 points on a single spin, in other words. Not sure about the way progress gets a hard reset when completing a round of free spins, though. Some gamblers may enjoy barging their way into another progress challenge, while others might be put off having to repeat the whole process.

Perhaps due to the medium volatility, perhaps due to sheer luck, but the balance didn't appear to take a significant hammering when ploughing through the 4 levels, so players don't necessarily need to fear a battering while adventuring their way to the free spins round. There are absolutely no guarantees; this is gambling, after all. With a max win of 5,610x the bet, Isabelle is able to bestow rewards when the summoning is going well, and while it might not be as wild a thrill ride as some, Shadow Summoner Elementals is an agreeably unique scatter-pays event.