Introduction to Ice Wolf 2
Ice Wolf 2 is a casino slot from ELK Studios that takes you to a cold, barren wasteland, where packs of wolves stalk and hunt for big wins. As the title suggests, this is a sequel to the 2019 release, Ice Wolf, which coincidentally dropped around the same time as Cygnus, one of ELK Studios’ most beloved releases and a title that has also seen many sequels. But we digress, as Ice Wolf 2 takes its prequels’ chilling, but exciting gameplay, and makes it work a bit smoother, with some new, beautiful visuals on top. If you haven’t played the first game, then let us tell you that there isn’t much of a difference, but not in a bad way, as ELK Studios sticks with the iced-over playing grid, bonus row, and Respins on each win. Here, the playing grid is split into 3 sections, those being the main section, the ice section, and the bonus row section, with the first being the only active section at the start of any spin. Landing wins will unthaw ice above the winning symbols, activating more symbols to create more ways to win, up to a maximum of 100,842, and giving you more chances at features and bonuses such as Multipliers and the Wolf Den bonus game, where you can hit the max win of 10,000X the bet.
Join the wolf pack and use everything at hand to survive the extreme cold and unthaw as many ice-cold symbols and wins as possible. If you want to give the game a try for yourself, then check out the Ice Wolf 2 demo.
Theme, Gameplay & Payouts
Ice Wolf 2 is a video slot from ELK Studios with 6 Reels, 3-7 Rows, and up to 100,842 ways to win. You can choose between making a Min.bet of 0.2 and a Max.bet of 100. Ice Wolf 2 comes with a very low RTP of 94% and high volatility, where big win spikes may feel as impactful, but can always stack up to allow you to hit the max win of 10,000X the bet. The game has a hit frequency of 20.9%.
When you enter the game, you find yourself in a cave made entirely out of ice, and here you’ll find a remnant of the past, an old Viking ship that has been solidly frozen over. The playing grid is filled with various trinkets and weapons from the Viking ship, but you’ll also find the denizens of the cave on the playing grid, those being the Ice Wolves. You can play the game on most notepads, mobiles, and desktops.
The lower-paying symbols are Q, K, and A. Creating a win with 6 of the same symbols will pay out 0.25X the bet. The medium-paying symbols are a blue crest, a green hammer, and a red axe. Creating a win with 6 of the same symbols pays out 0.75X to 1.5X the bet. The higher-paying symbols are a blue eagle, a green elk, and a red wolf. Landing a win with 6 of the same symbols pays out 2X to 5X the bet. There are plenty of Special Symbols as well, such as the Wild Symbols, Multiplier Symbols, Howling Wolf Symbols, Golden Wolf Symbols, and Ice Wolf Symbols, all of which you can learn more about in the next section.
Special Features & Mechanics
What is the max win in the slot Ice Wolf 2?
You can win up to 10,000X the bet.
What features are available in the slot Ice Wolf 2?
The features are Wild Symbols, Ice Breaking Respins, Bonus Row, Golden Wolf Symbol, Multiplier Symbols, Howling Wolf Symbols, Ice Wolf Respins, Wolf Den Bonus Game, and Feature Buy (X-iter).
Wild Symbols
There are 2 types of Wild Symbols, both of which can substitute for any paying symbol, and both of which can come with random Multipliers. Regular Wild Symbols will only stick onto the playing grid between Respins if part of a win or are covered by ice, while the Golden Wilds will always stick. Wild Symbols that land on the Bonus Row are sticky between Respins until they have contributed to a win.
Ice Breaking Respins
There are 3 sections of the playing grid, with the main section being the only active section at the start of a spin. Whenever you land a winning line, the oce on the same reel will be cleared by the same amount of symbols that were part of the win on that same reel. After a win, a Respin will kick in, with the newly active positions, for changes to break more ice and create more ways to win. Whenever a spin doesn’t result in a win, the round is over, and the ice takes over the reels again.
Bonus Row
There is a bonus row at the top of the playing grid, which will only contain empty spaces and Special Symbols that help trigger wins or features. Here you can find Wild Symbols, Multipliers, Scatter Symbols, Golden Wolf Symbol, and +1 Symbols.
Golden Wolf Symbol
Landing a Golden Wolf Symbol on the Bonus Row will break the ice on itself and the two immediately adjacent positions next to it. After this, a wolf will run along each affected column from the bonus row and downwards, clearing all ice in the affected columns and converting them into Wild Symbols, with a chance of being left with a Multiplier between 2X and 5X.
Multiplier Symbols
Multiplier Symbols may show up on the Bonus Row and can come with values between 2X and 50X. Active Multiplier Symbols affect all wisn regardless of their positions.
Howling Wolf Symbols
The Howling Wolf Symbols can only appear on columns 2-6 on the main section of the playing grid. After landing, the Howling Wolf will turn either to the left or right, howl, and clear all the ice in a 90-degree cone-shaped area, with any Wild Symbols caught in the howl getting an increased Multiplier. After the howling, the Howling Wolf Symbol is converted into a Wild Symbol.
Ice Wolf Respin
The Ice Wolf feature triggers if an Ice Wolf symbol on reels 2-6 is active at the end of a spin, awarding the Respin where all Ice Wolf Symbols remain sticky. Before the reels stop, a wolf runs along each column with an active Ice Wolf symbol, clearing all the ice and leaving a trail of converted Wild Symbols.
Wolf Den Bonus Game
The Wolf Den bonus game is awarded by landing an active Scatter Symbol in the Bonus Row, awarding you 5 spins. When the feature starts, a new section shows up beneath the playing grid, known as the Wolf Den, and from here, the Ice Wolf may be triggered on each spin, which can activate up to 4 Ice Wolf symbols, making them run along a column, clearing all ice in the affected column, and converting all symbols into Wilds. The Bonus Row may also have +1 Spin Symbols show up during the bonus game, which, if active, will award you with +1 additional spin.
Feature Buy (X-iter)
Through the Feature Buy, you can trigger many different bonuses and features for a price based on the current bet.
2.5X = Activates the Bonus Hunter, giving you one spin with more than triple the chance to trigger the bonus game.
10X = Activates Call of The Wild, giving you one spin with a guaranteed wolf feature trigger.
25X = Triggers the Ice Breaker, giving you one spin with all ice cleared and 100,824 ways to win.
100X = Triggers the Bonus Game, giving you a spin that is guaranteed to trigger the Wolf Den Bonus Game.
250X = Triggers the Super Bonus Game, guaranteeing to trigger the Wolf Den Bonus Game with all ice cleared on the playing grid.
Final Thoughts on Ice Wolf 2
Ice Wolf 2 is an anxiously awaited prequel that players have wanted since the release of the original Ice Wolf at the end of 2019. But what has happened in these 6 years between releases? Well, we can confidently say that the game is actually quite similar to its prequel, but with a ton of new features, icier visuals, and a significant increase from the old max win of 2,500X the bet to 10,000X the bet. While we wouldn’t say that the old game looks great, even though it has aged relatively well, Ice Wolf 2 takes these old graphics and turns them up to snuff, even re-using similar symbol types, with crisper and higher definition, and of course, a lot more ice. The game is far from your typical winter wonderland or Christmas-themed release, instead set in a rather harsh and deserted cave. However, we think that makes it stand out even more compared to the releases we usually get around the holiday season. But with all that said, let us instead move over to discussing the gameplay and features of the game.
As usual, let us start with running over the stats, and, also as usual from ELK Studios, we sadly get a quite a bit lower-than-average RTP of 94%, but at least with a good max win of 10,000X the bet, which is a sizeable increase from its prequel. If you’ve played the first game, then you’ll probably feel right at home here, as while Ice Wolf 2 may look kinda confusing at first, it has a similar gameplay loop to its predecessors, but with some new toys. The main part of the game is the Ice Breaking Respins, which, after a win, will open up some ice, allowing for more active symbols to be part of the next Respin, and this will continue until no more wins are being made. You can also open up the ice with the help of some of the new toys, such as the Howling Wolf Symbol or Ice Wolf Respins. However, what you do want to open up is the Bonus Row, as that is where you’ll find Multipliers up to 50X, extra Wild Symbols, and trigger the Wolf Den Bonus Game. This Bonus Game is easily the best way to consistently hit wins, as from the Wolf Den, Ice Wolves will run through the playing grid, leaving trails of Wilds behind them. All in all, Ice Wolf 2 is a very packed game, stuffed to the brim with various features, special symbols, and bonuses that we think perfectly encapsulate the title of a sequel. If you want to check out the game for yourself, then be sure to give the Ice Wolf 2 demo a test run.
Ice Wolf 2 is a slot that takes its predecessor's foundation and evolves it into a highly volatile Ice-Breaking Respin machine.
