Introduction to The Kingdom of Cardia
The Kingdom of Cardia is a casino slot from Betsoft that takes us to a fantasy Kingdom packed with features. In a world of fantasy-themed slot games, Betsoft decided to go the Alice in Wonderland route, theming everything around card suites, as can even be seen in the garden in the background. But we wouldn’t exactly call this game Wonderland, as even though it is packed with features, ranging from a Cash and Collect mechanic and multiple bonus games, they feel rather shallow. These bonus games range from Multiplier Wild Free Spins, Plinko, and Hi-Strike Smash, with the latter two being a bit rarer, but sees an appearance in modern releases every now and then. The gameplay loop is vastly different depending on where you look, as in the base game, you’re spinning, looking for Cash and Jackpot Prizes, which range up to 3,333X the bet, or waiting to trigger one of the many bonus games in the search for hitting the max win of 10,000X the bet.
Betsoft delivers on a fantasy theme and packages it full of features, ranging from typical Cash Collect mechanics, Multiplier Wild Free Spins, Plinko, and Hi-Strike Smash bonus games. If your interest has been piqued, be sure to try The Kingdom of Cardia demo beforehand.
Theme, Gameplay, & Payouts
The Kingdom of Cardia is a video slot from Betsoft with 5 Reels, 4 Rows, and 1,024 ways to win. You can choose between making a Min.bet of 0.15 and a Max.bet of 37.5. The Kingdom of Cardia comes with an average RTP of 96%, high volatility, and a solid max win of 10,000X the bet.
As previously mentioned, we find ourselves in the titular Kingdom of Cardia, a lush and lavish kingdom themed around card suites, if it wasn’t clear in the name. The playing grid can be found in a park, with the rest of the city standing tall in the background. You can play the game on most notepads, mobiles, and desktops.
The lower-paying symbols are green spades, blue clovers, purple diamonds, and red hearts. Creating a win with 5 of the same symbols will pay out 0.66X the bet. The higher-paying symbols are various items and characters, ranging from the crown, the trumpet, the princess, the green knight, the jester, the queen, and the king. Landing a win with 5 of the same symbols pays out 0.8X to 3.33X the bet. On top of this, there’s quite a lot of Special Symbols, ranging from Wilds, Cash, Collect, Scatters, Plinko, and Hi-Strike Smash Symbols, but more on these in the next section.
Special Features & Mechanics
What is the max win in the slot The Kingdom of Cardia?
You can win up to 10,000X the bet.
What features are available in the slot The Kingdom of Cardia?
The features are Wild Symbols, Cash and Collect, Pick Bonus Game, Plinko Bonus, Hi-Strike Smash, and Feature Buy.
Wild Symbols
Wild Symbols help form winning combinations by being able to substitute for all symbols except Special Symbols such as Cash, Jackpot, Key Collect, Pliko, Hi-Strike Smash, or Scatter Symbols. Wilds only appear on reels 2, 3, and 4, and during the bonus game, they become a Multiplier Wild with a value of 2X or 5X.
Cash and Collect
The Cash Collect mechanic works around the Key of Cardia Collect Symbol, which can only land on reel 1, and can only payout Cash and Jackpot prizes if they form a winning payline through the reels. Cash Symbols can land on reels 2 to 5, while Jackpots can only land on reel 5, and their prizes are as follows:
Cash Symbols = Comes with a random value ranging from 0.33X to 66.7X the bet.
Mini Jackpot = Worth 6.7X the bet.
Minor Jackpot = Worth 33X the bet.
Major Jackpot = Worth 333X the bet.
Grand Jackpot = Worth 3,333X the bet.
Pick Bonus Game
By landing 3, 4, or 5 Scatter Symbols, you will be awarded the Pick Bonus Game, where you can choose between either the Royal Wealth Free Spins or the Ultra Kingdom Bonus Spin. The Free Spins come with 8, 15, or 20 spins, Multiplier Wilds, and no Special Symbols. The Ultra Kingdom Bonus Spin grants you 1 spin that will guarantee either a Cash Prize, a Jackpot Prize, or a Plinko or Hi-Strike Smash Bonus Game trigger.
Plinko Bonus
Triggered either through the Ultra Kingdom Bonus Spin, or by landing a Collect Symbol on reel 1 and forming a payline to a landed Plinko Symbol on reel 5. When triggered, the playing grid turns into a Plinko board, awarding you 4 balls with labeled cups with random Multipliers that range from 1X to 25X, which change randomly after each Plinko Drop.
Hi-Strike Smash
Triggered either through the Ultra Kingdom Bonus Spin, or by landing a Collect Symbol on reel 1 and forming a payline to a landed Hi-Strike Smash Symbol on reel 5. The reels transform, awarding you 6 spins where only Hi-Strike Smash and Cash Symbols can land on reels 1-4, with a Multiplier Ladder on the side. On reel 5, Boost, which increases the Multiplier Ladder values, and +1 Spin Symbols can land randomly, up to a maximum of 5 times each.
Feature Buy
Through the Feature Buy, you can trigger two different bonus games for a price based on the current bet.
26.6X = Awards the Hi-Strike Smash Bonus Game.
40X = Awards the Plinko Bonus Game.
Final Thoughts on The Kingdom of Cardia
The Kingdom of Cardia seems to be the case of throwing things on the wall and hoping it sticks, mixing a bunch of bonus games, even using the same Cash Collect mechanic, which we also saw in 3 Million B.C., which was released only one week after. From the get-go, the game doesn’t do much to stand out from other fantasy-themed games, even with its card suite-spin.
Gameplay-wise, the features are all over the place, and nothing really works hand-in-hand. While we would want to say the star of the show is the bit more unique features, namely the Plinko and Hi-Strike Smash, but there’s nothing different with them that we haven’t seen in previous games, making them feel more tacked on than anything. The one saving grace is the good old reliable Multiplier Free Spins, but that comes with the caveat of ignoring the rest of the game for a feature found in nearly any other modern release. We wish we had gotten something different or innovative with the rest of the bonus games, as they feel out of place, even the Cash Collect mechanic, which, at times, only seems to be there to entice players in with their high Jackpot prizes, as both the paytable and normal Cash Symbols aren’t all that reliable in terms of wins. All in all, The Kingdom of Cardia feels like a mismatch of ideas that don’t really go anywhere, but players might find some fun trying out the various bonus games.
The Kingdom of Cardia is a game packed with bonus games that ultimately left us disappointed from a lack of cohesiveness and uniqueness.
