Polar Pioneers seems to be a game themed around the explorers that first went to the North Pole, the ones that braved the polar winters and the chance that they will get stuck in ice, and went there anyway. In a very well done slot machine, Microgaming manages to pay homage to these courageous explorers. The slot has some interesting features as well, not just very well known ones, plus the theme is not something that a lot of developers have done yet. On paper, it seems like a very good choice, so let’s see how it does.
You get 5 reels in Polar Pioneers, populated with a maximum of 25 bet lines. The free spins are the main feature, and you even get a 2nd chance feature to help you get them. You also have multipliers, scatters and wilds. Top payouts reach values of $30,000.
Features of Polar Pioneers
The slot offers a wild symbol, a scatter, some free spins with multipliers, and then there is the part that is new, the 2nd chance re-spin feature.
The Explorer, dressed like he is going to the North Pole, is the wild element of the slot. This symbol has the ability to reward you with very big prizes when it creates its own combinations, meaning that 2 to 5 of them landed on the same active line, from left to right. It can award up to 15,000x the line wager this way, but most of the time it will simply act as a substitute. It can help you get other combinations formed while used as a wild, and this is what will happen most of the time, as it doesn’t appear often enough to bring you its own prizes on a regular basis.
The Huskies are also important for the game, being the ones that appear in the scatter symbol. As a scatter, this symbol has the power to offer prizes and free spins by being in two or more spots on the reels, no matter where exactly they land. They don’t have to form regular combinations, yet they award prizes of 2x to 125x the triggering bet.
2nd Chance Re-Spins
When you have two scattered Husky symbols on the reels, no more, no less, you get the 2nd Chance Re-Spin to trigger. Once the wins are paid off for that spin, you will notice that the two reels with Huskies are kept in place, while the other three re-spin once, for free.
You are paid once again for the wins that coincide in the re-spin, plus if you get additional Husky scatters you get to trigger the free spins. That’s what the “2nd chance” part is all about, the chance to get access to the free spins.
Free Games Feature
Whenever you have 3+ scattered Huskies on the reels, or when the 2nd chance feature is successful, you get access to the round of free games. A total of 10 free spins are obtained this way, with all their wins multiplied by 2x.
You can retrigger this feature, but you need 3+ symbols with Huskies, you can’t trigger the 2nd chance feature when you’re already in the free games mode.
Betting options and jackpots
You use very small value coins in Polar Pioneers, as their denomination varies between $0.01 and $0.10. You can use up to 20 coins for each payline though, so you can wager $2 each round, or up to $50 when all the lines are covered.
The slot’s biggest reward is a valuable 15,000x multiplier, which takes the line bet into account. The maximum line bet will bring you a prize of up to $30,000.
Design and symbols
With a game that is themed around explorers that went to the North Pole, having a lot of ice and snow both on and around the reels is quite natural and to be expected. The developers certainly tried their best to demonstrate just how dangerous such an expedition was back then, with the steam ships, the instruments and equipment which were used. The game looks good, especially the themed symbols, which look like 19th century objects.
Symbols: Explorer (15,000x, wild), Huskies (125x triggering bet, scatter), Steam Ship (2,500x), Winter Boots (1,000x), Compass (500x), Ice Pick (500x), Ace (200x), King (200x), Queen (150x), Jack (150x), 10 (125x) and 9 (125x).
Is It Worth Playing?
I loved the theme, but I generally have a lot of fun with these titles which celebrate the explorers that let us know for the first time what lies ahead in the most dangerous spots of our planet. The top jackpot and its 15,000x multiplier is another good reason to try it out.
This Polar Pioneers slot is offered by all online casinos with Microgaming software, playable either in practice or in real money mode.
