In Polar Explorer, RTG has recreated the route that one of the North Pole explorers has taken, showing us along the way the beautiful views that he might’ve encountered and the majestic polar bears that rule the region. Icebergs and the waters of the Northern regions are included among the graphics, with the top of the screen being occupied by gorgeous views with them. It might seem easy right now, with sturdy ships designed to break the ice, but back then they used regular wooden sail ships and their odds of surviving the trips were considerably lower. It makes the achievements of these explorers that much more wonderful.
Polar Explorer seems to be one of the typical RTG creations, where 5 reels are used to keep a total of 25 paylines on them, offering a full range of features as well. You get to take advantage of the free spins, plus you will also find wilds and scatters inside. The top jackpot is not as appealing as it should be, offering about $5,000 in the best case scenario. Luckily, two small progressive jackpots were also added to the slot, but they are both offered at random.
Features of Polar Explorer
Polar Explorer has the usual features inside, but there is at least one addition that I haven’t seen anywhere else, and it involves the use of playing card symbols to trigger a feature. I’m not sure there is any other game out there that actually has a decent use for these low paying symbols.
The Explorer, a hero that dared to go where few others ventured, acts in the role of a substitute symbol. It doesn’t have multipliers to apply to new combinations, but it will award fairly decent payouts if enough of them are on the same payline. It gives away up to 5,000 coins this way (5 wilds on a line).
The Ship symbol, a scatter feature in this case, will also give out prizes, but you only need 3 to 5 of them to be present in any position, not on the same line as is the case with the wild. Up to 200x the bet can be won with its help.
I’ve previously mentioned that the playing cards can trigger a feature in this game. If you look at the playing cards you get on the screen, you will notice that they can have parts of a puzzle snowflake in them, while they appear on reels 2, 3 and 4. If you get the snowflake pattern to form on those three reels, you gain access to one of the three features available.
Explorer Feature
This is one feature that might get triggered thanks to the snowflake pattern, and it comes with 5 games for free, for the duration of which you get the last two reels covered with wild symbols. It looks like it has the best paying potential, out of the three.
Discovery Feature
You get more spins here, 8 of them total. They benefit from the presence of at least one wild during each spin, and it can appear either stacked or alone. Retriggering it is possible, but only twice.
Hidden Treasure Feature
During this feature, you get the inside of a cave on the screen, with five chests displayed. You have to open the chests and you will get bonus symbols out of them. The picking ends once the cave-in occurs. You can get up to three symbols from this picking feature, all used as extra wilds for the duration of the 8 free games awarded. You can retrigger Hidden Treasure free spins with an additional 5 rounds, if you get 3+ scatters again on the screen.
Betting options and jackpots
Betting is done on 1 to 25 lines, with a similar number of coins. You can have as many active as you want, but you will pay for each one a single coin. The coin denomination is also an option left up to you, but there are limits imposed ($0.01 the lower limit, while $1 is the higher limit). Up to $25 per spin can be wagered.
You get 5,000 coins from the slot’s best combo, but the payout goes only up to $5,000, since the coin value is limited to $1. Two progressive jackpots are also available, but don’t count on them, the game doesn’t influence how they are awarded.
Design and symbols
The design is slightly retro, but it’s a good one and I’ve found it a pleasant experience while I was spinning its reels and looking at the symbols. The playing cards are not as useless as in other slots, offering pieces of a snowflake puzzle which can trigger the bonus round. I’ve actually found myself looking forward to getting playing card symbols, while in other slots I’ve hated seeing them.
Symbols: Explorer (wild, 5,000x), Ship (scatter, 200x the triggering bet), Polar Bear (2,500x), Sword Fish (1,000x), Seal (500x), Compass (300x), Ace/King/Queen (250x), Jack/10/9 (150x).
Is It Worth Playing?
You will probably find Polar Explorer an interesting title. If you’ve grown up reading Jules Verne adventure novels, or if you simply appreciate what these great men have managed to do, try out Polar Explorer in their honor.
You will find Polar Explorer at any online casino which chooses to use software from RTG, playable either for free or for real money.
