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Katana Slot Online |
I've been a big fan of Novomatic's Katana slot since I discovered it online at Sky Vegas around a year or so ago. Since then, I have
found two different Katana slots in B&M ('Bricks and Mortar') casinos in London: one a progressive jackpot
version, the other similar to the online version, albeit with one major difference I'll come to in a bit.
Novomatic make the Book Of Ra, Dolphins Pearl and Katana slots and they are usually found tucked away on the games menu
of the Super or Multi-Gaminator machines. The online version of the Katana slot is only at a very few casinos and even
then it's a relatively recent addition. Why? Largely because it's been around a lot longer in B&M casinos badged as
"Shogun" but due to licensing issues, had to be re-badged. For the record (and I had to look this up!), a "Katana"
is a traditional Samurai sword, which ties in with the scatter symbol in the game itself.
The main difference between the online and B&M version of the Katana slots is evident when you hit the bonus feature. In the
online version you get 10 free spins with expanding wilds on every reel. In the B&M version you get 5 extra free spins. But
although the B&M version sounds better, don't let that fool you! The paytable isn't quite as good and also, the machine is
much higher variance (or more volatile/streaky) and - as I found out at London's Empire casino recently - you can go
hundreds of spins without the free spin feature. In fact, I went for 3 hours straight without it!! That's no guarantee that
other online casinos have the same RTP though - most don't publish these figures - but most online slots are around this
mark so it would be logical to assume Katana follows the trend.
For the record, I saw the online version of Katana has an RTP of 94.09% (source: Sky Vegas). When it first launched, it was 95.02% so not quite sure why it's changed. I'd guess
the B&M version is around 90% but as mentioned elsewhere, is also higher variance (more volatile).
Like most Novomatic's Gaminator slots, Katana doesn't often pay much in "normal" play. Only 5 scatters
really gives you anything decent (200x) and even 5 wilds doesn't pay much more than 5 of the Geisha symbols which is the
top-paying "normal" symbol. You need the free spins and you need the wilds dropping during those free spins to win big on Katana!
But this is where the Katana slot gets interesting. You get the free spin feature when 3 or more Katana scatters appear in view.
The reels are then altered slightly for the free spin feature and more scatter symbols are added making it easier to re-trigger
the feature. This is a trait of most Novomatic slots: it's hard to get the feature but when you do, chances are it will re-trigger
and pay well.
Katana's free spin bonus throws expanding wild symbols into the mix. The Slotjunkies video below shows how this works and why
the Katana slot can be so lucrative at times. But be aware that getting to the free spins is the hard part - you need to be prepared
to have a decent bankroll and also that you will invariably hit some long old mean streaks on this game. But the potential for a
big hit is pretty evident when you see the expanding wild symbols in action. Check out the factsheet for
more information or watch the video below to see all this stuff happening!
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Katana Slot Video + Free Spins |
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Where To Play Katana Slots |
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About The Casinos Above
The Katana slots aren't available at many online casinos and of those that do have them, you can find country restrictions
in place. If you are UK based then the obvious choice for Katana is
Sky Vegas as they are excellent, pay fast and have a really
good range of slots including the main Novomatic games like Book Of Ra, Katana, Lucky Lady's Charm and Dolphins Pearl. The
RTP for the Katana slot at Sky is 94.09%.
If you are elsewhere then you will find Star Games allows many other
countries to play and have a huge array of Novomatic slots but are very slow to pay out. Up to two weeks in some
instances but this is improving. The other option is Quasar Gaming
which is a relatively new outfit by comparison but also has every Novomatic slot game and seems decent (I have played all
of these casinos by the way).
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