Wolf Howl Review

Few sounds can instantly freeze you in place as a wolf’s howl can. Will Just for the Win navigate the forest and escape, or is it doomed to be the wolf’s next meal?
- 25,000x jackpot
- Highly engaging special features
- The visuals are reminiscent of a painting
The wilds are hardly a new place for software providers to explore. Animals in their natural habitat are a frequent sight in casino games. Many of us accept the theme passively.
Especially if it comes with awesome graphics backing it up. Wolf Howl takes a somewhat different approach. Instead, it tempts players with multiplier Wilds, free spins and the Wild Call bonus.
Theme, Graphics and Sounds
Very few releases succeed in making us feel cozy like Wolf Howl did. The sprawling forest and tall snow look incredible when bathed in an orange flame.
We cannot say we have ever gone camping in the winter. If we did, we imagine this is how it would feel like.
The developers also chose to style their online slot like a painting.
We would hang up the background image on the wall if we could. We doubt anyone would even suspect where the picture comes from.
Sadly, we cannot admire the scenery in its entirety. The five-reel, three-row playing field blocks a part of it.
We get access to ten paylines, which we cannot turn on or off when we want. All wins must follow one active payline, and has to start with the leftmost reel.
Winning combinations must have at least three matching symbols in adjacent positions to grant a prize.

In-game features
During normal gameplay, Wilds can appear with a multiplier of 1x, 2x or 3x. 2x and 3x Wilds will only land on the middle three reels.
In free spins, Wilds multipliers can go up to 5x instead of just 3x.
More than one Wild multiplier can appear on a payline. In such cases, the two multipliers are multiplied by one another!
Two 3x Wild multipliers will award a 9x payout increase on a payline that includes both of them.
Get three, four or five Scatters to win eight, fifteen or thirty free spins, respectively. Additional Scatters will unlock even more free spins!
There does not seem to be a limit on how many additional free spins you can win. One or two Scatters grant two or five additional free spins, respectively.
Three, four and five Scatters award the same number of free spins as they do when the bonus starts.
During free spins, every visible Scatter triggers Wild Call. All Scatters and icons adjacent to them are transformed into Wilds with a 1x multiplier.
If a multiplier Wild is adjacent to a Scatter, its multiplier will be increased by one. These newly created multiplier Wilds will remain in place for the duration of free spins.
On any spin, there is a chance two to four Scatters are added randomly. This is the Scatter added bonus, and it can activate during any spin.
If you want to skip the grind, you can buy the free spins special feature for money. Players can choose one of three options.
Eight free spins cost 90x your current bet. Fifteen free spins are 159x your wager. Finally, thirty free spins cost 314x your total stake.
There is a chance to land more Scatters if you choose eight or fifteen free spins.
Where To Play Wolf Howl?
RTP, bet sizes and volatility
The RTP for Wolf Howl is 96.15% during normal gameplay. If you buy free spins, the RTP shoots up to 96.42%. In both cases, the RTP is above average when compared to other slots.
You can wager between $0.10 and $10 on every spin. This is a very conservative spread of bets when compared to other Microgaming titles.
No doubt the small maximum bet has something to do with the maximum win.
You can win 25,000x your total stake in this release. That is a massive jackpot, far higher than what Just for the Win usually offers.
The volatility is also quite high to make up for the mouth-watering payout.

Verdict
We feel like we could rave about Wolf Howl for hours. The slot does not break any new ground.
The painting-like background image was what first caught our eye. However, it slowly faded from our attention as gameplay and special features took over.
This is clearly a game aimed at jackpot chasers. If you are hunting for huge prizes, this is easily a 4 out of 5 stars release.
However, if high volatility is not your thing, you may want to skip this title.