Vikings Go Berzerk is Yggdrasil’s sequel to Vikings Go Wild, and the game that turned the series into one of the studio’s best known. Four Viking characters sail out to fight sirens at sea, and the whole design hangs on one idea: each Viking builds up rage across spins, and a Viking who fills his meter goes berserk. It is a high-volatility slot with a long build-up and a feature round that carries most of the weight.
- Free spins
- Rage meters
- Berserk Vikings
- Treasure chests
- Wilds
- Studio
- Yggdrasil
- Released
- 2016
- Layout
- 5 reels, 4 rows
- Ways to win
- 25 fixed lines
- Volatility
- High
How It Plays
The grid is five reels and four rows with 25 fixed paylines. Wins pay for matching symbols on a line from the leftmost reel rightwards, and the stake is set as a total bet per spin rather than by separate line and coin controls.
Above the reels sit the four Vikings, each with his own rage meter. The meters fill as the Vikings take part in winning combinations, and they carry over from spin to spin rather than resetting every round. That is why the game reads as a slow build: a stretch of ordinary spins is still moving the meters, and the state you have built is what you take into the free spins.
Symbols
The four Vikings are the high symbols, each drawn as a distinct character, and each with its own rage meter above the reels. The rest of the grid is filled with lower-value symbols that pay small amounts and mainly serve to keep the meters moving. A wild substitutes for the regular symbols, and a treasure chest acts as the scatter that opens the feature.
When a Viking goes berserk he changes on the reels into a golden version of himself. The berserk form is the most valuable state a symbol reaches in this game, and it is also what makes the free spins round behave differently, so the Vikings are worth watching both as payouts and as a status bar.
Bonus Feature
Three or more treasure chest scatters open the free spins. Inside, the game switches to a sea battle: the Vikings on the left face sirens on the right, and the fights resolve as the spins run.
Winning a fight awards a treasure chest, and the chest holds a random prize — a coin amount, a multiplier or extra free spins. A Viking who is already berserk when the round starts fights in that stronger state, which is the point of the rage meters: the feature is worth more when you arrive at it with meters filled than when you arrive cold.
There is no way to steer this. The meters fill from wins that happen on their own, and the chest contents are drawn at random each time. A meter that sits nearly full does not mean anything is owed — every spin is independent of the ones before it, and the game has no memory of what it has paid.
Controls
The panel runs along the bottom of the screen with the total bet on one side and the balance on the other. Bet is chosen from a list of preset stake levels, so one control sets what the spin costs; the 25 lines are fixed and cannot be switched off.
Autoplay runs a chosen number of spins on its own and has stop conditions — ending the sequence on a single win over an amount you set, or when the balance moves by a set figure. There is also a fast-spin option. Paytable and game rules open from the same panel, and the information panel there is where the return figure for the build you are playing is shown.
Every game also carries an information panel with its rules and its return-to-player figure for the build running here. That panel is the accurate source; a number copied from elsewhere may describe a different build — see how to read RTP.
Pros and Cons
This is a high-volatility slot with a long ramp. The base game is deliberately quiet — its job is to fill rage meters — and most of what the game has to offer sits inside the free spins, where the berserk Vikings and the treasure chests do the work. If you enjoy watching a state build across a session, that structure is the appeal.
It is a poor fit if you want steady returns or a short session, because plenty of spins will pass with nothing much happening and the feature does not come often. It also asks a little patience to read: four meters, a berserk state and a battle screen is more to follow than a plain three-of-a-kind game. Play it on a stake small enough that a flat stretch does not matter.
- Rage meters carry over, so quiet spins still count for something
- Free spins round has real structure rather than just extra spins
- Berserk Vikings change how the feature plays, not only what it pays
- Strong art and sound for a slot of its age
- High volatility means long stretches with little movement
- Almost everything worthwhile is locked behind the free spins
- More moving parts to follow than a simple slot
- No control over the meters or the chest prizes — all of it is random
18+ or the legal age where you live. This game carries a house edge like every other. Play only with money you can afford to lose.
More From Yggdrasil
Other titles by the same studio in our lobby.
Questions
- How do the rage meters work?
- Each of the four Vikings has his own meter, and it fills when that Viking takes part in a winning combination. A full meter sends him berserk, which turns him golden on the reels and makes him stronger in the free spins battle.
- How do I start the free spins?
- Land three or more treasure chest scatters. The round then plays as a battle between the Vikings and the sirens, with chests awarded for fights the Vikings win.
- What is inside the treasure chests?
- A random prize — a coin amount, a multiplier or additional free spins. The contents are drawn each time, so the same fight can be worth very different amounts.
- If a meter is nearly full, is a big win coming?
- No. A meter close to full only means those Vikings have been in recent wins. Each spin is independent and the game does not become due for anything — a slot never ripens.
- Can I play it for free first?
- Yes, there is a demo mode on virtual credits. It is the sensible way to see whether the slow base game and the delayed feature suit you before staking anything.