Knight Fight: Slot Overview

Swedish developer ELK Studios has delivered stacks of impressively inventive online slots over the years, from the Gold games and the Nitropolis series to the Toro lineup. Another well-liked collection from the studio features a bunch of scrappy bird characters in the team’s Pirots range – so far, three titles have landed. In gambling, when a concept works, it’s only logical to keep it going for as long as it has legs before moving on to something else. In that same spirit of getting more out of a fun idea, Knight Fight brings back ELK Studios’ CollectR mechanic and essentially re-skins Pirots 2.

Knight Fight also isn’t ELK Studios’ first trip into medieval territory. A previous example was the cluster pays slot Micro Knights, and if you revisit it, you’ll notice the cast in both games looks pretty alike – especially that purple dragon. That same offbeat vibe returns here, and it meshes neatly with the already quirky nature of the Pirots games. Much like Print Studios’ Holy Hand Grenade, Knight Fight has an atmosphere that feels not too far removed from something Monty Python might have produced if they’d ever made slots. There’s even a goat in the mix as well.

Pressing spin after choosing a wager of 10 c to $/100 drops symbols and 4 collector knights onto a 6×6 gaming area. Knight Fight doesn’t use paylines, ways, scatter pays, or cluster wins. Instead, everything revolves around the CollectR mechanic, with its 4 knights moving around the grid (when possible) to gather pay symbols, feature symbols, and more. As with earlier versions, volatility is high, and RTP sits at 94%, even if you use the X-iter feature buys.

Knights pick up crest pay symbols to award their values. There are four crest symbol types, and each one can only be collected by a knight in the matching colour. Crest symbols appear across 7 value levels. The smallest values pay 0.05 to 0.1 times the bet, while the top level pays 10 to 50 times the bet. Wilds replace pay symbols

Knight Fight: Slot Features

Knight Fight includes 4 knight collector symbols that travel around the reels in descending order of symbol value. Each knight is linked to a crest symbol of the same colour. Knights collect neighbouring same-colour crest symbols and feature symbols by moving orthogonally across the grid. Once everything that can be collected has been collected, new symbols are dropped in to plug the empty spaces, giving another opportunity to collect. As a result, knights may move multiple times during a single spin, including before a refill occurs. Collecting a feature symbol activates that symbol’s feature.

Symbol Collection Meter

The symbol collection meter tracks collected crest and wild symbols. It continues filling until the knights are unable to collect any further symbols. When the meter reaches full, one pending feature symbol release is added. Up to 3 feature symbol releases can be queued at once. Any stacked feature symbol releases are granted together. Feature symbol releases are awarded right before the goat turns evil, before the dragon flame strike happens, as part of the first free spin, or when the knights can’t collect anything else. A feature symbol release changes a number of random crest symbols into random feature symbols. Other than Scatters and Wilds, the feature symbol types are:

• Coins – when a coin symbol is collected, it pays the value shown. The MAX WIN coin grants the remaining amount required to reach the maximum win.
• Upgrade Symbols – increases by 1-3 levels the payout level of crest symbols in the same colour as the knight that collected the upgrade symbol, up to 7. Collected upgrade all symbols upgrade all four crest symbols.
• Goat Symbols – if a knight collects one, it turns evil at the end of the spin once no more symbols can be collected. The frightened knights leave the grid and drop back in at new positions.
• Transform Symbols – once collected, it changes a cluster of crest symbols beside the knight into the collecting knight’s colour. It may turn a random number of crest symbols into feature symbols.
• Golden Apple Basket Symbols – when collected, it places Apples into empty spaces. Knights can then cross each of those empty spaces one time to reach symbols.
• Dragon Egg – collecting a dragon egg or dragon flame symbol triggers a dragon flame strike at the end of the spin when no more symbols can be collected. It removes knights and any symbols except feature symbols in close proximity to it, leading to a redrop that fills the gaps. The dragon flame strike increases the grid up to 8×8. A collected Goat will trigger before a collected Dragon Egg.

Knights positioned next to each other can perform a Switcheroo, swapping places vertically or horizontally when doing so allows them to collect additional symbols. This can only occur if it unlocks new symbol clusters. If 3 or more knights end up adjacent horizontally and/or vertically, they fight on a random area of the grid. Scatters, coins, goats, and dragon egg symbols in the fight’s path are collected, while crest symbols are removed. Knights redrop once the fight ends. A symbol drop refills the empty spaces.

Free Spins

When 3 scatter symbols are collected in a spin, you receive 5 free spins. Free spins begin using the currently active number of rows and reels. The current symbol collection meter progress is brought over, and any pending feature symbol releases are activated on the first free spin. Grid size, symbol collection meter progress, crest symbol payout level, and the collection of scatter symbols are persistent during free spins. Collecting 3 scatter symbols awards more free spins.

X-iter

Knight Fight’s X-iter includes the following bonus buys:

• Bonus Hunt – one spin with 4x the chance of triggering free spins for 3x the bet.
• Golden Apple Feast – one spin with the Golden Apple Basket feature triggered from the start for 10x the bet.
• Maximum Grid Size – one spin played with the maximum grid size for 25x the bet.
• Bonus – 100x the bet.
• Super Bonus – 500x the bet. All free spins are played with the maximum grid size, and all upgrade symbols upgrade all crest symbols.

Knight Fight: Slot Verdict

It’s hard to say what the original expectations for Knight Fight were, but “a Pirots 2 reskin” probably wasn’t top of the list. ELK Studios generally doesn’t lean heavily on clones or reskins, usually preferring to channel its considerable creativity into fresh, distinctive releases. Sure, ELK is happy to extend a series over time or put new spins on successful gameplay, but it’s uncommon for them to return with essentially the same mechanics in a world they’ve arguably visited before. That’s not a complaint or a rant about life’s injustices – just a note while considering where Knight Fight sits on the family tree.

And knights, of course, could probably produce actual family trees – pedigrees – showing who first earned a coat of arms. Here, Knight Fight depends strongly on its 4 knights to keep things moving, and these fellows have about as much character as the 4 parrots in the Pirots game: fun to watch as they zip around the grid, gather symbols, and occasionally scrap. As in the earlier game, symbol upgrades are vital for landing meaningful wins. Coins are too. In fact, it does make you wonder how (or whether) Knight Fight’s 10,000x top prize is realistically reachable without picking up the MAX WIN coin.

As is often the case, the second go didn’t hit quite as hard as the first, but Knight Fight is still nearly as enjoyable as Pirots 2. You could argue it almost can’t be otherwise, since the same gameplay and features have been carried across. The result is a slot that sits roughly level with the game it’s based on – maybe not an essential must-play, but still a likeable medieval adventure where you spend your time collecting things as you go.