Riches of Midgard: Land and Expand – Slot Overview

Riches of Midgard: Land and Expand is a good reminder that NetEnt, despite being a Swedish studio, doesn’t often lean on its own Nordic roots for themes. A quick look through their older releases reveals more druids and Egyptian gods than Norse legends. Maybe after what Hall of Gods achieved, they figured the category didn’t need much more. Still, mythology lovers can once again thank NetEnt for bringing Odin, Thor, and Freya back to the reels, with hammers swinging and lightning crackling in Riches of Midgard: Land and Expand.

It makes a strong first impression thanks to the large, odd-looking wooden mechanism that holds the reels at centre stage. Against a peaceful Midgard backdrop, the 3-reel, 9-payline layout sits among Scandinavian fields and mountains. A quick note for anyone new to Norse lore: Midgard is one of the Nine Worlds, the realm of humans, encircled by a giant serpent. It was formed when the all-father Odin, along with his siblings Ve and Vili, defeated the giant Ymir. The mythology is packed with great tales, which helps explain why it continues to leave such a mark on pop culture and slots in particular.

NetEnt handles the theme nicely by choosing a cartoon style instead of the darker, more intense approach this setting often gets—more charming than brutal. It ends up feeling similar to the vibe seen in Relax Gaming titles like Ramses Revenge or Marching Legions. The audio is a bit unusual: the reels rattle, clunk, and scrape as they turn, while the heavier sound effects provide the muscle.

Riches of Midgard runs on all devices and offers a betting range of 10 p/c to $/€200 per spin. During testing, the math model came across as a stubborn little creature, taking persistence to properly see what it could do. Once it got going, it wasn’t anything spectacular, although the solid RTP rating of 96.03% suggests results should balance out somewhat over time.

Somewhat unusually for a three-reel slot, symbol wins can be paid for two- or three-of-a-kind. That applies to the higher-value symbols at least; the lower ones still require a full three across a line to pay. There are 10 paying symbols in total, with 10-A at the bottom of the paytable, then a chunk of meat, a horn, Freya, Thor, and Odin. Hitting three premium symbols on a payline awards 1-15 times the stake.

Riches of Midgard: Land and Expand – Slot Features

What begins as a fairly compact slot swells up once the features kick in—it’s not called ‘Expand’ for nothing. The action revolves mainly around the Hot Spot Reels, which can set off respins in both the base game and the bonus.

The single-position reels attached to the sides of the wooden machine are the Hot Spots. They spin alongside the main reels but don’t count toward line wins. Instead, they’re there to trigger Respins. When matching symbols land in both Hot Spots and also appear on two or more of the regular reels, the Land and Expand feature activates and a Respin is awarded. The symbols that triggered the respin expand to fill every position on their reel and are locked in place for the respin. If a matching symbol lands during the respin, it also expands to cover the entire reel. If all three reels show the matching symbol immediately, no respin happens; instead, an expanded win is paid right away. In the base game, only high-value symbols or blanks can appear in the Hot Spots, while in the bonus this changes to include both high and low symbols.

A Thor-themed slot wouldn’t be complete without his famous hammer. Here, Mjolnir acts as the scatter symbol, and landing 3 of them on the reels triggers 8 free spins. While free spins are active, each Mjolnir scatter on reel three grants two extra free spins (with no limit) and adds a new row to the top or bottom of the reels. As the grid grows, the number of bet lines increases too. Once the reels reach the full 7 row height, 29 bet lines are enabled. A wild symbol also appears during free spins, showing up on the left Hot Spot to substitute for any symbol that lands on the right Hot Spot.

Riches of Midgard: Land and Expand – Slot Verdict

Riches of Midgard delivers a fairly distinctive ride, combining several features that interact in interesting ways. That said, some parts will feel familiar, such as the expanding symbols that may bring Book of Ra to mind. The Hot Spots set off respins often enough to keep the base game moving, and the way they’re built into the wobbly wooden frame is a smart visual touch. Free spins are naturally harder to reach, but the added rows are a welcome twist, expanding not just the reels but the game’s overall potential.

Even so, the infrequency of free spins didn’t seem to translate into stronger returns, as their payouts often leaned toward the lower end. It’s definitely not a Hall of Gods. While the older jackpot title has a reputation as one of the highest paying slots ever, Riches of Midgard plays things far more conservatively. The biggest single-spin win tops out at 435 times the bet when the grid is fully expanded in the bonus. So this Midgard isn’t overflowing with riches—though the setting is meant to be from a time before corporate-led governments fuelled the capitalist gangbang we find ourselves in today, so perhaps NetEnt was aiming for a touch of historical accuracy.

Overall, Riches of Midgard brings some genuine originality, but its cartoon presentation takes away some of the sharpness Norse-themed slots often deliver. That alone isn’t necessarily a problem, but paired with the persistence needed to reach the best parts of the features, Riches of Midgard can end up feeling more irritating than thrilling.