What qualities do you want in a slot game? Some prefer design and functionality, while others like features and wagering options. Finding the best slots online is as much of a matter of personal preference as anything else.
However, everyone wants to be able to win more prizes and to do so more frequently. The best way to do so is to find a slot that comes with a high Return to Player. Better slot machine odds are always better for the player.
That’s why we’ll be ranking the best slots with the highest RTP from the software provider ELK Studios. We’ll take a look at some of their best releases to date and why we picked them as the best examples of this provider’s work.
Best ELK Studios Slots
ELK Studios is a Swedish developer of online slot games. Since 2013, the gaming company has been doing its best to entertain slot enthusiasts around the world and maximise their gaming experience.
Being in the market for so long, ELK Studios has amounted to an admirable portfolio of games, with many of them having payout percentages well above the industry average. The good news is that, apart from the exceptional RTP, these games come with excellent design, appealing and exciting features.
The best part about this company’s lineup is that they’ve continued releasing high RTP games all throughout their existence. That means that you don’t have to dig deep into the roster to find some excellent returns. With that in mind, our ELK Studios slot rankings will focus on relatively recent releases with modern tech that are still available across all ELK Studios casinos.
Without further ado, here’s our list:
- Hit It Hard – 96.30% RTP
- Diablo Reels – 96.30% RTP
- Katmandu Gold – 96.20% RTP
- Miss Wildfire – 96.10% RTP
- Cluster Slide – 96.10% RTP
1. Hit it Hard – 96.30%
Hit it Hard will immediately attract anyone who is into retro imagery and classic slot gameplay. In fact, it’s part of ELK’s Classic series, which seems to focus entirely on single-row fruit machines. Although this seems dull at first sight, there’s a reason these games are a whole series. In other words, each game in the series boasts unique features that elevate it beyond what old slot machines could achieve.
For starters, Hit it Hard has a unique sense of style that really leans into the vintage visuals. It’s a neon-drenched game grid that kind of reminds us of old flipper machines. That’s because the screen above the reels houses a special minigame that adds a whole new level of gameplay. Accessing the minigame is a simple matter of landing a dice symbol anywhere on the reels.
This places you on a sort of game board filled with all sorts of crazy bonuses and extras, ranging from adding stacked wilds to the reels to pachinko bonuses and free spins. The minigame can bring about all sorts of outcomes thanks to which you’ll want to keep giving Hit it Hard spin after spin.
While the little minigames and arcade bonuses take centre stage, we would be remiss not to mention that the actual slot is also quite enjoyable. IT’s a classic 3×3 setup with 5 paylines and, more importantly, a solid 96.30% RTP.
2. Diablo Reels – 96.30%
It’s time to visit the devil’s backyard in this exciting 2020 release. The fiery adventure is taking players down south to the realm of Diablo himself. He’ll be running the reels, stacking them with Wild symbols and delivering nudging multipliers.
Diablo Reels is part of the Swedish developer’s Classic Series. Boasting a three-reel layout, the game has a lot to offer, it’s inspired by the classic fruit machines of old. It looks the part, plays the part, and offers a relatively familiar gaming experience to anyone experienced with online slot machines. However, don’t get too relaxed. Despite its simple basic lineup, Diablo Reels can be punishingly volatile.
The major element that makes the game special is its stacked Wilds. Not only can these appear on any spin, but they can be further boosted by interacting with other features that make them sticky.
That’s just a sample of the surprising twists and turns present in this game. All of it amounts to a unique experience that stands on the border between new and old. Throw in the fact that it’s one of the highest RTP slots ever released by ELK, and it’s easy to see why we ranked it as one of their best games.
3. Katmandu Gold – 96.20%
This is the fifth instalment in the acclaimed Katmandu series, one of the most successful brands under the ELK Studios umbrella. It’s not the latest entry, mind you, but it remains the best one in our experience. It stands out from the latter releases thanks to a simpler and more effective math model that produces above-average RTP.
After travelling around the world looking for gold, the game’s main character, Kane, decides to go on a vacation, ending up high in the Nepalese mountains. However, there’s no time for a break, as he discovers that ancient stories about temple gold are true. It seems there’s no rest for our second-favourite fedora-wearing explorer, huh?
Katmandu Gold offers many of the most popular slot features in the industry. You’ve got your Wilds, Scatters, Free Spins – all the bells and whistles. Many of these are also given unique twists, resulting in a fairly dense game with a lot to offer. However, it still remains accessible and attractive to a very wide audience. Also, all of these fairly basic elements have been polished to a sheen by ELK throughout the long-standing series, which is why we rank this game so highly.
Katmandu Gold is also the first title from this developer’s offer to include the Buy Bonus feature. Apart from being very handy in allowing players more control of how they approach the game, this functionality significantly impacts the slot’s RTP. Buying the bonus round increases the RTP rate from 96.20% up to 96.40% when activated. Technically, this means that Matmandu Gold is the highest RTP slot on this list, though only if you just repeatedly use the Bonus Buy.
4. Miss Wildfire – 96.10%
The next game on our list is also heavy on both features and story. The same can be said for most of the ELK portfolio but hey, it’s still worth noting.
This quaint little title follows the exciting story of Edgar Woodart, an alchemist who spent decades in his laboratory driven by his obsession with gold. After losing all that time, the mesmerising flames come to life, giving him another chance of fulfilling his desire. We suppose it’s a bit vague considering the actual visuals are all about fire and wood, but that’s beside the point.
Gameplay-sie, Miss Wildfire is set on a fiery grid consisting of six reels and four rows. A comfy, classic setup that doesn’t take a lot of getting used to. The slot features fire spreading Wilds, sticky Wilds, and walking Wilds, while the Free Spins bonus round with upgrading symbols only further adds to the excitement. In other words, you get Wilds of all shapes and sizes, and the game is all about watching them spread like a, well, Wildfire.
Miss Wildfire herself is a flaming walking Wild that can move across the grid as the reels respins. Any log symbols she comes across will be set on fire, turning into burning Wilds. Miss Wildfire also has its super form, a symbol that keeps all logs sticky during the respins. The more unlit log symbols on the reels improve the odds of being set on fire. With a bit of luck, burning Wilds can end up helping you claim massive payouts of up to 5,000 times the bet.
In other words, the features match the theme, which is a staple of clever game design. Miss Wildfire has been a long-standing favourite of the Casino Bloke and it’s an underappreciated gem in the ELK Studios collection.
5. Cluster Slide – 96.00%
Welcome to Jellyton! Square-shaped monsters inhabit this distant planet. They come in all forms and sizes, sliding forward across the reels. Regardless of their appearance, they are social creatures, and, whenever separated, they will move closer to stay warm. But if five or more of them come together, they’ll become angry and blow up. This is your chance to scoop some prizes.
That’s exactly how ELK presented this fun-loving slot game from 2021 and we have to say – what a way to present your features! More observant readers likely noticed that the little storyline is actually referring to familiar mechanics such as Tumbling Symbols and Cluster Pays. This means that this is a fairly non-standard type of slot game, unlike most of the others on this list.
The action takes place on a seven-reel, eight-row grid filled with sliding symbols moving from right to left. While Cluster PAys are not as rare as they once were, we have to say that Cluster Slide outshines most similar games due to the sheer chaos on screen. There are five wild features on offer, multipliers the Wild Drops bonus game, and the X-iter mode which allows players to jump into action whenever they feel like it.
There are a lot of moving parts to Cluster Slide slots and it’s hard to translate into text. Needless to say, you’ll be enjoying constant explosions all over the screen with random, crazy features triggering left and right. Our initial experience with this title was a bit confusing, but it’s all very captivating once you get into the groove of things.
Conclusion
That wraps up the Casino Bloke’s rankings of the top 5 ELK Studio slots. We ranked them in terms of playability, features, modern UI elements, graphics and, of course, RTP. Any of them will provide you with all of those elements.
As you may have noticed, ELK Studios games are not exactly industry leaders in terms of RTP. 96.3% is solid, but it’s not exactly record-breaking. Thankfully, most of their products shine in other areas. Namely, they often allow players multiple wagering options or Feature Buy variants, resulting in a highly customizable experience.
Anyway, if you want to play any of these games for real money, make sure to check out our list of top ELK Studios casinos.