Grizzly Stampede: when the bears run, up to 50,000x
A roundup of ELK Studios’ new release Grizzly Stampede. On a 5×4 grid with 1,024 ways, the key features are Stampede, totem pillars, multiplier wilds, and a 7,776-ways bonus. RTP up to 96%, max win 50,000x, volatility 8/10.
Key takeaways
- On September 1, ELK Studios released a high-volatility grizzly bear slot.
- When two Stampede symbols land in the same row, everything between them turns into grizzly bears.
- Missed Stampede energy builds up in the totem pillars, and wilds reveal a multiplier when they join a win.
- In the bonus, 1,024 ways grow up to 7,776 ways. RTP up to 96%, max win 50,000x.
50,000x. That is the max win of Grizzly Stampede, which ELK Studios released on September 1. Pirots 5 and Quackers, both released this summer, were 10,000x, so this is five times higher. The volatility is also a notch higher at 8 out of 10.
ELK describes this game as a “don’t run” slot, a twist on the old advice not to run when you meet a bear. The grid is 5 reels by 4 rows.
This summer’s ELK releases had plenty of cute characters, like the adventures of birds and the ducks’ pond party. Grizzly Stampede is a different flavor. Bears baring their teeth, dark mountain ranges, dreamcatchers, and feather decorations fill the screen. The features also lean toward the one big hit. It is a game aimed at people looking for the high-volatility lineup from ELK Studios.
A bear takes the place the T-Rex left behind
The setup is short. Sixty-six million years have passed since the last T. rex swept across the foot of Rage Mountain. The echoes of its footsteps still linger. The new predator that has claimed the cursed hunting ground is a grizzly carrying the wrath of an ancient spirit.
The official release trailer captures this mood as well. A bear-head logo wrapped in a dreamcatcher rises in front of a starlit mountain range, and feathers and totem decorations appear all over the screen.
When two Stampede symbols land in the same row
The core feature is exactly what the name says: the Stampede. When two Stampede symbols land on the same row, a Stampede or Super Stampede triggers. The Stampede turns every symbol between the two symbols, including the two symbols themselves, into grizzly bear symbols.
If the two symbols stand at both ends, all five cells in the row become bears. If the gap is narrow, fewer cells change. Super Stampede adds more grizzly symbols on top of this. The brochure illustration also shows a bear charging between the paw-print symbols on either side.
It is a 5-reel, 4-row grid, so there are four rows. Since the two Stampede symbols only need to land in the same row, it can trigger on any of the four rows. The structure also allows two rows to fire a Stampede at the same time in a single spin.
Missed Stampedes pile up in the totem
Spins where only one Stampede symbol shows up, without a second one joining it in the row, are far more common. Grizzly Stampede doesn’t throw that wasted effort away. The energy of the Stampede symbols that failed to trigger fills the totem pillars.
When the totem fills up and triggers, it adds Stampede symbols to the grid. Missed spins become fuel for the next Stampede. It is fun to watch the totem fill up the longer you keep spinning.
In the brochure illustration, the totem pillar gives off a blue glow and draws in the paw-print symbols. The effect is that a missed Stampede symbol doesn’t just vanish but flies toward the totem. How many units of energy it takes to fill the totem has not been disclosed.
Wilds reveal a multiplier when they join a win
The wild symbol substitutes for all pay symbols. That much is ordinary. The difference is that a multiplier can be revealed when a wild joins a win. The brochure shows 3x and 5x wilds as examples.
When a whole row turns into bears from a Stampede and a multiplier wild lands on top of it, the win jumps sharply. The scenes where you could aim for the 50,000x max win are overlaps like this. The upper limit of the multiplier has not been disclosed.
In the bonus, 1,024 ways become 7,776 ways
The base game is 1,024 ways. When 3 or more bonus symbols appear, the bonus game starts, and the number of ways grows up to 7,776. The brochure lists only the numbers, not how the increase happens.
Break the numbers down and the structure shows. 1,024 is 4 multiplied by itself five times, which matches the base grid of five reels with four cells each. 7,776 is 6 multiplied by itself five times. By that math, up to six cells per reel would be visible in the bonus.
The key to the bonus is the golden grizzly token. Collecting tokens turns symbols into grizzly symbols or angry grizzly symbols. Super Bonus starts with extra grizzly tokens before the first spin. What sets it apart from the regular bonus is that you begin on a grid with bears already in place.
X-iter has five tiers
ELK’s bonus buy system X-iter™ once again has five options. The cheapest, Bonus Hunt, costs 3x your bet and raises the chance of the bonus by more than 4x. Above it come Mega Hunt at 10x, a 25x mode with a bear illustration, Bonus at 100x, and Super Bonus at 250x.
The official name and effect of the 25x mode appear in the brochure only as an illustration. No name is written next to it, so you will have to check it yourself in the demo.
Of the five tiers, Bonus Hunt is the same 3x as in Pirots 5, and Super Bonus is the same 250x. The difference is in the middle. Pirots 5 put in a 50x coin game mode, while Grizzly Stampede put in a 25x bear mode. It is a pattern of slotting each game’s most distinctive feature into the mid-price tier.
Volatility 8, 24.8% hit frequency
Here are the official figures. RTP is 87.0-96.0% depending on the operator and market, and volatility is 8 out of 10. The hit frequency is 24.8%, and the max payout cap is 5 million euros. Bets range from 0.20 euros to 100 euros.
What stands out is that the max payout cap is five times that of Pirots 5 and Quackers. With the max win opened up to 50,000x, the cap was raised along with it. Multiply the top bet of 100 euros by 50,000x and you get exactly 5 million euros. On the other side, the volatility of 8 is a sign that dry spells without wins can be long. A hit frequency of 24.8% is about one in four, but most of those are small wins. It is a good idea to start with the free demo and check how fast the totem fills up.
Source: ELK Studios official news · ELK Studios product brochure · ELK Studios official launch video