Online slots | Avalon II pokies review

Avalon II slot review

Although released many years ago, Avalon II remains one of Microgaming’s most popular and loved online pokies games, continuing on the popularity of its predecessor, the original Avalon pokies. This five-reel video pokies game first became high demand due to its 243 ways format and large number of intricate bonus features, and remains popular today for these reasons despite being visually outdated.

Best online casinos to play Avalon II

How to play Avalon II

Avalon II: The Quest for the Grail follows a mythical theme based on the legend of King Arthur but with an entertaining choose-your-own-adventure style format which remains unique to this day.

Once you’ve signed up for an account with one of our recommended casinos, make a real money deposit using a safe payment method like Visa, MasterCard, Neteller, Skrill, Paysafecard or direct bank transfer. You also have the option of playing Avalon II for free-play in demo mode first to see if you like the game before making a real cash wager.

Once you’ve loaded the game, use the arrows alongside ‘coin size’, ‘coins’ and ‘bet’ to increase or decrease the amount of money you wish to bet per spin. Remember this is a 243 ways game, which means winning combinations can appear anywhere across the reels. You can also choose to activate the auto-play feature, which allows the computer to play up to 500 spins on your behalf, but be mindful this is a quick way to chew through your bankroll. Once your bet is in place, hit the spin button and sit back and watch the magic happen.

Symbols and bonus features in Avalon II

Avalon II is so packed with special features it can be a little overwhelming at first, with much more going on in this game than you’ll find in even the newest, most innovative pokies. We’ve broken down each bonus feature and special symbol in an attempt to counteract any confusion with newbies to this game:

Wild symbol – there are two wild symbols within Avalon II. The first is the Lady of the Lake wild which only appears on reel three, but becomes an expanding wild to award additional wins. The second is the Avalon II logo which can appear as a stacked wild anywhere across the reels. Both wild symbols can substitute any other symbol to form a win except for the Holy Grail scatter symbol.
Merlin symbol – Merlin can appear randomly at any time during game play to award a random cash prize or multiplier, providing a nice surprise to boost your wins around every corner.
Grail Bonus – triggered by an appearance of three or more of the Holy Grail symbols in any paying position, the Grail Bonus awards a jackpot of up to 120,000 credits. Once this bonus is triggered, you’ll be redirected to the map of Avalon where you make your way through one of eight different missions, being redirected back to the main game once your mission is complete. You’ll then need to re-trigger three of more Holy Grail symbols to re-enter the bonus feature and move onto the next mission.

The eight Holy Grail missions in Avalon II are explained below:

Lake of Legend – here you are given 10 rolls of the dice in an attempt to reassemble the fragments and resurrect the sword of Excalibur. Each roll of the dice awards a corresponding multiplier, and if you manage to reforge Excalibur within 10 rolls you’ll earn an additional 15X multiplier bonus. Restore Excalibur within less spins and you’ll get a 6X multiplier for every remaining roll of the dice.
Misty Vale – receive 15 free spins and select a character to become your ‘extra wild’ symbol during these spins, an appearance of which will award you a 2X wild multiplier, substituting all other symbols to form a win other than the Holy Grail symbol.
Whispering Woods – a mythical white knight will appear and give you the option of choosing one of five protective shields, each of which carries a different bonus multiplier. You can choose to change your shield for another one, with two chances to change your mind.
Forest Falls – here you’ll be awarded with 20 free spins, during which the Avalon II logo symbol becomes a trailing wild, creating a trail of wild symbols as they slide across the reels. Free spins can’t be retriggered during this feature.
Dusky Moors – match two of the same helms to win a prize, increasing the amount of your multiplier by revealing individual helms before revealing your pair. All bonus wins are multiplied by the current active bet.
Morgan’s Keep – receive 20 free spins with rolling reels, where consecutive wins will increase the multiplier value between 2X and 6X. Free spins can’t be retriggered during this feature.
Hall of Shadows – go head to head with a dark knight in a battle for the Holy Grail, where each strike or block you make against him will award you with a bonus, the amount of which will depend on the strength of your attack.
Isle of Avalon – spin the Avalon prize wheel to reveal a mystery prize, with even bigger rewards appearing on the third wheel.

Best online casinos for real money play

Given the overwhelming popularity of this game, you’ll find Avalon II at all Microgaming powered casinos along with a vast majority of multi-provider venues. When it comes to safe, licensed casinos accepting real money bets, these top casino sites get our vote:

Avalon II can be played at all of these casinos in instant-play mode directly over your web browser, while Royal Vegas, All Slots and Casino-Mate also offer the option of downloading exclusive casino software. As Avalon II is one of the most popular online slots on the Net, you’ll also find it at most mobile casinos optimised for play on smartphones and tablets for both iOS and Android powered devices.

TopOnlineCasinoSites verdict on Avalon II

At first glance it’s easy to be turned off of Avalon II – the graphics are subpar and very outdated compared to the level of animation we’re used to seeing in new pokies from developers like NetEnt, Thunderkick and BetSoft, but once you start playing this real money online slot and triggering those huge, exciting bonus features, it’s easy to see why so many players are hooked on Avalon II. There really aren’t many pokies which compare to this one as far as the level of detail and variety which has gone into the bonus games, so it’s definitely worth a try, for seasoned players and beginners.

Play Avalon II at Royal Vegas Casino and claim up to $1200 in welcome bonuses upon making your first four real money deposits.