Ashoka - Slot Review: RTP 94% & $2,5M Max Win

Slot	Bigger Bass Bonanza	Whacked	Remember Gulag	Fruit Party	Ashoka

Review	Review and Play	Review and Play	Review and Play	Review and Play	Review and Play
RTP	96.71%	96.07%	96.08%	96.47%	94%
Dev	Pragmatic Play	Nolimit City	Nolimit City	Pragmatic Play	ELK Studios
Paylines	12	243	614656	Cluster Pays	Scatter Pays
Layout	4-4-4-4-4	3-3-3-3-3	4-4-4-4-4-4	7-7-7-7-7-7-7	8-8-8-8-8-8
Max Win	4000	11912	30000	5000	25000
Bet	$0.2 - 240	$0.2 - 200	$0.2 - 100	$0.2 - 100	$0.2 - 100
Graphics	4 / 5	5 / 5	4 / 5	4 / 5	4 / 5
Sound	4 / 5	5 / 5	4 / 5	3 / 5	4 / 5
Gameplay	5 / 5	4 / 5	5 / 5	4 / 5	5 / 5
Rewards	4 / 5	3 / 5	4 / 5	3 / 5	4 / 5
Originality	3 / 5	4 / 5	5 / 5	2 / 5	4 / 5
Overall

Overview

Ashoka is an ELK Studios slot with an ancient Indian theme depicting Emperor Ashoka the Great, an influential Buddhist ruler. Released in April 2023, it has 6 reels, 8 rows, and scattered pays instead of fixed paylines.

Wins are formed by landing 8+ matching symbols anywhere on the reels, triggering cascading explosions and re-spins. Obstructive stone blocks add challenge and strategy trying to remove them for more potential symbol positions.

With high volatility and 94% RTP, Ashoka is all about big rewards despite less frequent payouts. Multipliers, charged wilds, and reel-filling wilds boost earning potential for wins up to 25,000x your stake!

A free spins bonus with sticky multipliers raises excitement during the feature. Meanwhile, the X-iter menu lets you directly buy extras like bonus rounds and charged wilds.

My Thoughts Overall

Right away, Ashoka's cinematic graphics and Indian jungle theme pull you into the historical setting and adventures of Emperor Ashoka the Great. The intricate stone temple reels are a beautiful backdrop while symbols like jeweled cards, gems, and tigers thematically suit the premise of uncovering ancient treasure.

The audio equally impresses, with traditional Indian instruments setting an exotic mood. I especially love the tempo increase when cascades trigger, building anticipation for big wins. The only downside is the music becomes repetitive. More variation could enhance immersion.

Gameplay-wise, Ashoka really innovates the typical cluster pays mechanic through its scattered symbol format and obstructive stone blocks across reels. Needing 8+ adjacent or non-adjacent matching symbols creates frequent cascading reactions as wins explode and new symbols avalanche down.

The blocks add deeper strategy, limiting symbol positions until you clear them with vertical wins. This provides engaging choices trying to remove obstacles for even more potential winning combinations.

Despite lower 94% RTP, Ashoka provides tremendously high rewards through features like charged wilds, big 2x2 and 3x3 wilds, and 2 types of multiplier symbols. When multiple features like these combine in quick succession, the wins feel almost endless!

Of course, the astronomical 25,000x max win makes persisting through inevitable dry spells well worth the patience. Even just one lucky bonus round or base game cascade streak can result in 1000x+ wins or more.

The free spins bonus brings welcome excitement, especially with sticky multipliers carrying over between spins for growing payouts. And being able to directly buy bonuses like extra wilds or free spins through the X-iter menu is a definite perk.

All in all, Ashoka takes a creative historical concept and delivers an innovative, feature-packed slot experience. For players who enjoy volatile, epic rewards, Ashoka provides entertainment and anticipation with each spin of its stone reels!

Bonus Features

Ashoka comes packed with numerous bonus features that make gameplay varied and exciting:

Charged Wilds: These wilds have multiple lives, contributing to up to 3 wins before disappearing. Charged wilds really help connect more symbol matches when combined with cascades.

Big Wilds: The 2x2 and 3x3 wild symbols cover a huge section of the reels when they land, greatly increasing the chance of forming more wins. Their massive size is extremely valuable in filling gaps.

Multipliers: Both the regular and “Super” multiplier symbols apply their values to any wins achieved when they show up. Super multipliers even persist between cascades, growing the payouts exponentially bigger.

Free Spins: Landing 3+ scatter symbols triggers 10 free spins with the chance to retrigger more through additional scatters. Sticky super multipliers remaining between spins make the bonus round highly rewarding.

X-iter: This feature lets you spend multiplier values of your bet to directly buy extras like charged wilds, guaranteed multipliers, or bonus rounds. Purchasing bonuses adds predictability.

These varied features work together seamlessly to create huge win potential and sustained excitement. In particular, I love hitting multiple big wilds and multipliers in a single cascade for truly enormous payouts!

Win Potential

As a high volatility slot, Ashoka's wins don’t come around as frequently but make up for it through sheer size. With 94% RTP, you may experience dry spells in the base game, but patience and persistence pay off.

Even just in regular play, charged wilds, multipliers, and big wild symbols can result in wins in the 500x-5000x range fairly regularly. But clearing blockers and hitting a big cascade of multiple features together can easily ramp up payouts to 1000x stakes or more.

The free spins bonus is where Ashoka really shines in terms of profit potential. With super multipliers remaining sticky between spins, 10 free games can quickly snowball into absolutely massive rewards. It's not unheard of to hit 10,000x+ wins from a good bonus round!

And of course, there's the astronomical max win at 25,000x your bet. While difficult to land in either base gameplay or features, it's a thrill knowing such a jackpot is possible at any time. Just one or two epic spins is all it takes.

Although Ashoka's lower RTP means smaller hits come less often, the win ceiling is staggering. Patience is rewarded with exhilarating cascades bursting with wilds, multipliers, and huge instant payouts that make wading through dry spells well worthwhile!