Pub Kings Slot Review

Pub Kings Slot Overview

Pub Kings from Pragmatic Play throws me straight into a Viking pub crawl rather than a historical raid. The base game sits outside a stone-built pub on a bright day, with a progress bar that fills with beer when the slot loads and a jolly soundtrack that makes me thirsty for a few cold ones. It has that warm, feel-good vibe of a favourite weekend tipple with friends.

Under the glossy surface, Pub Kings runs on a highly volatile math model with a default RTP of 96.08%, although some operators use 95.01% or 94.04% settings. The action plays out on a 5x4 grid with 20 paylines, delivering wins left to right. Bets range from 0.20 to 240 per spin, and the game can pay up to 5,000x the bet, so the swings are very real.

Pub Kings Slot Information

When Pub Kings hit my screen, I could tell straight away it was a Pragmatic Play slot. The interface is simple, with 5 reels, 4 rows, and 20 fixed paylines cutting across from the leftmost reel. Wins land when 3 to 5 matching symbols hit on adjacent reels on a valid payline. Bet adjustments sit under the reels, and there are Quickspin and Turbo options if I want faster rounds.

There are 11 symbols on the reels of Pub Kings, and interestingly there is no wild symbol at all. Instead, the game leans heavily on the Golden Viking scatter that appears only on reels 1, 3, and 5. That scatter is the key to both Random Awards in the base game and the free spins bonus. The whole setup runs smoothly on mobile, so I can happily spin on a phone during a real pub session.

Symbols and Payouts in Pub Kings

The Pub Kings online slot uses 11 symbols in total, with 10 paying icons and one scatter driving features. All symbol payouts are based on the total stake, which is something I always double-check in the paytable before raising my bets. The low-priced symbols are the traditional 10, J, Q, K, and A royals, paying roughly from 0.5x up to 15x the stake for 3 to 5 of a kind.

The higher-paying end of the Pub Kings paytable is where the Vikings come in. Pink, Yellow, Blue, Green, and Purple Viking characters form the premium set, and they look like they spend more time in the pub than on the battlefield. Landing 5 of a kind with these can award about 25x, 50x, 75x, 100x, and 150x the bet, respectively, which is pretty hefty for line wins on a 20-line slot.

The Golden Viking sign is the scatter in Pub Kings and only lands on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th reels. It does not pay directly, but it is central to the slot’s extra action. Two scatters can activate the Random Awards feature in the base game, while three scatters at once launch the free spins. As a regular gambler, I always treat this symbol as the one that decides whether a session gets interesting.

Symbols and Paytable

Symbol	Quantity	Payout
	5	x150
	4	x25
	3	x7.5
	5	x100
	4	x15
	3	x5
	5	x75
	4	x10
	3	x3.5
	5	x50
	4	x7.5
	3	x2.5
	5	x25
	4	x5
	3	x2
	5	x15
	4	x2.5
	3	x1
	5	x15
	4	x2.5
	3	x1
	5	x5
	4	x1.5
	3	x0.5
	5	x5
	4	x1.5
	3	x0.5
	5	x5
	4	x1.5
	3	x0.5
	Scatter

Pub Kings Slot Bonus Features

The main twist in Pub Kings is the Random Awards feature. Whenever exactly 2 scatters land, there is a chance they will pick a random reel and award a prize from levels 1 to 5 in the base game. Each reel carries its own seven-level table, from smaller prizes on reel 5 up to huge awards on reel 1, where level 1 starts at 10x and the top level can hit 5,000x the bet.

Three scatters on reels 1, 3, and 5 trigger 10 free spins with a collection mechanic. During Pub Kings free spins, each Viking character is associated with one reel, and every instance of that symbol is collected into the corresponding meter. Collecting 6 of a kind on a reel activates level 1, and every extra batch of 3 upgrades the level up to 7. At the end, the Viking with the most beers pays its current award, with ties settled by paying the highest prize.

For players who do not fancy waiting, there is a Bonus Buy option in Pub Kings where it is allowed. Paying 100x the current stake buys direct access to the free spins, with the theoretical RTP nudging to around 96.05%. As a UK player I cannot use bonus buy here, but having tested it elsewhere, it gives a clear view of how the feature behaves and what sort of average returns the bonus round tends to produce.

Pub Kings Slot RTP & Volatility

On paper, Pub Kings offers a theoretical RTP of 96.08% in its highest setting, though some casinos switch it down to 95.01% or 94.04%. Volatility is high, and long test runs have shown a hit rate of around 22.88%, with the bonus feature landing on average once in about 221 spins. The win cap of 5,000x the bet sits at roughly 1 in 14 million spins, so I keep stakes sensible and expect dry spells.

The Final Thoughts on Pub Kings

For me, Pub Kings shows Vikings in their most entertaining mood, hoisting beers instead of swinging axes. The art and upbeat music combine nicely with the pub-on-the-cliff backdrop, and the lack of clutter makes each spin easy to follow. Random Awards in the base game mean that two scatters can suddenly matter a lot, and the free spins turn into a real race as the Viking meters climb and the beers stack up.

Pub Kings is not the most complex Viking slot I have played, and the absence of wilds plus a single main bonus round might put off players who want layered features. On the other hand, the strong line pays, chance of up to 5,000x random awards, and that climactic collector-style bonus keep me coming back when I fancy a volatile but straightforward session with thirsty Vikings at the bar.

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