Mythic Wolf Review: Popular, Straightforward, Engaging

Mythic Wolf is a popular 5×3 slot from Rival, focusing on the Native American perception of the wolf as a noble hunter in the night. From the silvery-blue lighting to the various native-themed symbols and background music, Mythic Wolf delivers an engaging online slot experience.

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Incidentally, when Rival first introduced this game back in 2014, it was called Mystic Wolf, but a few years later, the developer changed the name to Mythic Wolf. By either name, the game is simple to understand and relatively loose with how it pays out, although I found too many of them to be of the “micro-win” variety.

Since its introduction nearly a decade ago, Mythic Wolf has grown in popularity to the point that it can be found at online casinos serving virtually every jurisdiction that permits online gambling.

Mythic Wolf Key Information

  • Theme: Wolves, Nature, Native American Mysticism
  • RTP: ~94.6%
  • Volatility: Low
  • # of Paylines: 1 to 50
  • # of reels: 5
  • Software Provider: Rival
  • Min/Max Bet: $0.01 to $125 (1 to 10 coins valued between $0.01 and $0.25 each)
  • Maximum Win: 15,000
  • Jackpot: Yes
  • Features: Mythic Wolf Super Round, Lunar Phase Bonus Round, re-triggerable free spins

How to Play Mythic Wolf

With its industry-standard five reel by three row format, learning how to play Mythic Wolf online is simplicity itself. I’d played the game before, but while checking out the finer details for this Mythic Wolf review, I was surprised to learn that the game’s range of wagering options is quite broad. You can value your coin bet from $0.01 to $0.25, and can wager from one of ten of those coins. Add in the pay line options, from one to 50, and you’ve got a slot game flexible enough to serve every bankroll.

Mythic Wolf

The info and pay table pages are straightforward and easy to understand. In addition to the spin button, there’s a rudimentary autoplay button with selectable spins ranging from 3 to 99.

The game itself is set in a snow-covered wilderness displayed in silvery-blue moonlight. The background music is strongly suggestive of a Native American drum and flute dirge. The original game’s soundtrack was a bit heavy on the drums, but the updated version of Mythic Wolf features a much milder soundtrack that still manages to evoke a Native American milieu.

This slot is all about the wolf, so it should come as no surprise that the wolf appears on the reels in multiple forms: a leaping wolf that serves as the game’s wild/multiplier; a close-up of the wolf staring intensely at something or someone (not us, fortunately); an evocative symbol of the wolf howling at the moon. Other regular symbols are a diamond, a silver coin, a close-up of the moon, and the 9 through ace.

Besides the leaping-wolf wild, there are a couple of other special symbols. The scatter symbol is a pair of feathers, which can trigger free spins. The other is a symbol representing two diamond-shaped dice that only appear during free spins, and three or more of which trigger a Lunar Phase bonus round.

Learning how to play Mythic Wolf is simple: spin the reels to try to land on a winning pay line. The low volatility of the game virtually guarantees that your wins are going to be of the micro variety — or at least that was my experience in the hours I spent test-driving the game.

I have nothing against micro-wins, but betting a dollar to win $0.50 is not a winning strategy. Luckily, the free spins happen quite regularly. The long and short of it is this: if you want to know how to win on Mythic Wolf, you’re going to want to concentrate on the bonus features.

Mythic Wolf Bonus Features

Any honest Mythic Wolf review is going to agree that the game is not what you’d call top-heavy as far as bonuses and other special features are concerned, but that doesn’t mean Mythic Wolf isn’t fun or profitable. Further, the two Mythic Wolf bonus features available occur with satisfying frequency, and can be quite lucrative.

Mythic Wolf Super Round

Trigger: Three Feather Symbols during regular play

The is the primary Mythic Wolf bonus feature, so of course you want it to happen as often as possible. The free spins are known as the Super Round, which is triggered by feather symbols (three feather symbols trigger seven free spins, four trigger 15, and five trigger 50 free spins). During this feature, the 5x wild becomes a 10x wild. Your chances of winning the random jackpot are also increased.

Not only is the number of free spins fairly generous in comparison to other slots, but I discovered during my own play that they are awarded as frequently as every few minutes.

Also note that it’s possible to retrigger free spins during this Super Round, with the number of free spins awarded increased significantly, as shown in the table below:

Super Round Free Spins
Initial Trigger Retrigger
# of Feather Symbols 3 4 5 3 4 5
# of Free Spins 7 15 50 10 20 70

If you’re concerned about how to win on Mythic Wolf, the Super Round is your answer.

Lunar Phase Bonus Round

Trigger: Three or more Silver Dice Symbols during Super Round

This Mythic Wolf bonus round can be triggered only during the Super Round and occurs when at least three silver diamond-shaped dice appear during a spin. This interrupts the Super Round and takes you to a separate screen.

Mythic Wolf Gameplay Lunar Phase Bonus Round

A circle comprised of the eight phases of the moon will appear, and you’ll be offered an opportunity to select three of those phases. Once you’ve selected your three phases, clicking the center of the circle rolls the silver dice. If at least one of the two dice shows any of the phases you selected, you win a random prize.

You get to roll the dice a total of three times, either winning a random prize each time, or winning nothing. Once this is done, the game returns to complete your Super Round free spins. My first try at this bonus got me exactly nothing, but a subsequent Lunar Phase round returned $42 on a 50-cent bet. Not life-changing but any means, but satisfying, nonetheless.

Random Win

Trigger: Random, during regular and bonus play

In updated versions of the Mythic Wolf, this is called Wolf Win, but in the original game, it’s called simply “random win.” In either case, it’s a jackpot of undisclosed size that can be awarded any time during game play, but (according to the game’s info pages) happens more frequently and is of a larger size during the Special Round. With some slots, the random jackpot is sufficient motivation to play (and in some cases, the only real way to win). With the Mythic Wolf online slot, it’s merely an afterthought (more on this later).

Other Versions of the Mythic Wolf Online Slot

Not only is there a sequel to Mythic Wolf, but the game itself is something of a sequel in an “I’m my own grandpa” sort of way. Let me explain.

Mystic Wolf

It wasn’t until 2018 that Mythic Wolf started appearing online, but online gamblers had been playing it for four years. That’s because the game was actually introduced online in 2014 under the name of Mystic Wolf.

Sometime around 2018, the name of the game was quietly changed to Mythic Wolf. The introductory cinematic was also changed. The soundtrack and artwork of the game were updated, as well. The pay tables remained the same, with the exception of the leaping wolf wild symbol having a payout value of its own—that’s omitted in the updated version.

Additionally, the update allowed for one to 50 lines to be wagered upon, rather than the fixed 50-paylines of the original.

Mystic Wolf Original Gameplay
Mythic Wolf Gameplay Old
Mythic Wolf Gameplay New

There are informal theories(1) dismissing the switch as “just a marketing change.” Unfortunately, a visit to Rival’s own website reveals no reason for the change or even an acknowledgement of the original version’s existence.

It’s possible that the name change was due at least in part to the existence of another “Mystic Wolf.” Introduced in 2018 by real-world slot machine manufacturer Zitro(2), the game appears to have been released only in Mexico, and no online version of it ever appears to have been developed.

Maybe Rival changed the name to avoid confusion with the Zitro game, or maybe not. Whatever the reason, I use the name Mythic Wolf for the Rival game because that’s how Rival refers to it(3).

Mythic Wolf: Sacred Moon

The popularity of Mythic Wolf warranted a sequel, so in 2022, Rival introduced slot players to Mythic Wolf: Sacred Moon. It retains many of the features and symbols of Mythic Wolf, but features a 3-4-5-4-3 hexagonal symbol layout that affords 720 bidirectional pay lines.

Two new symbols are featured on Mythic Wolf: Sacred Moon—an American bald eagle, and a Native American dreamcatcher. The eagle is one of the higher scoring regular symbols. The Dreamcatcher replaces the original game’s diamond-shaped dice as the triggering symbol during free spins to bring on the top-tier bonus round, which is aptly named the Dreamcatcher Round.

While Mythic Wolf: Sacred Moon is a bit stingier than its predecessor as far as free spins go, they’re still awarded with a generosity I’d wish more slots exhibited.

Pros and Cons of Mythic Wolf

Pros of Mythic Wolf

  • Widely available online
  • Simple to play
  • Frequent pay outs
  • Frequent triggering of free spins
  • Graphics and soundtrack are well done

Cons of Mythic Wolf

  • Fewer wins despite “low volatility” designation from Rival
  • Below average Return to Player of around 94.6%
  • Jackpot of undisclosed value

I like the atmospherics of Mythic Wolf — the silvery moonlit symbols, the monotonous beating of the drums in the background, and the nobility of the wolf itself. For a rather simple 5×3 slot, the game captures your attention and holds it. If you don’t hear the winter wind whispering through the pines and feel the crunch of the snow under your paws while playing Mythic Wolf — well, trust me, you will.

I like that the wild symbol also serves as a multiplier of any winning pay line in which it appears. That — coupled with the awarding of free spins every few minutes, and the consequential doubling of the wild multiplier from 5x to 10x — really turns the free spins into something deserving the name “Super.”

However, I am disappointed with Mythic Wolf ‘s lower-than-average RTP. I’m also unimpressed with Rival’s claim that the game is of low volatility, which would suggest more frequent wins with smaller pay outs. My problem with Mythic Wolf is that Rival’s claim of its low volatility seems much more wishful thinking than verifiable fact. From my experience with the game, I’d say its volatility needle leans decidedly toward the middle of the low-high spectrum. While you’ll see micro-wins in Mythic Wolf, there won’t be as many as you’d like.

I’d say the biggest swing-and-a-miss of Mythic Wolf is the “Random Win” (“Wolf Win” in updated versions). This isn’t a progressive jackpot – in fact, it’s not a “jackpot” at all. It truly is a random win, one so random that the game doesn’t even tell you how much it is. The feature seems little more than an attempt to add pizzazz to what some might ungenerously characterize as a rather pedestrian slot.

Despite Rival’s minor misstep with this feature, Mythic Wolf is not pedestrian. To summarize this review of Mythic Wolf, the game is simple and straightforward—but it’s also a surprisingly seductive slot game that is fun, easy to understand, and best of all, potentially profitable.

It should come as no surprise that Mythic Wolf isn’t the only online slot game to take advantage of the wolf’s usefulness in telling a tale, whether it be fable, cautionary tale—or the lead character in a captivating game of chance. Here are four more wolf-themed slots that I think belong on any slot player’s to-do list.

Footnotes:

  • “Mythic Wolf – Same Great Game – New Name”, from Slots.lv Forum
  • Introduction Announcement of Zitro’s Mystic Wolf, from AZARplus
  • “Mythic Wolf” Rival