Dark King: Forbidden Riches

Dark King: Forbidden Riches is a visually stunning feature-rich 5-reel, 20 payline slot developed by NetEnt. This eerie title features multiplier wilds and a terrifyingly good free spins bonus round that see sticky wilds really boost players' bankrolls.  

Design

Where do we begin with this game? Just like most of the slots NetEnt have developed over the years, this one is just wonderfully designed. The team tasked with creating this game team have knocked it out of the park. 

This ominous horror-themed slot does everything right, all the way down to the most minute of details. The reels sit inside what we can only assume is an ancient tomb, as there are many skulls set into the stone wall to the right, whilst on the left is the Dark King himself watching over events.

Low paying symbols appear as your standard card suits 10, J, Q, K, A whilst high paying symbols are a little bit more dramatic. There's the grim repeat on a skeletal horse, a plague doctor carrying a green lantern, an armour-clad warrior carrying a weapon made of what looks like a human spine, another warrior brandishing a large two-handed sword and of course the Dark King himself. The game's wild symbol is a magic blue sphere that can bring the dark King to life.

One area online slot developers are often guilty of ignoring is the music and soundtrack associated with their game, it's easy to cheap out and just place some generic music on top of their slot... But not here! Dark King: Forbidden Riches sounds fantastic, the music fits the theme down to a tee, it genuinely felt like we were playing a AAA videogame, not an online slot. 

We have to give full credit to NetEnt on this occasion, because they've easily created what has to be one of the spookiest, most atmospheric online slot games we've ever had the pleasure of playing.   

Gameplay 

Like many NetEnt slots Dark King: Forbidden Riches has a semi-transparent action bar along the bottom of the game screen that doesn't detract too much from the elaborate design of the game. 

On the left-hand side of the action bar players can access a hamburger menu that has game settings, the information page that has the paytable and bonus feature details and the players bet value (which can be set anywhere between 0.20 and 40).

In the centre of the action bar players can set up to 1000 automated spins, set the game to turbo mode, and of course spin the reels. The right-hand side of the action bar has all the player's information on their current stake and casino balance. 

Win Potential

Sadly this is another case of a wonderfully designed slot being let down by a poor win potential. Dark King: Forbidden Riches may well be one of the best looking slots on the market, but what's the point if nobody wants to play it as it's stringent with payouts?

This slot has a decent RTP of 96.06% and a below-average maximum payout of 2,000x the player's stake, which for a slot released post-2020 is depressingly low. 

Our Verdict

It's genuinely such a shame that Dark King: Forbidden Riches has such a disappointing win potential, this game could have easily ranked up there as one of the best slots to come out in 2020.