Aldo’s Journey Slot Review

Aldo’s Journey is a video slot from Yggdrasil Gaming with 5 reels and 65 paylines across five rows. Released in November 2019, this game can be played at online casinos such as Vera&John, Casumo or Maria Casino.

Theme and general information

Aldo’s Journey reminds us of the travels of Marco Polo. He clearly inspired this game and its main character, Aldo. The titular figure is quite prominent on the reels, where he wanders around all the time, just like Marco Polo did.

The slot comes with great 3D animations that are drawn in a comic style. It’s much lighter than many of the dark and gloomy slots we often get from Yggdrasil Gaming. The colours are bright, the atmosphere is light and fun, and the background tune are also cheery and lively instead of gloomy and orchestral.

Aldo himself is quite charming as he wanders across the reels. Sometimes he pulls out his little telescope to look ahead. He is a wild symbol, by the way. There is another generic Wild that looks like a coin with a W stamped on it. There are also low-value symbols in the shape of little tiles with the card suit symbols stamped on them. The higher value symbols are gems, though they pay out a maximum of 2x our stake for 5 on a payline.

And speaking of paylines, we get 65 in this game. It may look a bit like a grid slot with cluster pays, but the paylines are fixed across the 5 reels and 5 rows.

You can play this game from 0.10 to 100.00 per spin.

The Journey Wild

Aldo is indeed the main attraction in the base game. In true form, he wanders around the reels on every spin, helping to create winning combinations if he manages to land in the right spot.

That doesn’t always happen, of course, but watching him on his journey is quite entertaining.

Also, if he lands in the centre of the reels, on the compass, the Wild Time feature is triggered and you either get 3 to 9 wilds added to the reels or a 2x to 4x multiplier on your next win (if there’s a win).

Five different free spin locations

You will notice that the reels are separated into four different sections, roughly four quarters on the 5×5 grid. In the centre, we get the compass, which marks its own area. Around the reels, we also see four different locations. Aldo visits these locations on his extensive journeys. And when three scatters (the compass) land on the reels, Aldo’s position on the grid determines which area we travel to and which of the five free spin features we get:

• China – We start off with a x2 multiplier, whilst Aldo leaves a trail of wilds behind as he wanders along the reels.
• Italy – Again, we start with a x2 multiplier, but now it is increased on every spin.
• Mongolia – On each spin, one of the symbols is removed from the reels. On the last spin, only two symbols will be left, and we get a multiplier of 1x added.
• Persia – On each spin, a Sticky Wild is added to the reels.
• Journey – This is the feature launched when Aldo happens to sit on the centre position of the reels as the free spins are triggered. We start with a x2 multiplier and on each spin, we get the free spin feature of the area Aldo happens to be in.

Whichever free spin feature is triggered, we get 7 free spins. The Wild Time feature can also be activated. We then get 3 to 9 wilds added for the next spin or a 1x, 2x or 3x multiplier for all spins. Only during the Journey free spins will we get 3 extra spins.

Conclusion: Entertaining slot with a unique gameplay that can eat up your budget

The theoretical RTP (Return to Player) for Aldo’s Journey is 96.5%, which is not too bad, though the slot can definitely be quite volatile. Additionally, the payouts for the high-value symbols are so low that you have to hope for a multiplier or extra wilds to get some decent wins.

Whilst the free spin features often add extra wilds or multipliers, they are still not very generous with their wins. In theory, it should be possible to win about 3,000x your stake in this game, but getting there seems to be almost impossible.

Aldo’s Journey comes with a surprisingly fun theme for Yggdrasil Gaming. The gameplay is interesting, the main character charming and the overall atmosphere light and even cute. But all that doesn’t make up for the fact that you are not likely to win big here. This slot is certainly more suited to casual players than those wanting to take risks or seeking thrills.