History buffs, pay attention: this is the slot for you. Battle Royal takes players back to the 16th century and to the courts of Henry VIII, as they spin the reels to determine which of Henry’s wives are next to the guillotine. It’s a gruesome theme that may be too gory for some, though it’s worth noting that none of the in-game graphics are particularly explicit; aside from a few details which flag up the plot, the visuals and soundtrack feel purely historical, with a pleasant Tudor melody playing in the background while the reels spin. Battle Royal isn’t a particularly inspired slot, though it will appeal to players keen on its unique theme.
Gameplay
Battle Royal is a video slot with five reels, three rows, and 20 fixed pay-lines – a pretty classic layout. Players spin the reels to try and make winning combinations of spades, hearts, clubs, and diamonds – the lower value symbols – as well as wives of Henry VIII. There’s a scatter symbol, in the form of an English shield, and King Henry VIII himself takes on the role of the game’s wild. Battle Royal’s standard game-play is pretty fun, but the bonus mechanics are definitely the reason why people play this game.
Bonus mechanics
If players land the game’s scatter symbol on both the first and final reels, they’ll get a choice between the symbols with each one leading to a different special feature: one is a simple re-spins round and another is a pick-and-click bonus game. In The Heads Will Roll Free Spins, players will start by selecting which of the six wives they think will be last wife standing on the reels; then, on each free spin, if any part of a wife character is visible on the reels a guillotine will come down and behead her – she’ll then be a stacked wild for the rest of the round. It’s easy to see how quickly this round can add up to big wins. The other bonus, Long Live the King, is simply a matter of picking treasure chests for bonus coins until Henry VIII gets chased off by a ghost – it’s easy, but it’s fun.
Mobile gameplay
Like most modern Play’N Go slots, Battle Royal is perfectly playable on mobile. It works on both iOS and Android devices, and the game’s graphics still look great even on a smaller display, so you can play this on to the go whether you’re on tablet or smartphone.
Return to player
The return to player (RTP) of Battle Royal is a generous 96.56%; Play’N Go offer quite a lot of slots with RTPs just a little above average, so players who like to play the numbers and choose slots with good rates shouldn’t be put off by this game’s figures. It’s a high variance game, though, so most of us will lose quite a few coins before making a big win.
The final verdict
Battle Royal is a decent little slot game with a few nice special features and a unique, if a little niche, theme. It’s not for the faint-hearted, both because of its high volatility and its somewhat gruesome theme, but it can be great fun for the right kind of player.