Polar Explorer slot by Realtime Gaming (RTG)

There is little to learn about how to play Polar Explorer beyond the stake, and it is the only thing that has to be set before the first spin. What the Polar Explorer paytable promises is stated against that number and not in cash.

A win in Polar Explorer is a run of matching symbols on one of its 25 lines, counted from the leftmost reel rightwards; a combination that starts anywhere else does not pay. Only the highest win on each line is paid, so two hits on the same line do not add up.

The full table of payouts sits in the Polar Explorer menu, and it is worth opening before the first round rather than after a result that looks wrong: it lists every symbol, the entry for Explorer Wild, and the conditions each one needs.

Under the art, Polar Explorer is a straightforward 5 reels, 3 rows and 25 paylines machine. Wins are read left to right from the first reel, and only the highest combination on each line counts, so a second explorer further along the same line adds nothing. Payouts climb steeply near the top: the explorer is worth many times what a polar bear pays, and the card ranks at the bottom exist mainly to keep a losing spin from looking empty.

The wild here is Explorer Wild — substitutes for everything and doubles the line. That is the single most important line in the Polar Explorer paytable, because it is what turns a near miss into a paid line. The Polar Explorer ceiling is 3,000× the line bet, which is a feature number, not a base-game one.

Free Games is the part of the paytable to read twice: up to twenty free spins. So the honest way to read Polar Explorer is as two games stacked: the base grid, which ticks over, and the feature, which does not.

There are three things worth waiting for in Polar Explorer, starting with Explorer Wild. None of them fire often; all of them change the shape of a Polar Explorer session when they do.

Explorer Wild: substitutes for everything and doubles the line, counted against the same line bet you staked. Everything else Polar Explorer does on the base grid is a preamble to Explorer Wild.

Free Games (up to twenty free spins, which on Polar Explorer is where 3,000× the line bet starts). Watch for the Free Games trigger rather than the reels — on Polar Explorer it is easier to miss than you would expect.

Expedition Bonus. The paytable entry reads: pick a route for a payout. Expedition Bonus is the part of Polar Explorer most worth having a balance left for.

None of these fire on demand, and that is the point: Explorer Wild is worth having a balance left for, and the rest of Polar Explorer is the wait.

A spin on Polar Explorer costs the line bet multiplied by 25 lines. Halving the line bet halves the Polar Explorer spin and every number in its paytable at the same time — the two move together. The maximum of Polar Explorer is quoted as a multiple for exactly this reason (3,000× the line bet): it scales with your stake instead of being a fixed sum, so it means the same thing at any bet size.

Volatility on Polar Explorer is medium, which means it pays often enough to keep a session moving and hard enough now and then to be worth the wait. Be careful with any RTP figure you find for Polar Explorer elsewhere. RTG sets the return per operator, not per game, so Polar Explorer runs differently from one casino to the next. The only figure worth trusting for Polar Explorer is the one printed in its own paytable.

There is no reason to ladder the stake on Polar Explorer: each spin stands alone, and its paytable scales linearly with whatever you set. Autoplay on Polar Explorer stops on a feature trigger, which is the setting worth using: the base grid runs at speed and you still catch Explorer Wild.

Size the stake on Polar Explorer so the balance covers a few hundred spins — that is roughly the window in which the game shows you what it does. A limit set before Polar Explorer loads is worth more than one set at the end of a losing run; the tools for it are in your account.

Polar Explorer counts at the full 100% towards wagering, as every slot in our lobby does, and the conditions live on the bonus page. Polar Explorer keeps the loop simple: set the stake, let it run, and watch for Explorer Wild.

One thing not to do with Polar Explorer is chase Explorer Wild by raising the stake after a dry run: its trigger frequency does not change with bet size, only the cost of waiting does. If Polar Explorer stops being comfortable, the responsible gaming page lists the limits, the cooling-off options and the outside organisations we work with.

The player Polar Explorer is for is the one who wants a game that pays often enough to stay interesting without flattening out. The natural companion in our lobby is Penguin Palooza; the corner of the catalogue is close, the feel is not.

Put Polar Explorer beside Penguin Palooza and the shared parts fall away quickly. Start with Polar Explorer if you want a game that keeps showing you something. Full specifications for Polar Explorer — the 5 reels, 3 rows and 25 paylines, volatility, the top end (3,000× the line bet), the feature list and the release year — are in the table at the top of this page.

Penguin Palooza