Launched in 2011, Black Knight is among the most recognizable titles in the catalog of the established game supplier WMS. This 5-reel slot offers 10 fixed paylines you can win on and poses a great choice for players craving a more straightforward gaming experience. While it has certainly lost some of its luster over the years, Black Knight still offers a decent enough range of special features.
Players who decide to give it a go will benefit from wilds, scatters, free spins, and a Big Bet feature that is unique to WMS slots. The game is playable for as little as $/€0.10 and has a flexible theoretical return that reaches 97.75% during Big Bet games.
Black Knight Slot Summary | |
Game Provider: WMS | Release Date: 2011 |
Game Type: Video Slot | Theme(s): Medieval, Middle Ages |
Reels: 5 | Wild Symbols: Yes |
Rows: 3 | Scatters: Yes |
Paylines: 10 fixed lines | Free Spins: Yes |
Payout/RTP: 94% | Bonus Game: No |
Volatility Level: Medium | Progressive Jackpot: No |
Min Bet: 0.10 | Autoplay: Yes |
Max Bet: 500 | Max Win: 500x |
Black Knight Theme
Theme-wise, this iconic WMS release borrows heavily from medieval literature and more specifically, from the stories about the exploits of the legendary King Arthur. It transports players to Camelot where they get to meet the fair Guinevere and Arthur himself as the highest paying symbols on the reels.
The other icons also correspond to the game’s medieval theme and include knights, jesters, crowns, signet rings, maps, sovereign orbs, and scepters. The colorful and crisp-looking symbols are easy to tell apart, although they are hardly the height of sophistication compared to the visuals in modern slots. The sound effects are quite generic but this is to be expected considering the game’s age.
How Black Knight Compares to Other Slot Games
Building on the success of their original slot, WMS subsequently released Black Knight II in 2014. The sequel comes with crisper graphics and more compelling sound effects that include neighing horses, blaring trumpets, and cheering crowds. The developers have raised the bar by adding a fourth row on the reel grid and increasing the number of paylines from ten to forty. Players can deactivate some of these since the lines are adjustable rather than fixed as is the case in the original.
More Similar Slots
- The Sword and the Grail by Play’n GO
- Avalon by Microgaming
- Book of King Arthur by Just for the Win
- Excalibur by NetEnt
Black Knight Symbols and Payouts
Black Knight is your typical video slot where players must align at least three identical symbols on a payline to bag a payout. As per usual, the winning combinations must occur on adjacent reels, starting with the leftmost one. The scatter is the only exception from this rule as it pays it any position.
King Arthur is the top payer awarding 2500 times the line bet for five of a kind, followed by Queen Guinevere and the Jester with a payout of 250 times the line bet for the same combination. Five crowns and five sovereign orbs pay 100 times the amount wagered per line. All other symbols yield prizes of up to 50 times the line wager.
Black Knight Combinations and Payouts | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Symbols | 2 Matches | 3 Matches | 4 Matches | 5 Matches |
King Arthur | – | x2500 | x250 | x50 |
Queen Guinevere | – | x250 | x100 | x15 |
Jester | – | x250 | x100 | x15 |
Crown | – | x100 | x20 | x10 |
Sovereign Orb | – | x100 | x20 | x10 |
Map | – | x50 | x10 | x5 |
Signet Ring | – | x50 | x10 | x5 |
Scepter | – | x50 | x10 | x5 |
Scatter | – | – | – | x500 |
Bonus Features Overview
Black Knight may be an old-school video slot but it still comes with several useful features that improve your overall experience and winning chances. The developers have included wilds and scatters that pay in any position and activate a bonus round of up to 12 free spins. There is also a Big Bet feature that automatically increases your bets for the next five spins and boasts a higher theoretical return compared to the base game.
Wild and Scatter Symbols
The eponymous knight the slot borrows its name from acts as a standard wild during the base game and replaces all icons except the scatter that triggers the free spins. On the downside, the wild appears only on the second, third, and fourth reels.
The wild knight behaves differently in Big Bet mode. It transforms into a sticky wild that remains in position for the duration of the feature and is capable of substituting all symbols, including the bonus scatter. As for the scatter, it awards a fixed jackpot of 500 times the total wager for five of a kind in the main game.
Free Spins
Landing three bonus scatters during the base game awards 7 free spins. Players can make the most of this feature by landing four scatters, in which case they get 12 free spins. The wild knight expands to cover more reel positions during free spins and sticks in place for the rest of the round. The bonus scatter is not present in free spins mode, however.
Big Bet Feature
Like other popular WMS video slots, this one is equipped with a Big Bet feature that allows players to wager a larger fixed amount on five autoplayed spins in succession. In this case, the feature automatically boosts your bet size per spin to 20 units in the respective currency. It is worth mentioning this is not a symbol-driven bonus game per se. Players can activate this functionality at their sole discretion. The slot’s expected return increases to 97.75% during the Big Bet game.
Pros & Cons of Black Knight
- The broader bet range can accommodate any budget
- All symbols are theme-related, including the low payers
- The straightforward gameplay renders the game suitable for slot newbies
- Players must raise their stakes to benefit from a higher RTP percentage
- The sound effects are rather generic
- The slot lacks a symbol-driven bonus game
Black Knight FAQs
Is there an autoplay feature in the Black Knight slot?
Black Knight has an autoplay feature that enables spinners to play 10, 50, 100, or 200 successive rounds without interruption. Players can adjust the settings so that the feature deactivates after their winnings or losses exceed a specific amount.
Are there any other options for gameplay customization in Black Knight?
Players who find the generic sound effects annoying can easily turn them off from the settings menu. We regret to say the slot lacks any other gameplay customization options, though. We failed to locate a quick-spin function anywhere in the settings. Playing in full-screen mode is also impossible to our knowledge.
What long-term theoretical return can I anticipate from Black Knight?
As we mentioned earlier, the expected return in Black Knight fluctuates based on the amount wagered per spin. The RTP is quite modest at 94% when you wager less than $/€2 per single round. The percentage increases to 96% when players raise their stakes to $/€2 or more. The theoretical return peaks at 97.75% during Big Bet games where you play five auto spins of $/€4 each.