Shields of Lambda Slot

The year is 1958 and rock’n’roll has taken over the airwave. A young Mexican-American by the name of Ritchie Valens has just released a seminal song called La Bamba. Such was the influential power of this song, that some 60 years later it led to a casino game made by Quickspin called Shields of Lambda. 

Sure, there is no actual connection between the two. Granted, the two words La Bamba are nothing like the singular Lambda. And, of course, a 1950s Mexican folk song about learning to dance to the Bamba is worlds apart from the mythical realms of Ancient Greece and their warriors. 

But imagine if the two were connected, perhaps in some multiverse. Greek soldiers marching into a Persian battle with a war cry of “Soy Capitan Soy Capitan, Lambda, Lambda, Lambda, Lambda”. Their enemy would be helpless in fighting off such rhythms. 

This is my review of Shields of Lambda by Quickspin and not a review of Ritchie Valen’s hit song. This review will touch on many pointless things, as already proven, but also on highly important aspects of gameplay, bonus features, software programming, and performance. 

Shields of Lambda is megalithic in scale and stands as a monument to a bygone era of Ancient Greece. The slot is positioned within a mountainous cavern and guarded by colossal Persian and Trojan warriors. The layout of the gaming grid comes with 5 rows and 5 reels. Above this is a progress bar, or Lambda Meter, that records up to 70 Lambda symbols as one of its features. Shields of Lambda is a cluster pays slot that works differently from a standard reel-spinning slot game. 

Before you load the Shields of Lambda slot, first make your deposit into your online casino balance, and then set the price you want to pay per spin. With Shields of Lambda, bets begin at the lowest end of $0.20. The value then increases to $100 as a maximum bet. Use the stacked coins icon to see the full list of betting prices. When you are set and ready to play, select the spin button to begin. 

Before the symbols drop into the reels, you will see Lambda symbols in red points. For every spin played, they will move position. Symbols that land on top of the Lambda, they will be removed and placed into the Lambda Meter.

Fill the Lambda Meter with 70 wins, and you will trigger the Unity Feature. This is just one of several special features in this game. As mentioned earlier, the Shields of Lambda game is a cluster pays slot. So rather than land symbols on a payline pattern, the symbols only need to be part of a cluster of 5 or more matching symbols. The symbols that return the highest wins are the Lion, Goat, Ram, and Owl. The low symbols are the A, K, Q, and J.

The features and bonuses appearing in Shields of Lambda.

Colossal Wilds: These Wilds can appear randomly when a non-winning spin is played. It will also include the Lambda symbols to the meter if any are part of a winning outcome.

Ferryman’s Free Spins: The Scatter symbol has a BNS marker and a hooded figure. Land 3 of these Scatters and you will win 10 free spins. 4 Scatters give you 15 free spins, and 5 of them return a maximum of 20 free bonus spins. 

Gamble: Free spin wins can be gambled to increase the number played with. The risk is a loss of all free spins, but the gain is the chance to win up to 20 free spins. 

Lambda Meter: Land 70 wins to fill the meter. In turn, you will unlock the Unity Feature. This Meter is also used in the Ferryman’s Free Spin, where only 20 wins will activate the Unity feature.

Unity Feature: This feature triggers a full grid of a random low-value symbol. This triggers a tumbler effect, where all symbols are removed with new symbols dropping into the game. However, the next symbols are one up in the hierarchy of value. This feature ends when no wins can be made.

Buy Feature: Players can pay 70 times their bet value to unlock access to the bonus game. This can be risky, given wins are not guaranteed just because it is a bonus round. Plus, you may not win enough to cover the cost of accessing the round. But of all the Bonus Buy features in the market, 70x is one of the cheapest offers. 

It looks like a very impressive game from Quickspin, which miraculously happens from time to time. The Lambda feature, which hides behind symbols is no new thing, but serves a very handy purpose. The random Colossal Wilds were also an advantage. But, with all this said, the wins are muted by the fact the returns are less than the cost of my spins.

With 5 spins left, the bonus round was activated with 3 Scatter symbols. The game is thrown into wonderful chaos. The screen darkens, and the gamble wheel comes with pounding drums. Now, this is kind of kick-ass cool. I didn’t gamble and took the 10 free spins. The bonus round opens on the Ferryman’s boat, and the score builds to an operatic crescendo, which will make the hair on your arms stand to attention. 

Despite the uplift in theatrics, the result was anti-climactic. In total, I won $16.30, which is rather pathetic for a bonus game and spinning at $2 per play. My 50 spins ended and will likely be the last time I gaze upward upon this gigantic game of Greek god-knows-what. 

The RTP is calculated to be 96.13%. The volatility sits between the medium and high settings. And the maximum possible payout is $3,000 for 25+ matching symbols. Oh, that’s right, this game doesn’t come with a high-prized jackpot payout. 

The Shields of Lambda is no chart-topper, it’s no game to make a song or dance about. It surprisingly falls flat despite the idea that the bigger things are the harder they fall. I wouldn’t play this game again, but devotees to Quickspin software may jive to its rhythms. 

There are many online casino games like this, and I’d argue they are better. So, why not check the following slots:

300 Shields Mighty Ways by Light & Wonder

Gods of Troy by Red Tiger

Shield of Sparta by Pragmatic Play

Enjoy these games in their demo mode and look out for the best casinos reviewed by Casinos.com, that allow you to play these slots for real money payouts.