1942: Sky Warrior slot review

By Red Tiger Gaming

1942: Sky Warrior Slot

1942: Sky Warrior Basic info

Game provider Red Tiger Gaming

Release Date 11/2021

RTP 95.68%

Game Technology HTML5

Popularity Low

Min bet $0.10

Max bet $100

Max Win bet x 999

Gamble Feature Volatility, Freespins, Scatter symbols, Wilds, Stacked symbols

Layout 5x4

Devices Support all devices

Configurable Winlines No

Volatility High

Progressive Jackpot No

1942 Sky Warrior is set in the middle of World War 2 where brave pilots fought each other over the skies of Europe. In this slot, players follow members of the RAF as they battle it out, using wilds, scatters and free spins to win the day.

Developed and released by Red Tiger in 2021, the game brings to life a very dark period in our history. The slot does this in a pretty respectful way, not getting too close to the realities of the time. Instead, we see a number of pilot characters on the 5-reel, 4-row playing field with 30 paylines. Wins are celebrated with a special insignia.

In the background, we can see some fine art of a duel taking place in the sky, largely obscured by the reels. There are some subtle animations but these don’t really help bring the setting to life. Similarly, some of the symbols will show an animation when part of a win. These aren’t as extravagant as we sometimes see in other games.

It is nice to see a different theme, with aerial battles being an underexplored basis for a lot of slots. I did think it all looks very nice with great art and some good but subtle animations. The main issue I have is that there isn’t that much to see. Most of the symbols are traditional card letters and the idea of fighters in the sky isn’t used much in the gameplay either.

Symbols

1942 Sky Warrior makes use of the classic split between low- and high-paying symbols to populate the reels. The high-paying symbols show a variety of fighter pilots looking at the camera. Although they all look distinct, the game makes no effort to give them any sort of personality. The low-paying symbols are based on card letters, made to look like insignia.

Players should prepare for a game with High Volatility. The game does not grant wins very often and even when it does, they tend to be quite small. As a result, I found my funds to drop rapidly and never felt like I had the opportunity to recover. The RTP of 95.68% is considerably lower than the average, which doesn’t help in making the slot feel accessible.

If you’re looking for a massive jackpot to excuse the high volatility, you won’t find it here. The game offers a maximum win of 999x your bet. Although any sum is nice to win, in this case, it feels too little to make the effort worthwhile. Players can pick a bet while they play, choosing one between $0.10 and $100 per spin.

The symbols in the game include:

  • Wild: Wilds substitute all paying symbols in the slot.
  • Ace (Scatter): Get 3 scatters on the screen to activate the free spins mode.
  • Upgraded Gold Pilot: Max. 60x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
  • Upgraded Bronze Pilot: Max. 24x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
  • Upgraded Green Pilot: Max. 18x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
  • Upgraded Titanium Pilot: Max. 15x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
  • Upgraded Iron Pilot: Max. 12x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
  • Gold Pilot: Max. 15x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
  • Bronze Pilot: Max. 12x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
  • Green Pilot: Max. 9x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
  • Titanium Pilot: Max. 7.2x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
  • Iron Pilot: Max. 5.4x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
  • King: Max. 4.5x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
  • Queen: Max. 3.0x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
  • Jack: Max. 2.4x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
  • 10: Max. 1.8x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
  • 9: Max. 1.2x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.

Features

1942 Sky Warrior keeps things rather simple in regards to its features. There are a few that change the gameplay somewhat but they have a limited effect.

The features included in the game are:

  • Wilds: Wilds substitute all regular symbols in the game.
  • Free Spins: With 3 Scatter symbols on the screen the free spins mode is activated. During the free spins mode, every spin has a Wild.
  • Stacked Symbols: All symbols appear stacked, although they don’t always fill the entire reel.
  • Cascading Reels: When a Wild is part of a win, the lowest-paying symbols on the screen will be removed and replaced with new ones.

Players will spend most of their time in the main game. This will usually play out like a classic slot, with few changes to the standard gameplay. Wilds are pretty rare and even when they do appear aren’t likely to be part of a win. When they are, they will remove all lowest-paying symbols on the screen and cause new ones to drop in. It can also result in the pilots being upgraded, paying out more when part of a win. This depends on the kind of win the Wild is a part of.

This sounds like a nice feature, but the new symbols can be the lowest-paying symbols again. There is no reason to expect that the re-spin will cause a bigger win to activate. Another element is the upgraded version of the high-paying symbols. These are present during the free spins mode. The only difference is a slight tweak in their appearance and a higher payout.

Getting the free spins to activate isn’t as hard as one might fear, but it still won’t activate often. During this mode, Wilds appear every spin. The upgraded high-paying symbols pay out more if part of a win, but the game still doesn’t like to hand those out anyway.

Conclusion

1942 Sky Warrior has an original idea but seems to fail to profit from it. The graphics are good and it looks very appealing. There are only a few animations and with all the high-paying symbols looking basically the same it becomes stale quite fast. The use of stacked symbols also means that every spin makes the screen look rather drab and boring.

The gameplay is probably the weakest part of the slot. There are very few features and the ones that are there have a negligible impact on the gameplay. The slot already has a low RTP and this does not make it worthwhile to stick around.

If you’re someone who is drawn to fighter combat or you prefer slots that keep things simple, this might offer you some decent entertainment. The slot is easy to understand and quick to get into. The lower jackpot won’t appeal to a lot of people but if that’s not something you care about, you will probably get some enjoyment out of this.

Leticia Miranda

Leticia Miranda

Slot Games Analyst

Leticia Miranda is a former gambling reporter who knows everything about slot games and is happy to share her knowledge. She has covered a broad swath of topics and trends on gambling and is always full of new ideas and energy. Leticia also has a master’s degree in journalism from New York University and is passionate about writing.