Gladiatoro Slot by ELK Studios: Free Demo & Game Review 2024

Gladiatoro Review

ELK Studios has struck gold with the Toro series, that much is hard to dispute, and they have delivered an impressive string of follow-up releases since their initial classic, Wild Toro. We have seen North/Native American follow-ups since then, as well as a ‘Book of’ mechanic release, and that’s just to mention a few. Gladiatoro is a tribute to the blockbuster Russell Crowe movie, Gladiator (2000), and fans of that movie will probably love the intro you get here.

The Matador, Diaz, and the always-angry Toro all play different roles in this classic revenge drama, and you get a mix of well-known features that are mostly borrowed this time. The Toro Goes Wild Respins feature is part of the mix, of course, and you also get coin collection and coins that can expand the grid. The main attraction is the Gladiator Free Spins round, where 6 special symbols can wreak havoc in different ways. The 10,000x potential is hardly up there with the Money Train-series though, but still decent.

ELK Studios - Slot Developer

ELK Studios - is known for pouring a lot into each release, something Gladiatoro slot is a good example of. They deliver exceptional visual experiences combined with innovative features (at least most of the time), and they have seen great success with both the Gold/Kane series and the Toro series.

Slot Theme And Storyline

The excellent Gladiator-inspired intro lays out the backstory for you, and it mirrors the Hollywood blockbuster movie. The Roman general, Toro, is betrayed when Matador, the son of the Emperor, kills his father to ascend to the throne. Being sent into slavery, Toro plots his revenge as a gladiator. That’s the story in a nutshell for you, and it’s backed by charming visuals that are right up there with the best of the Toro series.

Gladiatoro RTP, Volatility, And Max Win

The Gladiatoro RTP of 94 % is well below the industry average, which is not uncommon for ELK games. There are no customizable RTP ranges at least, and this is a high volatility installment that scores 7 out of 10 on ELK’s own volatility scale. The Gladiatoro max win is 10,000x your stake, which is decent for this volatility level.

Gladiatoro Slot - Reels Screen

Gladiatoro Rules And Gameplay

You can place bets between £0.2 and £100 per spin in Gladiatoro slot, which is a bet range most players should be able to live with. The game plays out on 5 reels with 4 rows, and this amounts to 178 win ways by default. However, the grid can expand to 5x6 which gives you 340 win ways. You win by landing matching symbols in any position on 3 to 5 adjacent reels starting from the leftmost reel, and wild symbols step in for regular pay symbols to help complete or improve wins.

Symbols And Paytable

Gladiatoro Bonuses And Special Features

You get a mix of well-known features and new bonus features in Gladiatoro slot, and we’ll take a closer look at all the good stuff below.

Toro Walking Wild Respins

Landing the Toro anywhere in view triggers walking wild respins. The Toro Wild walks one step towards the left per respin until he drops off the leftmost reel. In addition, the Toro Walking Wild doubles any cash coin values that he walks across.

Diaz Coin Collector

Diaz is the Collector symbol in Gladiatoro game, which means that he collects all cash coin values in view when he appears.

Matador Respins And Toro Goes Wild

Landing 2 Matador symbols in view makes them sticky for a respin, and you get a new respin per matador that lands after that. Landing the Toro when Matador symbols are present triggers the Toro Goes Wild feature, and you will then see the Toro chase the Matador symbols while leaving a trail of wild symbols in his wake.

Level-Up Coin

The Level-Up Coin shoots arrows upwards to boost the number of rows up to 6, at best, and this is how the grid can expand at random times. A maxed out 5x6 grid gives you 340 win ways, and you get a respin with the expanded grid unless you are not already in another respin feature.

Gladiatoro Free Spins

The Gladiatoro Bonus Round triggers from 3+ bonus coins in view, and it plays out on a special grid where only blanks, coins, or special symbols can appear. The triggering coins are sticky from the get-go, and you start with 3 free spins in the tally. The tally resets whenever you land at least one non-blank symbol, and below is an overview of all the symbols that can appear:

• Coins - land with random cash prize bet multipliers.
• Matador - boosts a random amount of coins before disappearing.
• Persistent Matador - boosts a random amount of coins on every spin.
• Diaz - absorbs all present coin values. He can also trigger the Toro Goes Wild feature, which leaves behind a coin that doubles in value.
• Persistent Diaz - does the same as Diaz, but on every spin that follows as well.
• Level Up - turns into a cash coin after expanding the grid.
• Toro - awards respins until he walks off the grid to the left. These spins are not subtracted from the respin tally.

Gladiatoro X-iter Bonus Buy (not UK)

The X-iter feature and bonus buy menu come with 5 options this time, but only for eligible players. These are as follows:

• Bonus Hunt - pay 3x the stake to be 3x more likely to trigger the bonus round.
• Matador Respin - pay 10x the stake to get a spin where 2+ Matadors are guaranteed to land. All matadors will turn into persistent matadors if you trigger the bonus round.
• Diaz - pay 25x the stake to land at least one Diaz symbol. All Diaz symbols that land will become persistent Diaz symbols if you trigger the bonus round.
• Gladiator Bonus Round - costs 100x the stake.
• Super Bonus Round - pay 500x the stake to be guaranteed one persistent symbol from the get-go.

The 200 Spins Gladiatoro Online Slot Experience

You get to see the Matador Respins feature with grid expansion in the base game. We then purchase and trigger the Super Bonus Round at 0:46 into the 2:11-minute highlights video. You can see for yourself how we fared by hitting the play button below.

Review Summary And Verdict

The Gladiator-inspired intro is pure genius, and Gladiatoro is a clever slot name if there ever was one. ELK has clearly had good fun creating this game, but the features are not as innovative as in many other games from this creative developer. It’s not hard to see plenty of follow-up installments in the Toro series though, as these charming characters can easily blend into many different settings. You get a solid mix of well-known features in this game, along with the Money Train 2-inspired bonus round.

The audiovisual experience is excellent as it usually is from ELK, and it’s only too bad they keep insisting on the 94 % RTP in so many recent releases. This is a deal-breaker for some players, but obviously not enough to worry ELK at this point. The level-up coin is a clever way of expanding the grid, and we like that it appears in all stages of the game. The Gladiator Bonus Round is good fun, but more could’ve been done to stick out from the obvious source of inspiration. The 10,000x potential will hardly threaten the MT-series, but it’s still a solid max win in the grand scheme of things.

Pros And Cons Of Gladiatoro Online Slot

How To Play Gladiatoro At An Online Casino

You have just read our Gladiatoro review verdict above, and perhaps you’ve also tested the free Gladiatoro demo game at the top of this page. If not, we recommend that you do that before heading to a casino to play Gladiatoro real money. However, if you want to get started with the real deal right away, simply follow these instructions:

• Click this link to find a suitable Gladiatoro casino from our confirmed list.
• Sign up with the casino and deposit money to get your welcome bonus.
• Check out the slot section and search for Gladiatoro game.

Similar Slots To Try

If you enjoy Gladiatoro slot, you can also try:

Toro Shogun - is a samurai and ninja-themed installment in the Toro range, and winning symbols are removed to expand the grid. You get bonus symbols that build the free spins multiplier, and you can win up to a solid 25,000x your stake.

Buffalo Toro - is a North American animal-inspired release in ELK’s Toro series, and you get the usual Toro goes wild respins feature as well as matador streak respins. Upgrade symbols in the bonus round, and elevate your 50,000x max win chances via the super free spins round.

Wild Toro 2 - is the fully-fledged follow-up to ELK’s iconic original game, and it takes the whole concept to a new level. Visually, this game is on a whole new level as well, and you get plenty of Toro Goes Wild action together with many other features. The max win is 10,000x your stake.

Play The Game On Your Mobile

Sure, you can always play Gladiatoro on your mobile phone, and the game is fun to play on both Android and iOS units. You can play on tablets as well, of course, and playing on the go does not require any mobile app either. This goes for all the casinos we recommend at least, since they allow you to play directly in the mobile browser.

Strategy And Tips For Winning

It’s hard to come up with a solid Gladiatoro strategy when so few stats are revealed, and no strategy can ensure that you win anyway. A fun strategy we experiment with sometimes is to increase the bet level a bit when you feel that the bonus round will trigger soon, or when it’s “overdue” to trigger. Keep in mind that the feature can trigger at any time though, as it’s all random. This strategy is more fun when you know the bonus round hit rate though.

Gladiatoro Demo Version And Free Play

You can check the free Gladiatoro demo via this link to the top of the review page. We recommend that you play the demo game first, as it’s a risk-free way of getting to know the game. You can get a sense of the volatility, and what bet level is most likely to be sustainable for your specific budget.