The Great Icescape from PGSoft play free demo version ▶ Casino Slot Review The Great Icescape ✔ Return (RTP) of online slots on August 2026 and play for real money✔
By Mark Rylance· Published 13 August 2025 ·· 8 min read
Recent updates
Substantially revised the review with a new pros-and-cons summary, detailed symbol paytable information, and updated betting range details.
Pros
Ice blocker clearing expands grid to 3,125 ways
Bonus Respins stack multipliers and extra lives
Hit frequency of 22.7% keeps sessions moving
Charming Arctic characters with sharp animation work
Medium volatility suits casual stream sessions
Cons
No Wild or Scatter symbols at all
Bonus Respins often end within a few spins
One dead spin resets all cleared blockers
Penguin tops out at just x500
First look at The Great Icescape
Penguins, ice blocks and a grid that fights back. The Great Icescape comes from PG Soft and runs on a 5x5 layout where twelve ice blockers sit on the board from the first spin, cutting you down to 45 ways. Smash them all and you open up 3,125 ways. Peak content, minimum setup.
Every winning combination here awards a respin, so the game rarely sits still. That constant motion is why it clips well: the board visibly grows on screen while chat watches the counter climb. Hold tight, this is where it kicks off, because the blockers are the whole show.
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Twelve blockers sit in fixed corner positions. Each symbol involved in a win destroys one blocker, then you get a respin on the slightly bigger grid. Land a dead spin before all twelve are gone and the whole lot resets. That reset is brutal on a stream and the near-miss at ten or eleven had everyone typing at once.
Clear all twelve in one unbroken sequence and Bonus Respins starts on the full 5x5 board. You open with an x2 multiplier and one extra life. Ten blue-backed symbols push the multiplier up by one; ten purple-backed symbols hand you another life. Run out of lives on a dead respin and it's over.
My complaint sits right here. Ten collected symbols for a single +1 is a slow climb, and plenty of my bonus rounds finished on x2 or x3 before the meters were anywhere near full. The trigger takes real work and the payoff can be four respins deep and done. That sting is real.
Bonus features
Bonus Respins
Triggered by clearing all twelve ice blockers in a single winning sequence, this round starts with an x2 win multiplier and one extra life on the full 5x5 grid. Collecting ten blue symbols adds +1 to the multiplier and ten purple symbols adds +1 extra life.
Win Respins
Every winning combination in the base game awards a respin and each winning symbol destroys one ice blocker, expanding the grid. A non-winning spin resets all blockers.
Reading the paytable
Penguin leads the paytable at x500 for five, with Seal on x300, Squid on x250 and Fish on x200. Card symbols run from A at x50 down to 9 at x20. No Wild. No Scatter. The Great Icescape genuinely does not have either, which is rare for a 2019 release and part of why the mechanics carry the game.
Those top values look small next to the 7,963x ceiling, and that's the point: the big numbers only arrive when the expanded grid and the bonus multiplier stack together. Base game wins on the restricted 45 ways are modest. The blue and purple backgrounds are the only special symbol states, and they only appear inside the bonus.
Symbols and payouts
5
x50
4
x20
3
x5
5
x30
4
x15
3
x3
5
x25
4
x10
3
x2.5
5
x20
4
x8
3
x2
5
x5
4
x1.5
3
x1
5
x4
4
x3
3
x1
5
x3.5
4
x2.5
3
x0.8
5
x3
4
x2
3
x0.6
5
x2.5
4
x1.5
3
x0.5
5
x2
4
x1
3
x0.5
Penguin
Highest-paying symbol in the game, worth x500 for five on a way.
5
x500
4
x200
3
x50
Seal
Second-best character symbol, paying x300 for five.
5
x300
4
x150
3
x30
Squid
Mid-tier character symbol paying x250 for five.
5
x250
4
x100
3
x25
Fish
Lowest of the four character symbols, paying x200 for five.
5
x200
4
x80
3
x20
A
Top card symbol paying x50 for five.
5
x50
4
x40
3
x15
K
Card symbol paying x40 for five.
5
x40
4
x30
3
x10
Q
Card symbol paying x35 for five.
5
x35
4
x25
3
x8
J
Card symbol paying x30 for five.
5
x30
4
x20
3
x6
10
Low card symbol paying x25 for five.
5
x25
4
x15
3
x5
9
Lowest paying symbol, worth x20 for five.
5
x20
4
x10
3
x5
Blue Symbol
Appears during Bonus Respins and adds +1 to the win multiplier once ten are collected.
Purple Symbol
Appears during Bonus Respins and grants +1 extra life once ten are collected.
By the numbers: what returns to expect
RTP sits at 96.33%, a touch above the usual bracket, with medium volatility and a hit frequency of 22.7%. Max win is 7,963x your stake, measured across a billion simulated spins. Bets run from 0.20 to 100. Nothing here is extreme, and that's exactly why it works as filler between bigger chases.
Medium volatility means the bankroll drains slowly rather than falling off a cliff, which suits long sessions on camera. It also means the payoff spike made for a thumbnail comes rarely. You'll clear ten blockers a dozen times before one full sequence lands, and the wins in between mostly cover the cost of getting there.
FAQ
How many ice blockers must be cleared to trigger Bonus Respins?
All twelve, and they must go in one unbroken winning sequence. A single non-winning spin resets every blocker back to its starting position.
What multiplier does Bonus Respins start with?
The round opens with an x2 win multiplier and one extra life. Each set of ten blue-backed symbols collected adds +1 to that multiplier.
Why does the game have no Wild or Scatter symbols?
Every feature in The Great Icescape triggers from winning combinations rather than special symbols. The blockers and respins do the job Wilds and Scatters normally handle.
How many ways to win are active on the first spin?
Just 45, from a 1-3-5-3-1 shape. Removing all twelve blockers opens the full 5x5 grid and 3,125 ways.
What do the purple symbols do during the bonus?
Collecting ten purple-backed symbols awards one extra life, which absorbs a losing respin and keeps the feature running.
All our content is written by our editorial team and checked before publication. We play the games ourselves, verify licences and withdrawal terms, and update every review as soon as something changes.
Under the supervision of Editor-in-Chief Mark Rylance