About The Wiz
The Wiz is an ELK Studios game built on the studio's 178-combination engine. The official data sheet publishes a 96.1% RTP, volatility rated 7 out of 10, a hit frequency of 20.0% and exposure of 5,000x the bet, or €500,000 at the €100 ceiling stake.
The heaviest correction on this entry concerns the paylines. The BetsRank database claimed 243 ways to win. ELK's official data sheet reads "Paylines: 178", a figure confirmed by BigWinBoard and Slotsmate, both of which describe 178 connecting paylines across five reels and four rows. Those 243 ways belong to other titles in the catalogue, Sam on the Beach and Electric Sam: this entry carried a neighbouring game's specification. The Wiz in fact shares its engine with Birthday and Lake's Five, the database's two other 178-combination titles.
The base game rests on a single mechanic. The dragon wild can appear on any spin; it carries a random multiplier between 2x and 5x, applied the moment it joins a winning payline. The decisive point: when several dragons sit on the same line, their multipliers add together rather than multiply. ELK states the total can reach x25 on a win, which corresponds to five dragons each carrying 5x.
The Wizspin opens on just two bonus symbols, a low threshold by industry standards. According to BigWinBoard, two scatters award 1 spin, three award 5, four award 7 and five award 10. The round can be retriggered, adding 1, 2, 5, 7 or 10 spins depending on how many scatters land again.
Two rules transform that phase. First, every low-value symbol becomes a high-value symbol: the whole paytable shifts up a tier. Second, the dragon becomes a walking wild, shifting one reel to the left each spin while carrying its multiplier, which activates on every line it crosses. And crucially, ELK states that Wizspins are put on hold until all dragons have left the screen to the left. A dragon landing on the fifth reel therefore takes five spins to exit, and those five spins are not counted down. Two free spins won from two scatters can accordingly last far longer than the label suggests. It is the game's best idea.
A 96.1% RTP means €3.90 of house margin per €100 wagered. Across the 33 ELK games in the BetsRank database, The Wiz sits level with Black River Gold, Cygnus and Tahiti Gold, below the 96.3% of Lake's Five or Joker Gems, but two points above the 94% shared by the whole recent Tropicool and Cygnus generation. The 20.0% hit frequency lands neatly: exactly one winning spin in five.
Bets run from €0.20 to €100. That 5,000x is worth €1,000 at the minimum, €5,000 at €1 and €500,000 at €100, matching the official €500,000 maximum win. No bonus buy is offered: the game predates the spread of X-iter at ELK, so no restriction applies on that front in the United Kingdom. One last point of honesty: the sources disagree on the release date. The BetsRank database records September 2018, while Slotsmate gives January 2019. ELK publishes no date on its product page, and we will not adjudicate.
