Halloween Pokie
Seasonal pokies are increasingly popular, and apart from Christmas, Halloween seems to be the one that game developers like to feature, probably because it gives them an opportunity to have fun and design creepy casino pokie machines filled with spooky images. Euro Games Technology (EGT) have managed to beat everyone else and claimed the simplest title for their Halloween video pokie, and it comes complete with all the spiders, witches, vampires and pumpkins that players will be looking for.
It also has some interesting bonuses, with 2 wild symbols helping to create extra winlines, free spins with multipliers attached to any wins during them, plus the gamble round and progressive jackpot features that all games from EGT have.
Laid out in a standard 5 x 3 format, and with 20 paylines running across the game, matching symbols will need to land on a line, on adjacent reels from the left side to make up a winning combination. The amount staked per spin is controlled from the simple set of buttons below the reels, and players can go from a low limit of just 0.20 per spin up to 400.00, while free Halloween video pokies can be tried out by anyone who likes to test a game before committing to real wagers.
Playing Halloween
Some twisted trees run up the sides of the reels, and the payline indicators are in a nice blood red hue. The same pattern is used on the lower value playing card symbols J, Q, K and A, each of which has been given a bit of a makeover to fit in with the overall theme. All of these pay out 5, 20 or 100x the line bet when landing on 3, 4 or 5 reels of a payline, so it’s up to the unique picture symbols to reward players with the bigger prizes.
These are all designed to look pretty realistic and become slightly animated when they are part of a winning line. A basket full of candy and a Redback spider are each worth 15, 35 or 150x, the black cat and full moon symbols pay out 20, 50 or 200 and the top standard symbols are the attractive witch and a debonair-looking vampire, who are both worth 25, 50 or 500 times the line bet when they stop on 3, 4 or 5 reels.
But the biggest wins come from the witch’s hat and broom symbol, which is not only worth up to 1000x, but is also the first of the wild symbols, so it can substitute for others if needed, to complete winning lines, or stretch wins across extra reels. It won’t be able to act as the pumpkin or spell book symbols however.
Halloween
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Bonus Features
The pumpkin is an extra wild and when it stops anywhere on reel 5 on the right side, any playing card symbols in view will become wilds, which should ensure that multiple winning combinations are created at once, although it’s not guaranteed. The pumpkin will also substitute for others and help to complete lines, although it still won’t be able to act as the spell book, as this is a scatter symbol that launches a free spins round when landing on reels 2, 3 and 4 at once.
Before the spins begin, players get a win of 40 coins, and although just 10 extra games will play out, any wins during them will be multiplied by 2x. An alternate set of reels is used, but win ratios remain the same, and if 3 more spell books turn up, another 10 spins are added on to the end of the round.
Gamble Game
Players are given the option to double any win of less than 700 coins by correctly predicting if a playing card will be from a red or black suit. If they get it right, there’s the further option to multiply it even further, or collect the doubled prize, but clearly, it’s a gamble and a wrong pick at any point loses the round along with the triggering bet.
Jackpot Cards
A progressive jackpot feature can be randomly triggered, and once this happens, winning one of the jackpots displayed above the reels is guaranteed. Players need to pick from 12 face-down playing cards until they find 3 of the same suit, when the prize connected to it, from the small Club to the substantial Spade award will be won.
The Verdict
While there’s nothing unique in the base game, Halloween has a couple of tricks and treats for players to enjoy, with the pumpkin wild feature and free spins being the highlights. It isn’t mobile-optimised, but apart from this, it’s an enjoyable game that has a good return to player percentage.