Just like the star-studded suburbs of Hollywood, the slot gaming genre has produced some iconic superstars during the last few years. Few of this shine as bright as Rich Wilde, who has taken centre stage in the Aztec Idols Slot, the Pearls of India and the iconic Book of Dead.
In his latest adventure, the intrepid explorer stars in Play n’ Go’s recently released Tome of Madness slot. This is inspired by H. P. Lovecraft’s fabled sci-fi universe, which also features the tenebrous presence of the tentacled behemoth Cthulhu.
But what else should you expect from this slot? Does the quality of the gameplay match the thrilling theme? Here’s our take:
Layout and Design – A Simple But Immersive Aesthetic
The slimy presence of Cthulhu adds a unique visual dimension to the slot, which is dark, ethereal and capable of sending a shudder down your spin.
The square, 5×5 reel grid is flanked by two pillars sits uneasily against the backdrop of an abandoned tomb. Rich Wilde also stands to the right of the reels, with his larger-than-life presence doing much to bring the gameplay to life.
The Tome of Madness also features an animated cascading reels feature, which eschews the traditional fixed payline structure and enables you to form winning combos by landing four or more matching icons in a connected cluster either vertically or horizontally.
After each win, they will remove the contributing icons, with new symbols falling from the top of the screen to drive a series of continuous wins.
Rules and Symbols – What Do You Need to Know?
The cluster payline structure provides a shot in the arm for the gameplay, whilst it also drives an extremely competitive return-to-player (RTP) rate of 96.5%.
There’s also a wide betting range on offer, as you can toggle between available coin sizes of 0.10 and 100. This means you stake up to £100 per spin, unlocking the potential for significant cash prizes.
The Tome of Madness offers an Autoplay feature too, which enables you to fix your stake for a predetermined number of spins to increase the pace of gameplay.
You’ll also notice many symbols dotted across the reels, including relatively low-paying icons such as the green, blue, red and purple crystals (which payout at between two and six-times your bet).
At the other end of the paytable, you’ll find eye-catching icons such as the Cthulhu Skill, Ring, Dagger and Octopus Pendant. The latter is the highest-paying symbol in the base game, offering a payout of 100-times your bet when you land 10 more in a winning cluster.
There are also some special wild symbols available in this game, in addition to the standard Necronomicon icon. We’ll have a little more on these later in the piece!
Payouts and Features – Searching for Treasure in a Terrifying Land
Whilst the Tome of Madness base game is visually impressive and immersive, you can also enjoy some spectacular bonus rounds here.
The first of these is the ‘Eye Marks’ feature. This can come into play when a pink eye mark appears in a random location on the grid. If a winning cluster lands on top of one of these locations, the two special wilds will add to the grid to create some lucrative winning combinations.
Then there’s the ‘Portal and Special Wilds’ feature. This revolves around the circular portal to the left of the reel grid.
Every time you land a winning cluster of symbols on the grid, this portal will charge up and become increasingly powerful. Consecutive wins keep the portal charging, whilst the total number of winning icons are on display in the centre of the graphic.
Here’s a breakdown of the rewards on offer:
- Collect seven winning symbols to open the portal and introduce the two special wilds
- Collect 14 winning icons to add two special wilds to the grid and activate the ABYSS Portal Effect with any subsequent winning combos. This will remove all symbols in the special wilds column and use them to charge the portal further.
- If you collect 27 winning symbols featuring the two special wilds, you’ll trigger the VOID Portal Effect feature. This will remove every instance of a random icon and utilise these to charge the portal.
We also need to mention the Free Spin feature. It is unique and operates unlike any other bonus of this type. Instead, you’ll unlock random free spin rounds during the alternative bonus rounds, which will afford you an opportunity to trigger the Mega Wild Cthulhu symbol.
This will create a scenario where 11 or 12 eye markers become visible on the grid which may open where any of the winning symbol clusters cover the relevant location.
Opening these markets will unleash the Mega Wild Cthulhu symbol, which adds to the reels and continues to move down a step with each cascade (increasing your chances of winning with every spin).
This is an incredible range of bonuses and, throughout the game, you can pursue a jackpot prize of 200,000 coins (or 2,000-times the maximum bet level).
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