With October just around the corner, I thought I’d share some of my favourite Halloween slots.
As an iGaming writer, I’m often asked to compile “best of” articles based on holidays, but I’ve never written anything about Halloween slots before. So, let’s put that right with a look at my three favourite games from this genre.
Blood Suckers Megaways (Red Tiger)
| Reels x Rows | 6 x 2-7 |
| Paylines | Up to 117,649 |
| RTP | 97.66% |
| Volatility | High |
| Maximum Payout | 20,521x |
| Release Date | January 2023 |
No collection of spooky slots would be complete without a reference to Blood Suckers, released by NetEnt in 2009. It’s mostly famous for its staggeringly high Return To Player rate of 98.00%.
The thing is, though, it’s really dated and just not that interesting any more. However, when Red Tiger released a much-needed Megaways reboot in 2023, I was all over it.
First of all, the graphics are much better. They’ve kept the original symbols, but polished them up a little, adding a few animations. The RTP of 97.66% is pretty close to the first release, too. But the dynamic Megaways engine makes it just that little bit more interesting.
Finally, as a fan of highly-volatile games, I’ve no problem with the variance here. Especially given the low new maximum potential payout of 20,521x.
Overall, it’s everything you want in a reboot. It stays true to the original, while adding several key improvements.
Big Bass Halloween 2 (Pragmatic Play)
| Reels x Rows | 5 x 3 |
| Paylines | 10 |
| RTP | 96.71% |
| Volatility | High |
| Maximum Payout | 5,000x |
| Release Date | October 2024 |
I didn’t know this game was coming out until I saw a recent LinkedIn post about it. It’s honestly crazy how prolific the Reel Kingdom and Pragmatic Play partnership is. They just keep milking that poor fisherman dry, so it’s no surprise they’ve tried Halloween slots.
Like pretty much all of the Big Bass titles, Halloween 2 is yet another rehash of the same old mechanics. But, like the idiot that I am, I was drawn in by the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre-inspired theme.
I’m also a sucker for witty puns, and we get off to a good start with the start screen. Our newly zombified angler friend tells us to “feel the buzz” as he wields his motorised bonecutter.
Apart from the fun theme and Halloween novelty value, there are some genuinely nice elements. For instance, the RTP is much better than the 96.04% offered by the first Big Bass Halloween title. As is the 5,000x maximum payout, improving on the original figure of 2,100x.
I’m not going to pretend it’s anything ground-breaking, because it isn’t. But not every game has to reinvent the wheel, and these Big Bass games are popular for a reason.
Mental (Nolimit City)
| Reels x Rows | 5 x 3 |
| Paylines | 1,024+ |
| RTP | 96.08% |
| Volatility | Very High |
| Maximum Payout | 66,666x |
| Release Date | August 2021 |
I wasn’t aware of Mental until a long time after its release, when I was asked to write about the best horror slots for AllSlotSites. It’s pretty bleak – exactly what we’ve come to expect from Nolimit City over the years – but an intriguing game, nonetheless.
Clearly inspired by Dr Hannibal Lecter, the theme is one of a serial killer locked up in an institution. Look out for the grim Dead Patient feature, which plays on this motif while offering multipliers up to 9,999x.
The 3-2-3-2-3 reel layout was pretty unusual at the time, especially given that some of these symbols can split. That makes things extra interesting, creating more than 1,024 ways to win and ensuring that every spin is different.
Like all Nolimit City releases, the volatility is extremely high, setting up the possibility of some huge potential wins. I like the very specific top payout of 66,666x – a fitting figure for such a demonic game.
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What? I couldn’t make it all the way through an article without a lazy Halloween cliché or two, now could I?!
Dominic Field is a freelance iGaming Writer based on the island of Boracay, in the Philippines.