Skull Shock Slot Machine
Why wait for Halloween in order to get your spook on? Once a year to celebrate the supernatural seems unfair for those who love everything that goes bump in the night. This must have resonated with Merkur for it appears that they listened to this plight and consequently created Skull Shock, a title playable all year round.
Think of this as a cute but creepy game consisting of three rows and five columns, which basically means you have 5-reels to spin as you play, and 9 payline to bet your money on. This grid of images shows some of the monsters we’ve become so afraid of yet can’t help but love, well, enjoy to watch reek their revenge; it’s a tricky relationship to pin down.
The 5,000 coins will certainly help you become a fan of horror if you weren’t already, so why not load up the title and get started - there’s nothing to lose and everything to gain, least of all being fear. But when fear brings money it’s definitely worth the risk, and what is life without a bit of fear?
Bump in the Night
Far from terrifying in aesthetics, Skull Shock is more Scooby Doo than Halloween so for that reason you may not be as scared as you initially thought you would; not that that means the monsters crowding the reels won’t try to get that scream out of you yet. They have a graveyard as their home, so it seems like they’re putting their all into this gig.
The muted colours with the odd pop of green and red catches the eye and draws you in so you take the time to appreciate each image, tempting you to click upon that spin button. Among the beasties found here you’ll see Jason, Frankenstein’s monster, the Thing, some horrific looking numbers and then a moonlight cemetery.
As you may have already guessed by now, the gravestones and their moon drenched stones are what will reward you the final big cash prize, while the subsequent icons of infamous horror characters will give you between 40 and 1,000 credits. The tiles donning 9 and 10 will give you 20 coins when you find three of them, 40 when there are four matches, and a much spookier 200 when there are five across your reels. Not a bad haul if you get all five, and even the smaller amounts will all add up.
When there is a winning combo the icons will come to life and a series of thunderous noises will invade your ears, followed by screams similar to those you might hear at an amusement park. If you’re sat in silence, this sudden crash of sound might make you jump out of your skin; mission to frighten all who play is well and truly accomplished.
Lets Go Monster Hunting!
The controls of the game are easy to get to grips with, which means you can ready yourself for your night with the ghouls; there are gamble features, standard betting options, and then an Autoplay button for you to tap.
If we assume that most players will begin with the most traditional means of playing, then you need to cast your eyes to the plus and minus symbols in the lower right hand corner of the screen. You can select to start the game with a very small 0.05 bet or you can throw in a bigger 10.00 credits - it’s so accessible that virtually every type of slot player out there can get involved. So, it’s a friendly and giving set of ghosts… Yay?
Next up there is the Auto feature which essentially allows you to set how many spins you’d like your reels to go through before the game requires a manual spin from users. It’s a simple means of being more user friendly and efficient, and one that will prove invaluable for inpatient players. Lastly you have the big bad gamble risk ladder that gives you an extra adrenaline kick if the monsters just aren’t cutting it.
You can have this risk factor on or off, but if it’s turned on then you need to keep clicking through the amounts until you find one you wish to stake. Once again it’s very simple to use.
And the Morning Comes
Nothing banishes away those creepy fiends like the light from the sun, sadly that light isn’t going to aid you in Skull Shock, but the nice 5,000 jackpot will, and that’s essentially like the same thing to us, when playing this slot.
When it comes down to whether the ghost hunt is worth it or not, we have to admit it’s a tricky one to fathom – it looks OK, sounds good, and offers some decent cash prizes. The lack of bonus round is where we find ourselves turning off, and for that reason alone it seems that this title hasn’t got much longevity.
