Taboo Spell Slot
Taboo Spell is a 5-reel video slot from Genesis Gaming. Released in the middle of 2013, the well-designed game includes no less than three bonus features and takes place in a mystical forest. The voodoo-themed slot comes with 25 paylines on which gamers are compelled to find matching combinations of symbols.
Taboo Spell is characterised by magical imagery and fantastic animations. The 5x3 game features many quirky, cartoonised symbols (Tiki masks, crocodiles, skulls…) as well as the familiar playing card icons, each modified to suit the bayou theme. On the downside, Autoplay is not available for this game although it is on another Voodoo based slot - Voodoo magic by RTG.
The Ways of the Voodoo
Taboo Spell doesn’t discriminate: anyone can play, for as little as 0.01 per line to 0.20, and from one coin to 20 per spin.
The look of the game is strong. The reels are bordered by ropes or vines, and a blue butterfly and a multicoloured snake flit around beneath the reel grid. The reels are set against the backdrop of the forest, and there are flames appearing from totems either side of the grid. The whole tableau makes for a very mystical set-up. The name of the game, Taboo Spell, appears above the reels in a misty font. The audio track, meanwhile, complements the theme nicely.
All of the usual controls are located along the bottom of the screen. Click Spin to spin the reels, Bet Max to put all your money in the game, and View Pays to check out the pay-table. You can also configure the number of pay-lines in the game, electing to play on one, two, three or all 25.
The rules will be familiar, we’re sure, to all of you. All wins pay left to right on adjacent reels, beginning with the leftmost reel. The scatters are the only exception, as they pay in any configuration. The aim is to find matching combinations of three, four or five icons.
Symbols include a crocodile, a skull, Tiki mask and another orange mask. The orange mask pays 1,000 for five, 500 for four and 50 for three. The Tiki mask is next best, paying 750, 250 and 20. The croc pays the same as the Tiki mask, while the skull pays 500, 100 and 20.
The playing card symbols have been doctored to look a little more funky than normal, and each is painted a different colour. There are six of these icons, from 9 through to ace. They represent the lowest value symbols on the board, with five 9/10 symbols netting you just 100. For five aces it’s 250 and for five K/Q/J it’s 150. Naturally, the playing card icons trigger a little more than the character symbols.
Witch Doctor Free Spins
At any time during the game, the Witch Doctor can suddenly appear to cast a spell upon the reels. All Tiki masks, crocodiles and skulls will then turn into Witch Doctor symbols. The player will also be granted half a dozen free spins.
The Witch Doctor Free Spins feature entails some cool animation, as the Witch Doctor blows magic dust across the screen to transform symbols for bonus pay-outs. Refreshingly, the feature can be randomly re-triggered, with a further six free spins up for grabs.
Taboo Spell also includes a wild and a scatter. The scatter is the Taboo Spell symbol. When wagering a single coin, it pays 50 for five, 10 for four, five for three and two for two. The wild, meanwhile, is the image of the voodoo doll. The wild substitutes for all symbols in the game except for the scatter, and can be used by players to help them form pay wins. When one or more wild is substituted in a win, only the highest win is paid. The wild is also linked to the best pay-outs in the game. Land five in a line to win 1,000, four to win 750, three to bag 100 and two to win two. It certainly pays to find that wild.
Spellbinding?
Taboo Spell is perhaps not the best game in the Genesis suite, that likely goes to Space Botz, but it’s far from the worst. The 5-reeler is mystical, mysterious and well-presented, with a strong theme, a random, re-triggering bonus and many attractive symbols. There’s also a charming, ritual-like soundtrack which complements the game nicely and heightens the sense of foreboding. No wizardry is necessary to play this game, just plenty of ambition and maybe a sprinkling of patience.
