Transylmania Slot Machine
OK, here’s one for you horror fans. Transylmania is a ghoulish, eerie video slot that lines up a rogue’s gallery of fearsome horror antiheroes. If you like casino games, and you also have a soft spot for Dracula and Frankenstein, Transylmania is a game after your very heart.
Transylmania, developed by Parlay Games, has five reels and 20 pay-lines. The frightful title is characterised by scary, spectral music – wolves howling, distant bells ringing – as well as gruesome symbols and, most crucially of all, great gameplay, including free spins bonuses and a lucrative mini-game.
Entering the Graveyard
The reels are set against the backdrop of an iron gate, behind which lies a spectral, fog-shrouded forest or wood – presumably a graveyard given the theme. Along with the creepy music, the game augments the encroaching sense of foreboding. Along the bottom of the screen, the control panel appears on blood-soaked bricks.
All you need to do is click on the bricks to regulate the coin value and lines. You can play with coins valued between 0.01 and 1, and you can stake up to five coins for all 20 paylines. In other words, you can stake up to 100 credits for every spin of the reels. If you know that you want to do just that, hit Bet Max at the start of the game.
Transylmania also comes with an AutoPlay function, which lets you play up to 750 spins – yes, 750 spins – without any player involvement. If you’ve got the cash to spare, set the game to play 750 spins then go kill a few hours. When you come back, you might just have doubled your bankroll.
Blood-Curdling Animations
The animations are exceptional. For example, the Dracula wild, when utilised in a winning combination, will morph into a ghoulish, Hellraiser esque creature with pointed ears. Lightning crackles in the sky and blood spatters across the scene, along with the sound of a man screaming.
Smiling Skulls and Severed Hands
Symbols in Transylmania include a severed, blood-slicked hand emerging from the earth, a Jason mask, an open casket, a gruesome, snarling figure with one eye, Frankenstein, a headstone marked RIP, a skull, a hammer and stake and a crucifix surrounded by garlic cloves. The game also includes three bonus symbols, which we’ll touch on later.
There’s a graphic novel quality to the symbols, which have been perfectly illustrated to inspire terror! The lowest paying is the hammer and stake, followed by the skeleton, but the high-paying symbols grant more generous sums. For example, the best-paying icon is the Jason mask, which pays 600 for five, 300 for four and 20 for three. Next it’s the crucifix, paying 350 for five, 100 for four and 10 for three. You can view the full pay-table by clicking on the headstone at the bottom of the screen.
Revving the Chainsaw for Free Spins
Three, four or five chainsaw symbols activates free spins, during which all wins are tripled except for bonus wins. Scatter wins are added to line wins, and all bets/lines played are the same bet level as the game that started the free spins. Regardless of how many chainsaw icons you land, you’ll win 13 free spins – but you’ll also get modest pay-outs, too. You’ll scoop 10 for three, 20 for four and 80 for five.
The Dracula face is wild, and is the only one in the game which grants a pay-out for just two symbols. You’ll win 15 for two, 150 for three, 1,500 for four and 5,000 for five at maximum bet. The wild can also substitute for all other symbols except for the scatter and the bonus.
There is a further bonus icon, represented by some poor bugger strapped to a torture rack. Hit three, four or five to win picks in the mini-game, during which you can land cash prizes. The bonus can be triggered in both the base game and the free spins round, and all bonus wins are added to your running tally. The maximum bonus that can be won is 1,000.
As well as these three bonus features, all players are in with a chance of winning the random jackpot. However, you can’t win the loot during free spins.
Transylmania’s a Triumph
Transylmania is probably one of the very best slots I’ve come across, but then perhaps that’s because we’re horror fans. If you are too, you’ll love it, but even if you’re not, you’ll appreciate the abundance of bonus features and the five-star animations.
