House of Doom 2: The Crypt Slot – Free Demo

Twenty lines through a tomb

Spirited studio Play'n GO is back with another expansion to their House of Doom franchise, and this time around they have opted for a 5-reel, 20-payline slot layout. Play'n GO is also the studio behind Book of Dead. The game is named House of Doom 2: The Crypt. It was tested here over 500 spins at a stake of 10.00 per spin.

It is a slot graded 4 out of 6 for volatility, providing a stated RTP of 96.25%, and each spin sees 15 symbols settle on the 5x3 reels, where the aim is to secure 3 or more matching symbols on one of the 20 paylines, linking from left to right for a win. Only the highest win on each line is paid.

The symbols employed in the game are a motley assortment of tomb and non-tomb associated symbols, and on the low end are 10-A symbols, trailed by knives, nightshade, candles, and skulls. Knives, nightshade, candles and skulls make up the Ritual Relic symbols, and 10 to A are the card symbols. The top line length for these symbols is 5 of a kind. These hand out 2 – 10 times the stake, while by far the most rewarding symbol is the Wild, which hands out 25 times the stake for 5 on a line. Three Knives on a line pay 0.75 times the stake, while three of the 10 or J pay 0.2 times. It is feasible to stack up sizeable lines of Wilds, owing to the manner features operate. Wilds substitute for all symbols except the Scatter.

What a Wild does inside a Spirit Gate

It's not all skulking in the tomb observing symbols settle. The game has four different Wilds, and the first three each carry a bonus of their own. There are also three mechanics to watch out for, and these are the Spirit Gate feature, Free Spins, and Crypt Spins. The Spirit of Unity Wild combines the bonuses of the other three Wilds and is only available during Crypt Spins.

The Spirit Gate feature is open during the primary game and free spins, and during the base game, a lone Spirit Gate can appear on any reel. When a Wild lands in it, the Wild expands to fill the reel. It awards one re-spin with a bonus mechanic. The Fire Mistress Wild adds a multiplier of x2, x3, x5 or x10, the Metal Priestess Wild converts all Ritual Relic symbols into Skulls, and the Queen of the Damned Wild adds a Spirit Gate to every reel when it lands in one.

Spirits, Scatters and a Crypt that stayed shut

Free spins are granted if 3 scatter symbols land, and in free spins round, one or more Spirit Gates are active on each spin. After the round ends, a new spirit becomes active in the base game. The spirit active in the base game determines which bonus operates. In the session, Free Spins triggered four times, with the Fire Mistress active on spin 244, the Metal Priestess on spins 299 and 408, and the Queen of the Damned on spin 358.

Players are obliged to secure 3 upgraded Scatter symbols to trigger Crypt Spins, a round that contains one or more Spirit Gates active on each spin. The Spirit Gate is what upgrades the Scatter, and Crypt Spins can be triggered in the base game or in Free Spins, where any remaining free spins carry over into the Crypt Spins round.

Final Minty Score: One base-game re-spin carried the run. The Fire Mistress landed in a Spirit Gate on spin 57 at x10 for 140 times the stake, while all four Free Spins rounds together paid 81.6 times it. The upgraded Scatters never lined up, so the Spirit of Unity is the one Wild I have not seen do anything.

Spin 57 and the Fire Mistress at x10

House of Doom 2: The Crypt is another enjoyable little game from Play'n GO. Then again, it's not truly all that little at all. It may come across as a touch of lightweight at first, though - particularly if you haven’t tried anything in the House of Doom franchise yet. Across the 500 spins, 5,000.00 was wagered and 4,235.00 paid back, leaving the balance at 24,235.00 and the session return at 84.7%.

House of Doom 2: The Crypt settles snugly into the House of Doom franchise, thanks to the ambience and effortless play. The franchise started with House of Doom, also a Play'n GO release.

Payouts are certainly present, and House of Doom 2: The Crypt hands out up to 6,000 times the stake. Crypt Spins did not trigger during the 500 spins played.

During testing, the low-tier lines amounted to a whole heap of nothing going on for a spell. Only 104 of the 500 spins paid anything, 51 of those paid less than the stake, and the longest run without a win lasted 21 spins. However, the activity perked up after a spell, firstly via the Spirit Gate feature, where a re-spin with the Fire Mistress Wild at x10 returned 140x the stake. That re-spin came on spin 57 and lifted the balance to 26,217.00, the highest it stood all session.

Next, the mechanics were rather enjoyable too. Free Spins paid 816.00 across the four triggers, 19% of everything won in the session, with the Metal Priestess rounds returning 25x and 13x the stake and the Queen of the Damned round 7.6x. The Fire Mistress spirit was live the first time free spins were activated, and that delivered a 36x win from the mechanic - not exactly 6,000x, but respectable all the same.