Bloodthirst

Bloodthirst: Slot Overview

Hey, creatures of the night! Sharpen your claws, brush your fangs, and get ready for some lurking about in the dark with software provider Hacksaw Gaming in a creepy slot going by the name of Bloodthirst, a game packed to the gills with the sort of horrifying creatures you really wouldn't want to bump into on a dark and stormy night or anywhere, really. Mixed in with all the terror is a clever expanding symbol instant payout feature which can lead to full-screen takeovers should five land at once; time to check 'em out.

First up, let's let Bloodthirst lay its spooky scene, and the background imagery has a blurry, ominous look about it, a bit like the expressive art style the studio employed for Wanted Dead or a Wild. Whereas an undead slot like Red Tiger's Blood Suckers Megaways had a comic book effect taking some of the edge off, Bloodthirst is all business, in the way it looks and the way it operates. The effect is an atmospheric horror/slasher slot for players willing to walk in the wild to sink their teeth into, pun intended.

Next on the dissection list is Bloodthirst's inner workings. When split open, we find a medium-high volatile math model (rated 4 out of 5), gushing forth a variety of RTP values, the top one when playing normally being 96.19%. Other settings are available, so checking the paytable will let you know. To enter the arena with the horde of beasties, players pick a stake from as low as 10 p/c or as high as $/€100 per spin and can use any device they'd prefer.

Bloodthirst is played on a 5x4 game matrix with 10 fixed paylines, though line wins really are a secondary concern around here. However, regular wins are created when matching symbols land along a payline over adjacent reels, starting from the left-hand side of the grid. Doing so with five of the 10-A stone royals pays 1 times the stake, or 6 to 10 times the bet is awarded for six ghouls, vampires, werewolves, or demons. Spooky stuff, huh? Wilds exist on all reels, too, and substitute for all paying symbols, or they pay 20x the bet for a line of five.

Bloodthirst: Slot Features

Bloodthirst's features are of the simple yet clever and, at times, potent kind. The first thing to know is that when four of the same monster symbols land in view on a reel, they merge to create a Monster Reel after any line wins are awarded. Merged reels then go on to pay an extra award where the Ghoul Monster Reel, Vampire Monster Reel, Werewolf Monster Reel, and the Demon Monster Reel pay 5x, 10x, 15x, or 20x the bet, respectively.

Monster Takeover

If 5 of the same type of Monster Reel are created at the same time, they instead transform into a Monster Takeover which fills all five reels. Should this happen, Monster Reels do not pay, and no line wins are awarded. Instead, players collect a mega prize worth 100x, 250x, 1,000x, or 2,500x the bet for the Ghoul Monster Takeover, Vampire Monster Takeover, Werewolf Monster Takeover, or the Demon Monster Takeover, respectively.

Blood Thirst

Getting 3 FS scatters symbols in the base game activates 10 free Bloodthirst spins. This bonus round has better odds of triggering Monster Reels than in the base game.

Immortals

Hitting 4 FS symbols in the base game activates 10 free Immortals spins. At the start of the round, one high-pay symbol is chosen as the feature's main symbol. Only this symbol can expand into Monster Reels during the round. When the chosen symbol expands, its reel is marked. At the end of all remaining free spins, Monster Reels will expand on all marked reels.

Landing the Upgrade scatter symbol, upgrades the chosen high pay symbol to the next one up on the paytable, where possible. Any marked reels are also upgraded.

Buy Bonus

Clicking the bonus buy button provides three ways of playing Bloodthirst.

• Bonushunt Featurespins – 3x the bet where each spin is five times more likely to trigger a bonus game. Max RTP is 96.19%.
• Bloodthirst – 100x the bet, max RTP is 96.34%.
• Immortals – 200x the bet, max RTP is 96.35%.

Bloodthirst: Slot Verdict

Apologies for the lols when Bloodthirst first came along – not because there is anything funny about it, quite the opposite. What was funny was that the online slot we reviewed just before this one from Hacksaw Gaming was Frank's Farm which is a game about a sloth farmer called Frank who starred in about as cute a game as you could possibly ask for, populated by all manner of cheerful animals. Bloodthirst, sorry to state the obvious, is the polar opposite and lets Hacksaw Gaming let loose its darker urgings. It's funny how games from this studio often sit at the extreme ends of the spectrum. On one side, we find slots like Pug Life, while on the other are blood-curdling games like this, which probably shouldn't be played by the squeamish with the lights turned out…

Interestingly, the scariest part of Bloodthirst wasn't its horrifying denizens but how effectively it vaporised the bankroll during the review, initially, at least. In the beginning, natural free spins triggers seemed rare for a while, as were full reel monsters in the base game. However, once Bloodthirst found its stride, they did hit often enough to keep hope and interest alive (or should that be undead?) to unearth the finer moments. When those moments happened, the game could be rather spine-chilling indeed. The concepts on offer here are simple, but they're the sort which can flip around in a pulse-quickening moment and show that Hacksaw Gaming doesn't just rely on fiendishly clever ways of incorporating multipliers which they often do. Bloodthirst has a max win of 10,000x the bet, though this is only possible in the Immortals bonus round. We're envisaging an Immortals round with the Demon Monster locked on all five reels, ramming out multiple 2,500x full-screen hits. Quite a hair-raising thought.

In wrapping up, Bloodthirst is another potentially thrilling ride from the creative Hacksaw Gaming team. It won't be for all tastes, but players who like to venture out after dark, who like a scare or two to get their pulses racing, or who like the thought of some expanding symbol action that has nothing to do with books, have the chance to be freaked out in Bloodthirst.