deadmau5

deadmau5: Slot Overview

Developer Microgaming has a break from doling out work to its partners to take on the role of designer for their branded slot deadmau5. Pronounced' dead mouse', the slot is based around the popular Canadian electronic music producer and features a couple of his hits to jam to while spinning. Alongside the recognisable tracks are several even more recognisable features, most being classics from the Microgaming toolkit.

The first look at deadmau5 didn't make much of an impression. Perhaps expectations were too high. The 5-reel, 3-row grid has an old fashioned look to it and sits before a rather plain background made out to look like a fog filled dance floor, blazing in neon lights. The main draw here, the music, steps it up, but there isn't a lot of variety. The game lists just two songs in the credits - 4Ware and Monophobia (Youtube links). Decent tracks, but a few more hits would've been nice.

Players hit the coins icon to select bets from 20 p/c to $/€100 per spin, across any device. The math model is a mix of ups and downs when it comes to stats. On the lower side is an RTP of 95.22%, perhaps a few points were shaved off to cover the DJ's appearance, while volatility is surprisingly high. The hit frequency is also quite high, so at 31.52% players get a hit every 3 spins or so, on average. To compensate, the symbol values are more quite modest, especially when they come in combos of 3 or 4.

The symbols themselves are an interesting talking point. Not so the four low pay card suits, but it's the four conspicuous high pays that stick out. Here players get a mix of four Coachella style 'babes' lost in the music or staring soulfully into the camera, hair lustrously waving from a wind machine. Is it all a little cheap, or a solid use of the theme? We'll let you be the judge. Anyway, as to premium values, five of a kind payouts are worth 3x to 5x the bet.

To get a winner, the game uses a classic Microgaming 243 pay ways system where three or more of a kind makes a successful combo. Rows are irrelevant and plays well with the Rolling Reels feature. Helping pull in winners is the wild, 1x1 in size which substitutes for all symbols except the scatter.

deadmau5: Slot Features

Most features in deadmau5 are classic Microgaming extras that have turned up many times before. They include Rolling Reels, Free Spins, a Multiplier Trail, and a lesser-known Drop The Wilds feature.

Rolling Reels are present in all phases of the game. Whenever a winning combination lines up, the symbols pop off the reels. New symbols fall into the gaps creating additional chances to win and can lead to chains of consecutive hits off a single spin.

Drop the Wild is straight forward. At any point during play, reels 2, 3, or 4 may randomly turn fully wild, guaranteeing some form of win.

The demented mouse symbol is the scatter, paying out a fair wad of cash in high numbers - 3, 4, or 5 on the reels pay 5, 50, or 250x the bet respectively on top of awarding 15, 20, or 25 free spins. Rolling Reels continue in free spins, but now they are tied to the Multiplier Trail feature. Consecutive wins activate multipliers which increase through x2, x3, x4, x5, and x10. When no more rolls appear, the multiplier resets back to its starting value.

deadmau5: Slot Verdict

What to make of deadmau5 the slot? It feels like one of those branded games the developer is relying almost exclusively on the name to sell. The rest feels like an afterthought. As if the planning consisted of wedging a couple of well-known dance tracks in between a bunch of 'hot chicks' for the punters to get worked up over. Oh, and don't forget to pop on a couple of old features.

Fans of the music might be intrigued by the idea, but the final execution fails to impress. It's all a bit cheesy, what with the fly girls in various dance positions, or pulling variations of Blue Steel poses. It comes across as a club you're meant to like, but after five minutes of feeling either too old or not cool enough, you want to slink quietly away to your local to have a proper chat over a drink which didn't cost €75 and was more umbrella than actual liquid. Sure the game's got a couple of sweet deadmau5 tracks, but not enough to really justify giving the game a crack.

On the gaming side of things, deadmau5 packs a bunch of old Microgaming features - the kind which admittedly play out well together. They do work well here too from time to time, but it's nothing you haven’t seen before. Multiplier Trail + Rolling Reels in a nightclub sounds like Jungle Jim and the Gyrating Girls of Ibiza. It's as if the developers were hoping players would just overlook the unoriginality, yet the theme treatment or girls don't do enough to distract from the bland gameplay.

Speaking of Jungle Jim, the features might be similar but have been tinkered with. In order to increase volatility (we assume) there is no multiplier trail available during the base game as there is in Jungle Jim. Along with low symbol values, the base game doesn't have much going for it. One the positive side, the multiplier trail has been increased from 5x to 10x although the potential remains lower than what you get in Jungle Jim. Overall deadmau5 isn't the most enticing game. Potential isn't terrible on paper, but the 2,100 times the stake max win barely sweetens the deal when after days of testing we couldn't even land any win over 150x.

At the end of the day, if you're mad for Rolling Reels/ Multiplier Trial features in a different setting, say, an indoor one with a bit of eye candy and EDM flavoured tunes, it might be worth a look. Players with urges which aren’t so specific will fail to find much enjoyment in deadmau5 the slot.