Don’t Die

Don't Die: Slot Overview 

The desire for eternal life has been around for thousands of years, maybe longer. The ancient Egyptians were famous for preserving the body; ancient Greek philosophers wrestled extensively with mortality, while European alchemists searched for things such as the Philosopher's Stone and an elixir of life, to name but a few examples. In modern times, the search continues with the aid of science, biology, genetics, regenerative medicine, and longevity research. Software provider Wicked Games explores humankind's desire to defeat death in Don't Die, an online slot which takes a satirical look at freezing, cloning, and the compulsion to simply exist.

This journey to immortality begins on the grounds of some sort of institution draped in a banner displaying the text 'Evolve or Die.' The place appears to be under the guidance of a guy who really, really does not want his mortal existence to end. A statue to his greatness has been erected on the left side of the screen, all shredded to the bone, chiselled jawline and manic gaze. Hints to immortality's keys lie about the place in the form of peptides, mushrooms, bottles of Adraxone, and bags of blood. Hey, no one said living forever was going to be easy, and that's just the physical side of things. The mental stresses of living forever, an eternity of faded memories, the ever-present fear of accidents, losing loved ones - they're arguably even tougher than the physical stress. For now though, it's all happy smiles, manicured physiques, and the hubris that comes with feeling like you've defeated nature.

The non-dying takes place on a 6-reel grid, where 4 rows of symbols hit, and wins are evaluated by 40 paylines from left to right. Rated 3.5 out of 5, Don't Die is in the medium part of the volatility scale, and it has an RTP of 96.16%. The stake range is broad, with options from as low as $/€0.20 to as high as $/€400 possibly available.

The pay symbols consist of five characters as the high pays, see which ones you can recognise, followed by bloody drinks, Adraxone bottles, mushrooms, medical devices, and fingers on ice. Landing a 6 OAK winning combination pays 1x to 15x the bet. Wilds appear on all reels in all phases of play. Wilds substitute for all regular pay symbols and are worth up to 50x the bet for 6 wilds in a winning line. In the base game, wilds land as 1x1 and may expand to 2, 3, or 4 positions high.

Don't Die: Slot Features

Don't Die's features are the previously mentioned expanding wilds, free spins that come in four stages, a Don't Die feature lifeline, and various Wicked Boosters and Bonuses. 

Free Spins

Juice Boy scatters are present on all reels. Landing 3, 4, 5, or 6 scatters awards 8 free spins starting with 0, 1, 2, or 3 filled Blood Bags on the meter, respectively. During free spins, Juice Boy symbols become Feature symbols. Each landed Feature symbol adds 1 to the Blood Bag meter. Every 2 collected symbols advance the meter to the next stage. Feature symbols do not land when the final stage has been reached. Stages on the meter refer to the wild height. At stage 0, wilds have a minimum height of 2, at stage 1, wilds have a minimum height of 3, at stage 2, they are 4 high. When reaching stage 3, each new landed wild is four positions high, and they freeze for one spin along with each connected wild to its right.

In free spins, wilds always expand when landing and may have a multiplier of x2 to x100. Multiplier values are added together when more than one is part of a win. In addition, active wild symbols walk one reel to the left on each subsequent spin until leaving the grid, retaining their size and multiplier even if more Blood Bags are filled. 

Super free spins can randomly trigger when activating the free spins feature. During super free spins, walking wilds may leave clones behind in their previous positions. When a walking wild moves into a position containing a clone, their sizes combine, and their multiplier values are added together. 

Don't Die 

When the free spins counter reaches zero but there are active wilds on the reels, respins are awarded until no more wilds remain in view. Landing new wilds during respins extends the round.

Wicked Boosters & Bonuses 

The Wicked Boosters on offer are the Frequent Donor, costing 2x to triple the chance of free spins while also adding extra wilds to the reels in the base game. Cell Division costs 2x to guarantee super free spins are awarded when free spins are triggered, while also adding extra wilds to the reels in the base game. Inner Circle costs 4.5x to triple the chance of triggering free spins, guaranteeing every triggered bonus is super free spins, or lastly, there is Full Dose costing 2x to guarantee wilds always expand in the base game. 

The Walk In buy costs 85x to trigger free spins with 3 scatters at the initial stage, while Super Walk In costs 250x for super free spins triggered by 3 scatters and active wild cloning. Blind Trial triggers free spins with 3-6 scatters for 165x, while Super Blind Trial costs 450x for super free spins triggered by 3-6 scatters with active wild cloning for the feature. Deep Freeze costs 750x to trigger free spins with 6 scatters starting at the final stage, while Super Deep Freeze can be bought for 1,700x to get 6-scatter-triggered super free spins with active wild cloning for the feature.

Don't Die: Slot Verdict

Don't Die is a thought-provoking slot which tackles a topic unique in the world of slots. It does so in a humorous way, but still, it was hard not to contemplate the more serious implications and moral quandaries while watching symbols land on reels amidst bags of blood. It is tempting to use Don't Die as a springboard into an examination of philosophical questions, existential despair, and the ice-cold fear that one day none of us will be here anymore, but this is a slot; it's meant to be fun, so let's keep it light, and hold onto the thought that when it is time to shuffle off this coil, who can say what's really going to happen next? Perhaps it will be something wonderful.

Good times can certainly occur while playing Don't Die. It's a slot laser-focused on getting wild symbols to the grid, expanding them where possible, and hoping they come with a multiplier. Free spins/super free spins are the best place for this to happen, the only place in the case of multiplier values, and the levelling-up system provides a questing-for-answers element. Like a life-prolonging elixir, the Don't Die aspect of the bonus round could be extraordinarily helpful. No guarantees, of course, but when wilds keep landing, freezing, and walking, the bonus is able to keep rolling on and on. The longer you can extend the bonus, the better too, since it relies on levelling up to get the bigger wilds, and since this is a payline game rather than ways, the bigger the wild, the more conducive.

It is interesting that in an industry famous for bright lights, bells, bars, and fruits, slots like those in Hacksaw Gaming's Death Becomes You-related range, Nolimit City's Mental, or Print Studios' Darkness are finding their way into online casinos, showing that game makers are willing to take on themes with dark, heavy, weightier depth. Don't Die is another one, and even if breaking the features down into their individual pieces means you won't find a ton of stuff which hasn't wormed its way into other slots before, when brought together, attached to a staging system, then coated with an unusual theme, before getting a 10,000x win cap, Wicked Games has designed a uniquely thought-provoking gambling experience.