Eternal Dusk: Slot Overview
No doubt this has been said before, but eternity is a really, really long time. Whatever big number you can attempt to mentally wrap your head around, a Googolplex, Graham's number, pales in comparison to eternity. As such, being stuck in one state forever might get a teensy stale after a while. Depending on the state, of course. Such was one question posed by Swedish developer Slotmill's Eternal Dusk, a slot wedged in that time period between day and night, a 'realm of mystery', where, hopefully, some roaming, multiplying, wild action will apparate.
The heroine of Eternal Dusk is a porcelain-skinned, jet-black-haired lady, who it was at first assumed possessed blood-sucking powers, though no reference to vampirism arose during the review. Never mind, mysterious she is, and she inhabits a misty, columned world of arcane delights. It might have been nice if Slotmill had elaborated on the back story more, not that doing so would have made any difference to the gameplay, and besides, leaving a big question mark lets players fill in the dark blanks as they happen to see fit.
Eternal Dusk's gaming zone is a 5x4 matrix, with 30 paylines calculating winning combinations. Mathematically, the slot is a highly volatile one, and it accepts bets of 20 c to $/€60 per base game round. A default RTP of 96.06% is generated when gambling this way, but the game also has three feature buy options: the ultra-swift Burst Mode, and an Xtra-Bet. Activating Xtra-Bet ups the bet by 50%, increasing the chance of triggering free spins by 3 times.
Spiky J, Q, K, and A symbols are Eternal Dusk's low pays, awarding 3 to 4 times the bet for a 5-of-a-kind winning combination. You get more, 5x to 20x, when landing 5 matching flowers, skulls, lamps, vases, or female character symbols. Wild symbols have the same value as the lady, with the added benefit of being able to substitute any regular paying symbol.
Eternal Dusk: Slot Features
Wild Surges add drama to Eternal Dusk's base game before players trigger or buy its free spins feature or the super free spins round, which both benefit from Golden Roaming Wilds, multipliers, and a progressive element.
Wild Surge
On any base game spin, the Wild Surge feature may randomly trigger, adding 3 to 10 wild symbols to the grid. Wild symbols may appear with a multiplier of x2, x3, x4, x5, or x10, which applies to any win the wild is involved in.
Free Spins
Players win 5 free spins when 3 or more scatters land in the base game. Free spins have a Golden Roaming Wild symbol that moves to a random position before each spin. During the feature, landing 3 or more scatters awards an additional +5 spins at that stage. Any wild symbol that lands in the bonus becomes a Roaming Wild, moving position but not carrying a multiplier.
A Multiplier Meter tracks free spin progression through various stages. Initially triggering the feature with 3, 4, or 5 scatters starts the round's collection feature at 3, 4, or 5 collected scatter symbols, respectively. Collected scatter symbols award +5 free spins and upgraded multipliers when reaching certain stages on the meter.
- Stage 2 - collect 6 scatter symbols for +5 free spins with an x2 stage multiplier.
- Stage 3 - collect 9 scatter symbols for +5 free spins with an x4 stage multiplier.
- Stage 4 - collect 13 scatter symbols for +5 free spins with an x8 stage multiplier.
- Stage 5 - collect 17 scatter symbols for +5 free spins with an x16 stage multiplier.
The Golden Roaming Wild symbol collects all regular Roaming Wilds on the reels, and for each Roaming Wild collected, the Stage Multiplier is added to the Golden Roaming Wild's multiplier. All of the Roaming Wilds are then removed, while the combined multiplier of the Golden Roaming Wilds carries over to the next stage. Landing a super scatter during free spins adds +2 free spins and awards an additional Golden Roaming Wild.
Super Free Spins
Super free spins are awarded when a super scatter symbol is part of the triggering scatters in the base game or by upgrading the free spins round. In super free spins, 2 Golden Roaming Wild symbols move positions before each spin. Hitting 3 or more scatters awards +5 spins at the current stage, but super scatters do not appear in this feature.
Fast Track
Players are able to activate a Wild Surge from the Fast Track for 40x the bet, free spins for 100x the bet, or super free spins for 500x the bet.
Eternal Dusk: Slot Verdict
The nice thing about Slotmill is that it consistently churns out tightly packaged, playable slots, which Eternal Dusk can count itself another one of. It's not the sort of game which grabs that attention with humongous potential or freakshow features, but what it does have has been neatly put together and handsomely presented for gambler consumption. The studio might have hammered the thematic point home a little harder, but players are unlikely to experience eye or ear strain while beholding Eternal Dusk, nor should they be disappointed by the gameplay.
On the contrary, Eternal Dusk keeps players on their toes during its base game with a sprinkling of Wild Surging, which not only places wilds on the reels but can give them multipliers as well. Perhaps it's a combination of theme and wild feature, but for some reason, this part of the game brought the iconic Immortal Romance Wild Desire feature to mind. However, comparing the free spin features to the base game is like comparing night and day, though the full effects might not kick in until the progress meter has reached multiplier levels. Reach higher stages, and you've got at least one Golden Roaming Wild multiplier constantly wandering the board from then on out, with Roaming Wilds created by each wild that lands.
Furthermore, the way Golden Roaming Wilds increase their multiplier when they collect normal Roaming Wilds during the levelling up process stirs the pot, and it doesn't take a huge leap of imagination to picture the game muscling its way toward its 10,000x win cap. All in all, Eternal Dusk might not be as explosive as Tyrant's Fall (which it vaguely resembles, mechanically), but it's still pretty explosive and another highly playable production from the wily Slotmill crew.
Eternal Dusk delivers a well-crafted and engaging experience, blending solid mechanics with stylish presentation, even if it doesn’t push the boundaries of innovation.
