House of Doom 2 The Crypt

House of Doom 2 The Crypt: Slot Overview

Developer Play'n GO's rock range gets bigger and doomier with the release of the musically themed slot House of Doom 2 The Crypt. The original House of Doom slot was designed around a song of the same name by Swedish band Candlemass. Candlemass has been described as an 'epic doom metal band' that has been rocking since 1984. They might not exactly be a household name, yet the group literally defined doom metal, the genre name being taken from their debut album Epicus Doomicus Metallicus. After all that doom, it's a safe bet players with a taste for heavier music will find it easier to appreciate the sequel, House of Doom 2 The Crypt.

A clear graphical upgrade is the first thing differentiating the two slots, though both went dark on the imagery - which it kind of has too when you're dealing in doom metal. A 5-reel, 20-payline game grid takes centre stage, surrounded by crypty things such as spooky stone pillars and plenty of dim lighting. Suffice to say the sounds will suit metal fans who get a solid dose as the reels spin. Being all daring in a crypt is possible on any device where stakes from 20 p/c to $/€100 per spin are available while offering a default RTP configuration of 96.25%. House of Doom 2 might not be the most volatile game that Play'n GO has crafted, but a rating of 7 out of 10 means it can burn you if not handled with care.

There are no major surprises when it comes to general rules. Land three or more identical symbols from the leftmost reel and you have a winner. A heavy Gothic script has been used to design the low 10-A card symbols, while high pays are daggers, a menacing-looking flower, flickering candles, and a spiky skull. If that list sends shivers down your spine, then House of Doom 2 might not be the game for you. No less than 4 wild symbols appear at various points, which substitute normal symbols as usual. All pay 25x the bet for a line of five, while some possess different attributes covered below.

House of Doom 2 The Crypt: Slot Features

House of Doom 2 boasts 3 different domains which are accessed by certain wild symbols and Spirit Gates, leading to unique modifiers. On top of it all you get a triggered round of free spins and Crypt Spins.

During the base game, a Spirit Gate can appear on any reel at random. If one of the wild symbols lands on it, the wild expands and triggers a respin, with one of these respective modifiers active:

• Queen of the Damned – adds Spirit Gates to all reels for the respin.
• Fire Mistress – awards a random multiplier of x2, x3, x5, or x10 to any respin win.
• Metal Priestess – all ritual relic symbols are upgraded to the top paying skull symbol.

Landing regular Crypt scatters on reels 1, 3, and 5 triggers free spins. In this feature, it is possible to activate more than one Spirit Gate on any spin, increasing the chance of triggering the modifiers mentioned above. If a regular scatter lands in an active Spirit Gate, it is upgraded to a Flaming Crypt scatter.

This leads to Crypt Spins, potentially trigged during a Queen of Damned respin, or in free spins when all 3 scatters have been upgraded - landing 3 Flaming Crypt scatters awards 8 free Crypt Spins. During this round, the Spirit of Unity wild may appear, and if it lands in a Spirit Gate, players win a respin with Fire Mistress, Metal Priestess, and Queen of the Damned modifiers all active. On a final note, it is possible to retrigger Crypt Spins.

House of Doom 2 The Crypt: Slot Verdict

It's unclear why players have the privilege of returning to the House of Doom for a second bash since the original wasn’t a major mainstream hit. There is an air of passion project around House of Doom 2 though, possibly because the first was the brainchild of Play'n GO COO Martin Zettergren. Not only did he come up with the idea, but he was so committed he joined the musos in the studio to ensure their new song fit his vision for the slot.

The first House of Doom hasn't had quite the same impact as others in Play'n GOs metal range, despite using a unique doom metal approach. The update, House of Doom 2, should appeal to a broader audience, provided they are cool having their eardrums blasted by a shot of doom metal. The game is more polished, offers better graphics, and potential has been turned up in the process. In saying so, House of Doom 2 isn't exactly a mega paying slot, where max wins top out at 6,000x the bet. Not a bad total to be sure, though not the highest when it comes to metal-themed Play'n GO slots if bigger is better. That honour remains safely with Testament for now.

It feels like House of Doom 2 was more what the studio had in mind when they came up with the original House of Doom concept. Players can enjoy a bit of creep factor due to its deliciously dark visuals, and various priestess types. It doesn't rock as hard as other metal-based slots Play'n GO has done, but it's certainly not relegated to the contemporary adult rock category either.