Phoenix Graveyard 2

Phoenix Graveyard 2: Slot Overview

At the risk of sounding pedantic, since phoenixes die then are reborn from the ashes, would they actually bother having graveyards? Not sure, but this is our second opportunity to ponder this deep and meaningful question as we take on Phoenix Graveyard 2 from Light & Wonder owned software provider ELK Studios. Released in 2022, the original Phoenix Graveyard was a dark, foreboding slot of Grim Reapers and despair. Phoenix Graveyard 2 follows this up by being just as foreboding while expanding the list of features and upping the winning potential.

If this sounds like cheery news, don't worry, Phoenix Graveyard 2 looks every bit as dreary as the original did. An olde town bathed in moonlight, peppered with a gnarly tree and gravestones, is where the action is set. Dripping candles and skulls adorn the play area, while character symbols turn to skeletons during the bonus rounds. Yeah, it's not the most pleasant environment ELK Studios has ever designed, but if players like it a bit spooky, then Phoenix Graveyard 2 provides a richly mirthless game world to inhabit.

Winning combinations begin from the leftmost side of the 5x4 grid and are evaluated by at least 1,024, going up to millions of ways to win. Stakes of 20 c to $/€100 may be selected by brave players, and five X-iter feature buys may be used to possibly hurry the action along. Whether buying features or wagering normally, the RTP is 94%, while the math model is a highly volatile one.

On the table of pay symbols, we find 10-A royals, worth 0.2x to 0.4x for 5 OAK and five character symbols, awarding 1x to 2.5x the bet for a five-of-a-kind combination. All wilds, and there are several types, substitute for any of the regular pay symbols. An all-wild win pays as much as the highest-value pay symbol.

Phoenix Graveyard 2: Slot Features

There is a ton of stuff to get through here, including Phoenix/Reaper Wilds, Wild Battles, skull activations, the feature row and feature symbols, bonus games, and feature buys.

Phoenix & Reaper Wild

As well as substituting for all paying symbols, the Phoenix Wild also awards a respin and unlocks a random position on the feature row when it lands, potentially revealing a feature row symbol. The Reaper Wild also substitutes paying symbols and unlocks a feature row position when it lands. The Reaper Wild is a walking wild that awards respins as it walks leftward until it walks off the grid.

Wild Battle

If a Phoenix and Reaper Wild land on the same row or are adjacent to each other vertically, they battle after wins have paid. The winner gets a multiplier, while both get a multiplier if the battle is a draw. If the Phoenix wins, it removes all low symbols on the next spin, and if the Reaper wins, then 1-5 feather wilds spread across the grid. Feather wilds can spawn after a Phoenix has been split, lost a battle, or when a split happens on a position that already has six ways.

Phoenix Skull and Reaper Skull

On any spin, the Phoenix skull or Reaper skull may glow, potentially triggering. When activated, the Reaper skull lands one Reaper wild on the rightmost reel, and any unlocked feature row positions remain active for the rest of the round. An active Phoenix skull lands 1-3 Phoenix wilds on the reels, and one respin per Phoenix then follows with the feature row unlocked - also acting in this way for any respins triggered during it.

Feature Row

The feature row has five locked positions. Landing a Phoenix wild or Reaper wild unlocks one position before wins are evaluated. Unlocked positions spin to reveal a blank or a feature row symbol. Feature row positions are locked after a win unless a respin symbol or skull feature triggers or the bonus or super bonus is active. Feature row symbols are:

• Split All - increases the ways to win of all positions on the grid by +1.
• Split Right - selects a random position on the reel underneath it and increases its ways to win as well as all positions on the row to its right by +1.
• Split Left - the same as above but to the left.
• Split Reel - increases the ways to win of all positions on the reel underneath it by +1.
• Split One - chooses a random position on the reel underneath it and increases its ways to win by 1-6.
• Spawn Phoenix - spawns a Phoenix wild on a random grid position.
• Spawn Reaper - spawns a Reaper wild on a random grid position.
• Respin - locks all Reapers and Phoenixes in place and triggers a respin. A respin occurs even if there are no Reapers or Phoenixes. Reapers and Phoenixes do not open new feature row positions during this respin.

Split positions increase ways to win up to six. Splitting a position that is already at six ways gives the position six wild feathers. If a Split symbol lands above a reel with a Reaper, it becomes powered up, so directional splits increase ways to win by 2-6 rather than 1, and the Split one symbol boosts 2-5 positions instead of 1. Also, should splits hit a Phoenix or Reaper, their multiplier is increased instead of the position they stand on.

Bonus Game

Landing 3, 4, or 5 scatters awards 6, 8, or 10 free spins, respectively. Scatters are sticky if there is a pending respin. The bonus starts with one Phoenix wild that remains in play and moves to a new position on each spin. Any ways increase from the triggering spin carries over. Extra Phoenix symbols that land during the feature also persist and grant +1 free spin. Landing Phoenix or Reaper symbols unlocks one feature row position per spin. All split positions, unlocked feature row positions and any multipliers are persistent for the bonus duration. Furthermore, when a Phoenix or Reaper lands or moves to a position with increased ways to win, they absorb those ways, adding them to their multiplier. The ways to win are returned to the position when the Phoenix or Reaper leaves.

The regular bonus round upgrades to a super bonus by landing a super bonus symbol on the rightmost reel, opening all feature rows that were not already open, and activating the powered up effect. +2 free spins are also awarded. Alternatively, triggering a bonus during Phoenix skull or Reaper skull activates the super bonus.

X-iter Feature Buys

The X-iter offers the Bonus Hunt at 2.5x the bet for a spin with more than four times the chance of triggering the bonus game, Mega Bonus Hunt at 5x for more than eight times the chance, or Splitting Frenzy, which is one spin with all feature row positions unlocked, an increased chance of landing feature symbols, and bonus symbols being replaced by super bonus symbols for 50x the bet. Alternatively, players can buy the regular bonus for 100x or the super bonus for 500x.

Phoenix Graveyard 2: Slot Verdict

On the whole, it's not totally clear that Phoenix Graveyard 2 is a titanic improvement on Phoenix Graveyard, but there certainly is a lot more going on. The battling's back, as is the splitting, and split reels retain their Nitropolis feel. There's a lot more variety to the splitting now since feature symbols can chop left, right, reels, one position, or all of them. Each position may be sliced up to 6 ways, meaning there can be a stack of ways to win, so many that the game info sheet doesn't even provide a specific number. Basically, there can be a lot, not that this automatically equates to massive wins, though. Still gotta connect split positions with matching symbols and all.

Like the original, unless heavy, menacing environments are a preference, then Phoenix Graveyard 2 didn't cause adrenaline rushes in quite the same way as a thrilling Nitropolis run does. There was something about the reel area that wasn't as graphically eye-catching as a lot of what ELK Studios puts out, and the feature row is somewhat drab. It's hard to fault what the feature symbols themselves can actually produce if splitting's your thing, and Wild Battles might be nail-biting. What's also a positive move is the way a regular bonus round can be upgraded by landing a super bonus symbol, thereby powering up the splitting effect. All in all, there's a seductive set of features here for the right player.

If Phoenix Graveyard didn't jump-scare you away to the nearest happy-go-lucky fruit slot, but sucked you into its grim, fantastical world, then its sequel is equally likely, if not more so, to trigger some dark thrills as well. Still not sure which slot delivers the most entertainment value, but with more than double the potential at 25,000x on offer and a hoard of features, players in Phoenix Graveyard 2's scope are set to have a delightfully dark time finding out.