Potion of Madness

Potion of Madness: Slot Overview

Robert Louis Stevenson's novella 'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' is one of the most famous stories in English literature, exploring the psychology of a doctor whose potion's ability to separate good from evil transforms him into a rampaging beast. It's been said that Stevenson wrote the original draft after waking from a cocaine-induced dream, which his wife burned after dismissing it as 'nonsense'. What was repugnant to a respectable lady of the Victorian era might seem fairly tame to modern sensibilities, but that doesn't stop the story of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde from being a thought-provoking psychological study, and it serves as the basis for developer Play'n GO's online slot Potion of Madness.

Instead of a frightening descent into the deep dark well of mankind's twisted psyche, Potion of Madness comes across as a bit of a light-hearted cartoony jape. If we weren't already aware of Play'n GO's ability to produce eye-popping graphical work, it might be tempting to call Potion of Madness a piece of AI art. Dunno. The drab alleyway background jars slightly with the brighter reel area and game title, which reawakened memories of Wicked Games' Sidekick Jack.

Moving on, we come to the concrete facts and figures, such as the 6 out of 10 medium volatility setting and a default RTP of 96.2%, as well as four lower return values to be aware of. If you want to get in on this potion, wagers of 10 c to $/€100 may be placed before watching the action transpire on a 5-reel grid that has 3 rows in the base game with 10 paylines set in place to evaluate winning combinations.

On the game's paytable, we find 10-A low-pay royal symbols before getting to a newspaper, a pocket watch, a microscope, a scientific apparatus, and the Dr J symbol. Lines of 5 identical royals pay 2 to 3.5 times a player's stake, while a line of 5 high pays award 4 to 10 times the bet. When in view (they are present on all five reels) Mr H wild symbols substitute for all symbols except the scatter and pay up to 30x for a winning line made up of 5 wilds.

Potion of Madness: Slot Features

The Potion of Madness scatter symbol is the stepping stone to all of the game's features, such as transformations, respins, and free spins. The number of scatters in view on the reels determines the specific feature.

Transformation & Respins

Landing 1 single Potion of Madness scatter transforms Dr J symbols into wild symbols. Landing 2 Potion of Madness scatters triggers respins. During respins, all Dr J symbols on the reels are turned into sticky wilds and have the chance to expand. Only 1 wild can land per reel, but all present wilds have a chance of expanding vertically. Respins continue as long as wilds expand, new ones land, or until there is no space to land any new wilds. Sticky wilds remain on the reels till respins end.

Free Spins

Players are granted 5 free spins when 3 Potion of Madness scatter symbols land. During the free spins bonus, the grid expands to 6 rows high, and the number of ways to win increases to 40. All Dr J symbols on the reels in the free spins feature are automatically turned into wilds and have a chance to expand. Landing or expanding a wild triggers respins as if landing 2 scatters in the base game. One respin session can be triggered per free spin. As mentioned above, respins continue as long as wilds expand, new ones land, or until there is no space to land any new wilds.

Potion of Madness: Slot Verdict

On seeing Hyde trample a little girl in the novella, Richard Enfield said that, 'It sounds nothing to hear, but it was hellish to see. It wasn't like a man; it was like some damned Juggernaut.' Potion of Madness, well, it ain't a juggernaut, yet there are positives to consider. One is the universal appeal of sticky wilds, which appear in the base game alongside respins, which is a solid one-two punch. Wilds get even better when expanding, so there are no issues with that combination. Let's also acknowledge the benefit that no matter how many scatters land, they've got the power to do something. Even a single landed scatter turns Mr J symbols to wilds. Well, it's something.

Three scatters are what one wants, of course, since that's how free spin access is gained, and Potion of Madness stirs the serum by stretching its gaming grid to double its normal size while quadrupling the number of paylines. This move actually works hand in hand with the respins/sticky wild features, providing more space to power up the possibility of landing extra wilds, expanded or not. Since there is less than 1 chance in a billion of scoring the game's full 6,000x the bet winning potential, any helping hand is greatly appreciated.

To wrap up, Potion of Madness wasn't as mad as its title made it out to be, and it doesn't have the same level of ocular extravagance that Play'n GO slots often possess, but there might be tinges of nuttiness to be found if its potion bottle scatter system leads to more expansive, sticky, wild stuff.