The Haunted Carnival

It’s that time of year again, the leaves are changing, it’s getting colder, and quite a few peoples favorite holiday is coming up… HALLOWEEN!

We’re going to let you in on a little secret as well. You can play this any time of the year, you don’t really have to wait until All Hallows Eve!

This hot new slot comes to you from Nucleus, known for bringing you all kinds of other great 3D video slots. Being released in October of 2021 it’s here just in time for all of you ghoul lovers out there to have something else to do other than just hang out and give out candy to pint sized beggars that will come around demanding treats from you!

Lots of Treats, No Tricks

As you arrive to the carnival you are introduced to 4 spooky figures that will do their best to put on one Hell of a Show for you with their 50 fixed paylines and absolute ton of features. The 4 characters you’ll meet as you try to survive the night are:

• The Witch
• The Mummy
• The Skeleton
• The Clown

And then of course there’s the Master of Ceremonies, Pumpkinhead! Let’s meet this crew of misfits and then we’ll discuss some gameplay.

The Creepy Cast

As you spin on throughout the night you’ll be given the chance to meet each of these misfits one at a time. One will come out randomly and stick around for 9 rounds, (spins) before presenting you with their own Grand Finale on the 10th spin and then clearing the way for the next performer.

• The Witch

While the Witch is present every appearance of a Witch or a Broom will be marked. These will stay marked until her 10th spin at which time all of those marked spaces will become WILD SYMBOLS. These wild symbols will substitute for anything except for Pumpkinhead.

• The Clown

While the Clown is performing her act, every appearance of a Clown or a Balloon symbol will be marked and be turned into Mystery Boxes. Again, these positions will stay marked until the final, 10th round. On that 10th round all of those spaces between boxes will also turn into Mystery Boxes. The spaces between these boxes will also be turned to complete a defined path. At this time all of the Mystery Boxes will be transformed into a single symbol, excluding Wilds.

• The Mummy

During the Mummy’s act, each Mummy or Bandage symbol that appears will increase the Bonus Multiplier. The Bonus counter starts at Round 1 of the Mummy’s act. On round 10 for his finale, the resulting multiplier is applied to the spin.

• The Skeleton

During the Skeleton’s act, there is a counter that starts at 1. This counter will go up for the next 9 spins with every Skeleton or Bone symbol. On the 10th round the player will be rewarded FREE SPINS equal to the number that was racked up on the counter.

Pumpkinhead – The Master of Ceremonies

The ol’ Pumpkinhead is truly running the show and he lets you know it by the true fun coming around when he shows up!

The Pumpkinhead is Wild in any configuration and can appear on all 5 reels. This symbol substitutes for any other symbol but cannot trigger free spins.

When he appears in a 4 symbol tall configuration, if all 4 of the other players are present on the reels, he will award the player with 10 Free Spins! During these 10 free spins, he will take on the attributes of any of the other characters.

• Pumpkinhead the Witch

Pumpkinhead the Witch will place 5 Wild Symbols anywhere on the board with at least 1 on each reel.

• Pumpkinhead the Clown

Pumpkinhead the Clown will choose at least 5 Wild Symbols to be placed on the reels, at least 1 per reel and they will spin in sync turning up as another random sybol.

• Pumpkinhead the Mummy

Pumpkinhead the Mummy will cause a large Multiplier to be applied to the spin. During free spins, Pumpkinhead can grant a 3x, 4x, 5x, 7x, 10x, 15x, 20x, or 25x Multiplier to the spin.

• Pumpkinhead the Skeleton

Pumpkinhead the Skeleton will award the player with a random number of Bonus Respins with no additional performer affecting those spins.

Also going along with Pumpkinhead’s other abilities is the ability to grant anywhere from 3 to 10 More Free Spins.

Other Symbols

And of course there’s a host of other symbols for you to be on the lookout for as you spin away to get some cash, (these were looked up while the game was set at $45 per spin).

For the Witch, Skeleton, Mummy, and Clown, they all pay the same.

• Match 3 = $13.50
• Match 4 = $27.00
• Match 5 = $90.00

The Bone, Bandage, Broom, and Balloon also all pay the same.

• Match 3 = $4.50
• Match 4 = $9.00
• Match 5 = $36.00

The Jack o’Lantern pays the following.

• Match 3 = $9.00
• Match 4 = $18.00
• Match 5 = $54.00

And then there’s Pumpkinhead’s actual head. It pays the following.

• Match 3 = $18.00
• Match 4 = $54.00
• Match 5 = $270.00

Gruesome Gameplay

The Haunted Carnival plays with 50 fixed paylines meaning you cannot change this number. That may be the only downside to this slot.

While spinning, the player can choose each spin to be as little as $0.10 and as much as $45.00 making sure that everyone gets a chance to spin away at this one.

Once spinning, the slot plays like almost any other slot with 5 reels. The player will be given prizes with matching symbols on any of the 50 lines going from left to right with the highest prize on a line paying out.

Visually, Nucleus outdid themselves. The Haunted Carnival is absolutely beautiful. The symbols are all crisp and clear. If you don’t like the background, change the amount you’re risking per spin and the background will change.

As for sound, it’s nothing to sneeze at either even if it’s pretty much what you would expect from looking at this particular slot.

Coming around only but once a year, chances are good that you may come into this when Halloween is long over. That’s all okay, The Haunted Carnival travels all around the deserted country side roads all year ’round, inviting you to come and see the show anytime you’d like.