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Night Maker Review
The developers have decided to “take a walk on the dark side” with their latest release: the horror-themed Night Maker. The demon-like creature declares himself king in the intro but he doesn’t look like much of a ruler being chained up like a prisoner in his own lair. The game plays out on a 3-5-5-5-3 grid with the corner positions blocked in the base game, and Night Maker is packed with exciting features.
Before we get to all that, however, let’s cover the basics. You start by choosing your preferred bet level between €0.20 to €100 per spin, catering to most types of players. You win by landing matching symbols across at least 3 reels, starting from the leftmost reel. The top-tier demon face symbol is followed by 3 strange items that are hard to figure out, but these premium symbols pay between 0.8x and 10x your stake for 5 of a kind. The rune-like royal symbols all pay 0.4x for the same.
Wild symbols substitute for regular pay symbols to help complete or improve wins. You should also note that wild symbols are indestructible until they reach the bottom of the grid. This means that wilds remain in play during Cascading win sequences, even if they partake in wins. The top feature row delivers unique modifiers per round, such as extra wilds, symbol multipliers, and symbol splits. Big symbols can appear organically or you can get up to 3 in a row via the random Rattle feature.
The bonus round sets the Night Maker’s lair on fire, unlocking each corner position to expand the grid with 3,125 ways to win. A symbol is randomly chosen to be upgraded with a multiplier before the feature starts, and the super bonus round comes with a jumping wild. Enter Beast Mode to get big symbols on each remaining free spin, increasing your chances of cracking the 50,000x max win. With an RTP of 94 %, Night Maker offers highly volatile gameplay and up to 25,000 win ways via split symbols in the bonus rounds.
Night Maker Features
There is plenty to look forward to in Night Maker, and we’ll walk you through all the details below.
Cascading Reels
Winning symbols are removed after awarding their payout, making room for existing and new symbols to drop down. This cascading mechanic repeats indefinitely as long as you keep landing new winning combinations, and spent feature symbols from the feature row also respin per cascade.
Big Symbols & Rattle Feature
Big Symbols can appear to cover the 3 middle reels, including both regular pay symbols and wild symbols. The big symbols land in size 3x5 and split into 15 symbols of the regular 1x1 size. The Rattle Feature may trigger at any time in the base game, delivering 1 to 3 big symbols.
Feature Row
The Feature Row is located above the 3 middle reels, revealing new feature symbols per spin. The feature symbols are revealed before the regular reels stop spinning, and each feature symbol applies to the column directly below. Here is an overview of the feature symbols you will benefit from in the Night Maker slot:
- Wild Spirit - can add up to 6 wilds to the top positions of the affected column or columns, and wilds take on the position multipliers if there are any. These wilds remain in play for one extra spin even if partaking in a winning combination.
- Symbol Multiplier - a random symbol and multiplier is revealed, and the multiplier is then applied to all symbols of that type in the column below. Jumping wilds are not affected by this multiplier, but regular wilds are.
- Wildfire - only activates if there is already at least one wild in the column below, turning all symbols except scatters into wild. The highest multiplier in the column is then applied to all wilds, and these wilds are persistent for one extra spin if they partake in a win.
- Split Symbols - splits all symbols bar the scatters on the column below. Symbols cannot be split more than once, and the maximum number of symbols per column is 10.
Night Maker Free Spins Bonus
The Bonus Round triggers when you land 3 scatters in view, awarding 8 free spins. A random pay symbol is chosen upfront and assigned with a random multiplier that’s persistent for the duration of the bonus. The 4 corner positions that are blocked in the base game become active in the bonus round, increasing the number of win ways from 1,125 to 3,125. You win +2 extra free spins per scatter that lands in a corner position. This can only happen once per corner position since it reactivates the base game blocker.
Super Free Spins Bonus
The Super Bonus Round triggers if one of the 3 triggering scatters is a super scatter, also awarding 8 free spins for starters. The triggering super scatter turns into a Jumping Wild that remains in play and leaps to a new position after each cascade and free spin. The jumping wild takes on the position multiplier of any position it lands on, and you can generate extra jumping wilds by landing a super scatter in one of the corner positions. This goes for the regular bonus round as well.
Beast Spins Mode
If you land a scatter in all 4 corner positions on the same free spin (in either of the bonus rounds), the Beast Spins feature is activated. This means that the 3 middle reels only land big symbols for the duration of the bonus round.
Night Maker Bonus Buy (not UK)
The X-iter bonus and feature buy menu are available in certain jurisdictions, and it comes with the following options in Night Maker:
- Bonus Hunt - pay 3x your stake to more than triple your bonus round chances.
- Wild Spins - pay 10x your stake to be guaranteed at least 1 wild symbol.
- Beast Spins - pay 100x your stake to get a Beast Spin round.
- Bonus Round - is priced at 100x your stake.
- Super Bonus Round - costs 500x your stake.
Theme & Graphics
The Night Maker slot plays out in the bizarre lair of whatever this creature is supposed to be, and the demon-like character is chained up in this dark tunnel that looks like the decaying insides of a mummified alien intestine. You will catch glimpses of him when the grid turns semi-transparent in beast mode, or if enough winning symbols are removed. The bleak soundtrack blends with creepy sound effects and the Night Maker’s occasional mumbling, all adding up to horror-inducing experience.
Pros and Cons of Night Maker
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Cascading wins and up to 25,000 win ways | RTP of 94 % is below the industry average |
| Big symbols can fill the 3 middle reels | The X-iter menu is not available in the UK |
| Feature row awards 4 unique modifiers | |
| FS and Super FS features w/ Beast Mode | |
| Win up to 50,000x your stake |
Our Verdict
Studios, renowned for their diverse portfolio of quality games, rarely delves as deeply into unsettling themes as they have with Night Maker. Sure, they have flirted with the horror genre in releases like Blood Lust and Phoenix Graveyard, but neither truly compares to the pervasive, gloomy atmosphere of Night Maker. Considering the success studios have achieved by embracing the “dark side,” it’s no surprise that they have decided to expand their horizon as well.
Of course, Night Maker could be a one-off for all we know, and a lot probably depends on how well this game is received. While the horror genre is generally not my cup of tea, and this goes for movies as well as slot games, I still enjoyed my test session. They could’ve put a bit more effort into the game intro and backstory, though, and the whole “I am the king” part of the intro comes across as a bit lame. A king doesn’t need to declare himself king, as the saying goes, and it would be more interesting to know what this creature actually is supposed to be.
They have invented this Night Maker creature out of thin air, it seems, as there are no mythological reference points to go by. Anyway, the horror of this game is not only found in the presentation, and you should brace yourself for a volatile experience with the usual lower-than-average 94 % RTP. The reels take a bit too long to complete their spinning, even with the turbo switched on, which was a source of frustration for me. It’s not a huge issue, but compared to the excellent pace of games, it felt a bit out of sync.
Speaking of, it seems to have “borrowed” most of the features for this game, but Night Maker never feels like a copycat effort in any way, shape, or form. While the feature row can certainly deliver effective modifiers, it feels like a combo of beast mode and multipliers are needed to close in on the generous 50,000x win cap. If we view Night Maker as their first fully fledged horror slot, it’s not a bad effort, but it’s not up there with the best we’ve seen from this studio either.
