Zombirthday Slot Machine
What does a zombie get up to on his birthday? This is the question Zombirthday asks, in its own roundabout way. The Playson-powered cartoon video slot, which features five reels and ten pay-lines, is based on the exploits of the undead, not unlike Bally's Better Off Ed. It’s a long-established fact that zombies throw a hell of a party, and you’ll be sharing in that celebratory mood if you’re lucky enough to hit the 9,000-credit jackpot.
Zombirthday includes features which are typical of a great many slot games. We’re referring, of course, to wilds, scatters, free spins and a gamble feature. Though the features may be ubiquitous, as far as we can tell, this is only zombie birthday-themed slot game in existence.
A Ghoulish Setting
The action in Zombirthday takes place in what looks like a haunted graveyard. Everything is cartoonised, from the symbols to the reel grid to the backdrop, which includes spooky-looking trees, foliage, misshapen headstones and guttering candles. This isn’t the kind of place you’d like to enjoy an evening stroll, not least because you’d be likely to encounter a gap-toothed zombie hellbent on consuming your flesh. The game’s soundtrack shares more than one or two similarities with the Scooby Doo score.
The game has been very well designed; there’s a playful aspect to the set-up, and the symbols on the reels only reinforce this fact. They include a blue skull on a platter, an apple in its gaping mouth, the birthday boy himself (a green zombie wearing a paper hat), an alluring teal-coloured female zombie, a zombie dog, a brain cake (it’s exactly as it sounds) and a spooky candle surrounded by a wreath. There are also playing card symbols, from 9 through to Ace. The card icons have been zombified, appearing tattered and in multiple colours.
Gamers can make use of an autoplay function, which enables the reels to spin of their own accord. Before getting started, simply set your bet-per-line. This can be between 1 and 20 credits.
The Zombie Is Wild
The green birthday zombie acts as wild. As such, it can replace all other symbols in the game except for the scatter. It also holds a 2x multiplier for any winning combination it helps form. The wild is the game’s highest-paying symbol. Find five of these garish zombies and you’ll win 9,000 credits. This icon also pays 2,500 for four and 250 for three. A more modest payment of 10 is given to the player who can land two in succession.
The zombie is miles ahead of the other symbols as far as pay-outs are concerned. The blue skull and birthday present icon pay just 250 for five; the zombie dog and brain cake pay 750 for the same number.
The game’s scatter is the Blue Lady. Like most scatters, she is key to unlocking free spins. All you need to do is hit three or more across the five reels and you’ll be given a round of 15 free turns. All wins during the free spins come with a 3x multiplier attached, so the potential is there to win some nice pay-outs during the bonus round. Additional re-spins can also be re-triggered if the scatters crop up during the feature.
As well as supplying free spins, the scatter is the game’s second highest-paying symbol, granting 500 for five-in-a-line or 20 for four.
Zombie Gambling
Not only can you boost your winnings thanks to free spins and multipliers, but you can do simply by rolling the dice – in a manner of speaking, at least. Zombirthday includes a gamble feature, which becomes available after every winning combination is formed. It’s a standard offering, it’s fair to say – players simply need to guess the correct colour of the next playing card to emerge from the deck. If they do so, they win double; if they don’t, they lose the lot. Players can also guess the suit of a card to quadruple their win.
Z Is for Zombie
Zombirthday is a terrific video slot that dangles an enticing 9,000 credit jackpot. The cartoonised graphics are amusing – fans of Tim Burton will draw comparisons with The Nightmare Before Christmas – and the gameplay, which includes wilds, scatters and multipliers, is to be applauded. The pace of the game is quick, with the action fairly galloping along, and if your luck’s in, the potential is there to win big. RSVP your invite to the Zombirthday and show up looking your worst.
