We’ve heard some interesting stories about Halloween this year. Did you know that originally jack o’ lanterns were made out of turnips? They switched to pumpkins because they were easier to carve, and we’ve stuck with them ever since. Of course, between all other Halloween titles and our endless search for new and interesting trivia that we’ll forget in two weeks time, we ended up forgetting to actually review this one on time. It was released all the way back in July 2018, so we ended up missing it the first time around. Not to fear, we’re back this time around to give the Playtech title the attention it deserves. You play it on a 5x4 playing field with 10 fixed paylines, with medium to high volatility and a maximum jackpot worth 2,000x. The RTP is 95.51%, which is above average for video slots. The title has one special feature which comes from the fact this game pays left to right and right to left.
We like the background image and the creepy music. The slow crawl of the mist across the abandoned courtyard slightly obscures your view of the tall decrepit house off in the distance. There are no lights there, no signs of life – it’s just an oppressive presence weight down on you from afar. The gates and walls have long since fallen away. What was once, no doubt, a well maintained place, has been overgrown by pumpkins and tall grass. All the while, this cool, creepy music plays, to get you in the mood. Though it’s somewhat ruined by the symbols. The icons seem to go a different direction compared to the rest of the game. Pumpkin Bonanza tries to be creepy, but it offers diamonds, clubs, spades, hearts, a smiling scarecrow, a friendly witch with a beaming smile, and said witch flying with the moon in the background as symbols. Feels like the developers couldn’t quite decide where to go, and ended up going nowhere as a result. The medium to high volatility means the special features can be a bit tricky to activate, but are usually quite lucrative when they are triggered.
That said, there is really only one bonus, which takes advantage of the fact the game pays both left to right and right to left. If there’s a potential win from both sides, all potentially winning spins are turned into Pumpkin Wilds on reel three, which can substitute for all other icons. All winning symbols from the triggering spin can then transform into Wilds in the second, third and fourth reel, and during the re-spin, Wilds can land on all five reels. It’s no free spins bonus, but it’s still quite decent.
The possibility of winning 2,000x your wager will be the primary driver for people to try Pumpkin Bonanza. It feels like Playtech mixed up their tracks while making this game. The symbols are conflicted with the rest of the creepy looking visuals, and the fact paylines pay left to right and right to left is somewhat lost with the fact you have a medium to high volatility, which makes wins rarer. It’s not a bad slot, but we’ve played better ones.
