Game of the Week – Guises of Dracula
If you love vampire-themed online pokies then you should check out Guises of Dracula. It is the latest 5-Reel, 50 payline online pokie from Platipus Gaming. The game is a classic take on the Dracula myth and has multiple features to help you win big prizes, including four static jackpots.
Guises of Dracula a Tamer Version of the Vampire Myth
We all know the story of Dracula, and that story can get quite gruesome. Guises of Dracula takes more of a Halloween-esque look at Dracula and seems more of a step up from a haunted house. The background is the outside of Dracula’s castle and the theme music and sounds are appropriate for this game.
The paytable is pretty simple, consisting of Royals, vials of blood, spell books, Dracula’s castle, a black cat, and Dracula’s bride. The general paytable is super low-paying. In fact, the only way to make back your money on a single payline is to land 5 of a kind on Dracula’s bride.
Otherwise, you must land multiple lines to have a shot at a winning spin. Fortunately, there are some features that can help you win substantial prizes.
Wilds and Floating Wilds
Dracula is the primary wild in this game. It substitutes for all symbols. There is also a vampire bat floating wild. Whenever it pops up on the screen, it will change the symbol to a wild symbol. The wild then moves up one space and this continues until it flies off the board. There can be up to 20 floating wilds at any time on the screen at one time.
The floating wilds can also contain multipliers, cash prizes, or free spins that can be triggered in the Shifting Guises feature.
Shifting Guises Feature
If a floating wild lands on a Dracula wild, then the Shifting Guises feature is triggered. When triggered, all the symbols around the triggering wild will turn into a wild symbol.
Next, if the floating wild that triggers the feature contains a special item, that item is added to the wins, or free spins are triggered. Cash prizes range from 40 to 3,000 credits per line. Multipliers range from 2x to 100x.
If you trigger free spins, the free spins are based on the number on the floating wild. This can range from 2 free spins up to 100 free spins.
During the free spins feature, wilds can appear more often. Free spins can be retriggered in the same way as in the standard game.
One thing that’s interesting about this feature is that the free spins launch on a separate board. When they complete, you go back to the original board and the floating wilds remain where they were. For example, if you trigger 10 free spins on the bottom line, you will have three more chances to trigger it again.
I was able to trigger each feature listed. The best multiplier I received was 8x. For cash prizes, the best I received was $6. I was able to trigger three sets of free spins of 10, 10, and 12 each.
Four Jackpot Prizes
There are four jackpot prizes available in this game. They range from 100 to 1,000x your bet. The jackpots trigger via the floating wilds feature. If a floating wild with a jackpot lands on Dracula, you have won that jackpot. Unfortunately, I didn’t trigger any jackpots.
Guises of Dracula Payouts Are Disappointing
Overall, I am somewhat disappointed with this game. Guises of Dracula would be a better game if the payouts were adjusted a bit. It has an RTP of 95.09% and it definitely plays like a 95% machine. Increasing the base game payouts would make the game a better play. If the payouts were better, the volatility of this game would be right in the middle. As it stands, it is a bit higher in variance due to low base game payouts.
While I like the bonus features of this game, the payouts are going to be disappointing for most. You can find Guises of Dracula at CasinoChan, CasinoNic, and all online casinos in Australia offering Platipus Gaming pokies.