Van Penguin Slots
Although Van Penguin by Espresso is a game featuring the famous flightless birds, this is closer to Frankenstein than Happy Feet!
A gothic mash-up sees the cutesy bird given a more sinister twist along with some of his pals in this online video slot.
But will you be giving this game the birdie? Here’s a review of Van Penguin by Espresso with everything you need to know.
Spooky Penguins
The graphics on Van Penguin may be slightly cartoonish but that doesn’t detract from the overall spooky feel to the game.
A wisely penguin complete with a harpoon sits on top of the reels while the background is lit only by the dim glow from the silvery moon. On the bottom of your screen, the scene is set with an array of gravestones and a shadowy backdrop.
On the reels themselves you’ll find an array of mutant creatures from another penguin complete with fangs, skeletal fish, a Frankenstein walrus and a snarling shark. Quite different from the traditional fruit slots with cherries, bells and bars!
The atmosphere is enhanced further by the atmospheric music and drums in the background which plays continuously while you spin the reels.
Ice Prizes
Before you start to spin the reels and set your bet, take a look at the paytable to see exactly what you could win.
Other than the very top prize – the gangster penguin – you’ll have to match at least three symbols to nab a prize. With the gangster penguin you’ll only need to roll two matching symbols but the more you land the higher the win. If you spin five matching penguins and you’re playing with five coins you’ll scoop the jackpot of 37,500 coins! Oof!
You’ll notice on the pay table that all of the grisly-looking characters on the reels have been given their own name, a nice creative touch from Espresso. Van Penguin is the gangster, and there’s also Count Pengula, Frankentusk, Bearwolf and Mr. Grampus. Somehow this makes them rather appealing despite their intimidating appearance!
Although the Van Penguin symbol is the jackpot, if you spin him from reel two onwards he also represents the wild symbol. This means he can complete winning combinations for many of the other symbols on the board, increasing your chances of grabbing a prize.
Tackle the Terrifying
Once you’ve worked out what you want to win, it’s time to set up your bets before you spin the reels.
You’ll be playing with five reels with a total of 26 pay lines available. You can bet between one and five coins per line and you can set the value of each coin from the minimum of 0.01 to the maximum of 2.00. You can reduce the number of pay lines to just 0.01 if you prefer and if you combine this with one coin and the lowest value it means that you’ll only pay 0.13 per spin of the reels. At the opposite end of the spectrum, if you like to play high you can have a max bet of 52.00 per spin.
The reels are read from left to right and you’ll need to match symbols to get a prize. However, in addition to the regular prizes, there’s other symbols to look out for too.
The scatter symbol is represented by the trio of penguin vampire brides and hand out both free spins with multipliers, and multipliers on their own. Match five of this deadly threesome and you could win a x100 multiplier!
There’s a bonus game too which you can only unlock by spinning at least three of the special symbols. If you’ve played any Espresso bonus games in the past, the format will be very familiar. Click to choose your targets and try to win the biggest possible multiplier for your bonus game.
For those that feel brave, there’s also the option to double their bonus money but beware! If you don’t make the right choice you could lose it all. It’s entirely up to you if you choose to bet or just return to the main game with your prize stash - will you be tempted by the chance of walking away with an even bigger win? The choice is entirely yours…
Subzero Fun
In the icy temperatures where the horror inhabitants of Van Penguin live, Espresso have created a fun online video slot. Very similar to many of their previous games but with a different theme, it’s a crowd pleaser that’s easy to play and also offers great prizes
