Play Hell's Band for Free

One of the first aspects of the gameplay you should be made aware of is that two of the special symbols change with each spin. The scatter and wild are alternated throughout your playthrough, resulting in an unpredictable outcome, one that we welcome seeing. Too often real cash slots are predictable, but here we have something different to engage with, something a bit more enigmatic. The characteristic probably wouldn’t work well in all slots, but in Hell’s Band it’s just what the doctor ordered.

In terms of how this impacts on the volatility of the title, it’s actually very little, at least when it comes to standard payouts. You may see a raise in difficulty when it comes to securing a combo of three scatters, which is linked to the free games, but overall this is a title that hands out its wins rather generously.

We thought it only fair to jump ahead, past the free spins, to the good stuff: the bonus round. So few slot machines have additional bonuses these days, and so we want to make sure you’re aware of what you’re paying for. You’d be surprised how many gamers miss out on the goods simply because they had no clue that they were there.

The bonus game is activated in an unusual way: rather than lining up three, four or five of a kind wins, we instead need to get two symbols to match. Sounds simple, but those matching icons need to fall into the wild and scatter boxes found either side of the matrix. Once this happens, you’ll be taken to a board game style level, where the hand of the Devil is rolling the dice on where the band next plays. The more tours you smash, the better the outcome will be for you, though do remember that you only have five attempts to do this, so every night on the town counts. Wow those crowds, people!

Those of you who have been paying close attention will have noted that there’s a box on the left hand side that appears to run through a series of images. This is the Achievements display. Upon clicking the logo, you’ll note that there’s five different tiers of activities you need to cross off your list before you get a BIG payout. Although this opens up the variance of the title, it also means that the difficulty is further increased. This is because activating the free games 10 times is trying in itself, without you then having to unlock 10 lots of bonus games on top. We love the idea, but it’s a level for those with money and time to spare.

Not all horror themed slots are as musically inclined as this one, which is why we wanted to show you the other options out there; House of Freaks is one such avenue to explore. Having been created by Booming Games, it has a wholly new aesthetic to engage with, as well as a fresh range of features to power on through.

The carnival styling of the slot makes it feel vintage, thus connecting you to a time when freak shows were all the rage. What is more, you can resonate with this fictional past by betting between 0.45 and 45 credits, which works out much cheaper than the 0.20 to 100 cost of Hell’s Band. However, Booming Games doesn’t provide as many winlines, thus making the game (potentially) shorter lived.

Hell’s Band is an excellent real cash slot, and one we’re certain we’ll play again. It has a lot of character, and a newness about it that few slots manage to capture these days. Nevertheless, while all the above is an accurate depiction of the game, there’s the obvious truth that not everyone will feel comfortable playing a horror themed slot. This in turn could mean that the game becomes a niche classic rather than a mainstream one.