Play Vampire Killer for Free

With 90% of slot games, the immediate reaction from the player is: “Ah, I’ve seen it all before…” There’s something just a little different about the chill-inducing Vampire Killer game, though. Before you spin the reels, you’ll hear foreboding but atmospheric music play – mournful chamber music whose pitch rises and falls. Occasionally you’ll also hear a demented cackle, before thunder roars in the sky. If you’re afraid of things that go bump in the night, we’d advise you to choose another slot. Vampire Killer ain’t for the fainthearted.

If you do find the courage to play, you’d better set your bet before spinning the reels. To do this, use the control panel arrayed along the bottom of the screen. Line bets start at 0.01 and rise to two credits, with the player free to bet on one, three, five, 10 or 15 lines. The game’s return-to-player average is 97.01%.

The reels appear against a backdrop showing a scary castle enshrouded by mist. The image certainly sets the tone for the action to follow.

The objective, as you might have surmised, is to locate matching combinations of three, four or five symbols, starting from the leftmost reel. Only the highest win is paid out per line, and scatter wins are added to regular line wins, which are multiplied by the number of credits staked per line.

The Vampire Killer slot comprises 11 symbols, three of which appear to be vampire assassins. There’s a serious-looking man in a wide-brimmed cowboy hat and suit jacket, smoking a cigarette; a ninja brandishing a sword; and a bearded knight. The symbols are photorealistic. Other icons include a couple of silver bullets, a red velvet case containing two revolvers, a red ‘V’, a glass and decanter (the liquid within looks suspiciously like blood!), a red ‘K’ and a couple of metallic stars.

These are the game’s regular symbols; all you need to know is that they provide pay-outs for three, four or five in a line. The metallic stars are the least lucrative, awarding just five credits for three, 15 for four and 50 for five. The bearded assassin is next best, paying five for three, 20 for four and 50 for five, followed by the handguns, paying 10 for three, 25 for four and 75 for five. At the top end of the pay-table, the glass and decanter pays 20 for three, 200 for four and a handsome 1,000 for five in a row. Next, it’s the besuited vampire hunter (20, 150, 750), followed by the red letter K (20, 75, 350). For a detailed breakdown of all pay-outs in the game, just click on the Information tab in the lower-left corner, then select the trophy icon.

As well as normal symbols, there are bonus icons to watch out for. The most lucrative is the one that provides free spins. It’s fairly easy to spot this one – the symbol just says ‘FREE SPIN’ in red lettering. Hit three or more to activate 10 free spins during which all wins are tripled.

The free spins symbols also grant solid pay-outs, awarding 10 for two, 50 for three, 100 for four and 500 for five. The wild icon (again, the developers were lazy: the symbol is represented by the word WILD) is able to replace all symbols except for the free spins, and thus enhances your prospects of triggering a pay-out.

Vampire Killer looks a lot better than it plays. The graphics are excellent, the music ominous, the theme commendable; but when it comes to spinning the reels, there’s nothing too exciting to look forward to; no dedicated bonus game, no random prize, no progressive jackpot. The most you can look forward to win is winning a few free spins, although the scatter pay-outs are also quite high.