Life and Death Slot Review

The Life and Death Slot Game

Hacksaw Gaming is no stranger to ominous-looking designs, which the company has incorporated into this new release. In fact, I think the design team saved a penny on ink fees as Life and Death is primarily a black and grey design.

According to the Bible, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse represent war, famine, and death. Maybe their ominous representation prompted this developer to create a grim design. But you’ll also notice a touch of yellow, red, blue, and green above the reels and when the wilds hit with their connected reels.

The 6x5 reels are set against a grim sanctuary flanked by two ghostly figures bowing, as if to worship the spinning action. The transparent grid provides an uninterrupted view of the backdrop, which becomes darker as it sinks deeper.

The developer states how each spin brings you closer to the final reckoning. So, will you rise or crumble as the horsemen ride?

Symbols and Payouts

Like other online slots, the symbols in this slot form a vital component of its gameplay. Part of them includes 10 regular symbols that can generate wins.

As a 6x5 slot, you’d think this game uses a cluster-paying or scatter pays mechanics. Instead, it only has 19 paylines, meaning you win if 3+ matching symbols appear along a predefined line adjacently from the leftmost reel to the right.

While consulting the paytable for the symbol combinations and payouts, you’ll notice that the latter changes to reflect the selected bet.

The minor symbols in Life and death include monochromatic royal numbers and letters 10, J, Q, K, and A. The 10 pays 0.2-3x, the J, Q, and K, 0.2-5x, and the A, 0.3-10x the bet.

Then, the high-ranking symbols are as follows:

• Heart Eye and Goblet - 0.5x to 15x the bet.
• Sun Face and Hamsa - 1x to 25x the stake.
• Three-faced Head - 2x to 50x the bet.

It’s also worth taking note of the Wild Multiplier symbol. It lands on reels 2-5 and substitutes for all other symbols in the paytable. However, the FS symbols and Wild Multiplier cannot simultaneously appear in the same reel.

Life and Death Slot Bonus Features

The stars of the show in this game are the Wild Multipliers and expanding wild reels. Then, you also have two bonus games and feature buy options!

Wild Multipliers and Expanding Wild Reels

To help you embrace the shadows, Life and Death comes with four Wild Multipliers. Whenever a Wild Multiplier participates in a paying sequence, it multiplies the win by the displayed value. Multiple Wild Multipliers in the same winning combination will add their multipliers together before boosting the win.

The Wild Multipliers land on reels 2-5 and each of these reels is linked to a specific Wild Multiplier. The Four Horsemen represent them and they have individual colours and different possible multipliers:

• Blue Pestilence linked to reel 2 with 2x to 4x multipliers.
• Red War linked to column 3 and can have 5x to 9x multipliers.
• Yellow Famine linked to reel 4 with 10x, 15x, 20x, or 25x multipliers.
• Green Death linked to column 5 and can have 30x, 40x, 50x, 75x, 100x, or 200x multipliers.

The Wild Multiplier symbols expand if the expanded Wild Reel would participate in at least one paying combination and if it lands on its connected Life and Death column. An expanded Wild Reel retains the multiplier of the original Wild Multiplier, covers the column, and substitutes for all the paytable symbols.

If multiple Wild Multipliers are in the same winning combination, their multipliers will add before boosting the win. For the record, any Wild Multiplier can hit on columns 2-5 and not only on their connected reels.

Devastation Bonus

3 FS scatters that land simultaneously in the base game trigger this feature with 10 free spins. It maintains the base game mechanics but has increased odds of hitting the Wild Multipliers. You retrigger +2 and +4 additional spins when you hit 2 and 3 FS symbols during the feature.

Reckoning Bonus

Landing 4 FS symbols in the Life and Death base game starts this feature with 10 free spins. It includes all the base game features and the Devastation bonus but adds persistent Death Reels (activated when a Wild Multiplier lands on its connected reel).

Acting a Death Reel causes its connected Wild Multiplier to expand into a Wild Reel regardless of which of the four middle reels it appears on as long as it’s part of at least one paying sequence. Again, landing 2 or 3 FS symbols awards +2 and +4 extra spins.

Bonus Buy

You can use this feature from the base game for a chance to buy the following bonuses:

• BonusHunt FeatureSpins for 3x the bet.
• Four Horsemen FeatureSpins for 60x the stake.
• Devastation Bonus for 100x the bet.
• Reckoning Bonus for 200x the stake.

How to Win at Life and Death Slot

Before concluding this review, let me remind you about how to win. First, you must spin the 6-reel, 5-row platform, which uses 19 paylines.

Luckily, the €0.10 to €100 bet levels should allow a broad audience. So, after setting your preferred amount, use the Spin button (clockwise arrow) or keyboard’s Spacebar to trigger a single round.

You win when 3+ identical symbols appear adjacently along the predefined paylines from the leftmost column to the right.

Life and death also allows you to play many preselected auto-spins using the Autoplay feature. If the reels are slow, use the Turbo or Super Turbo options to speed them up. These are accessible from the Menu (three-lined) button.

Life and Death Slot RTP & Volatility

As expected, depending on the market you’re playing from, you can have between 88.24% and 96.36% theoretical RTPs. Meanwhile, this slot has medium to high volatility and can pay up to 15,000x the bet!     

The Concluding Thoughts

I’m sure not everyone of you believes in the Bible. However, going into this Hacksaw Gaming slot demands an open-minded enthusiast ready to take on the wrath of the Four Horsemen. While the developer describes them as terror and death-wielding beings to the mortal worlds, they are helpful during your gameplay.

The Four Horsemen are wild multipliers that can expand to cover their connected reels. As such, they bring great winning possibilities. The good thing is that they are active in the Life and Death base game and bonus rounds, with the latter including more action.

The game’s design didn’t disappoint either. It’s mainly because this developer has explored the grim theme for long and is considerably a pro at creating such. However, I’m unsure whether the gothic design will appeal to all players.

However, no matter your ancient belief or love/hate for ominous atmospheres, you can’t miss the opportunity to unlock up to 15,000x bet wins potentially. Fortunately, even with the mid to high volatility, you can limit your bets, thanks to the wide range!