Hellcatraz
Hellcatraz Slot Review (Relax Gaming)
From developers at Relax Gaming comes their highest-volatility slot with the biggest win potential – Hellcatraz!
This 6×6 grid slot plays with 46,656 ways to win, cascades and Mystery Symbols. It also has two game modes that you can choose for a high or super high volatile gaming experience. Trigger the Free Spins bonus to maximise your chances to with up to 51,840x bet. The only problem is that the bonus is tied to a long-term mission – collecting 2,000 Keys – which takes several hours to get through. Players who don’t have that much time but have enough balance can get the bonus spins rolling instantly by paying a “bribe” that is 200x bet using Feature Buy.
Relax Gaming’s fifth slot of 2020 is available for play at licensed and recommended slot sites like Wildz from May 5. Give it a shot if you have the guts or see my full review below to see what you’re getting into.
Play Hellcatraz at Licensed Slot Site
Recommended Relax Gaming casino
Deposit €/$10 or more and get a 100% match bonus up to €/$500, plus 25 Free Spins per day, every day on a different game. Wagering requirement: 35x bonus. Free Spins wagering: 35x. Real money played first. Game weighting restrictions apply. New 18+ customers only. Play responsibly. Full T&C apply.
Game overview
Editor's verdict
This is the most volatile and brutal Relax Gaming slot to date. You’re going to hate it or love it but there’s no denying that it packs a punch with some crazy wins and a bonus that delivers. This is no ordinary game that well deserves its name.
Lockdown Mode or Mixed Mode
Hellcatraz has two game modes, which you must choose before you can play.
Both are highly volatile and have just one difference: Mystery Symbols.
- Lockdown Mode: Mystery symbols have the same counter (super high volatility)
- Mixed Mode: Mystery symbols have mixed counter values (high volatility).
Mystery Symbols have a number on them, which indicates how many cascades there are left until they will reveal the randomly chosen symbol. In the mixed mode they will simply have different values, so that some of them activate sooner.
Since this is a slot with cascading symbols, any winning combo will explode resulting in semi re-spins. Such re-spins don’t cost extra and can result in more winning opportunities.
Mystery symbols can appear stacked. The same is true for 9 regular symbols which pay up to 2x per line, starting with 3-of-a-kind or more. Wilds on reels 2-6 usually don’t appear stacked and are not revealed by mystery symbols.
There’s one more symbol that’s key to the bonus…
Key Collection
Key symbols are overlay symbols which appear randomly on other icons. Every key symbol awards 1-10 keys into the Key Collector meter.
You need 2,000 Keys to unlock the Super Free Spins bonus. Note that the feature won’t reset even if you change your bet. Instead, the game calculates the average bet which it took to collect all Keys, and plays the bonus with that weighted average.
Because the keys appear infrequently, it can take thousands of spins until you collect enough of them. Players who are familiar with Big Time Gaming slots like Royal Mint MegaWays will find quite a few similarities there.
I don’t believe many players will have patience for that but those who do are in for a nice treat.
Super Free Spins Bonus
The Free Spins feature always starts with just 5 spins. This shows how ludicrously volatile this game can be, but don’t worry, there’s a way to win more freespins. For that you’ll need to unlock a Golden Mystery Symbol with 2 cascades. That will add +1 spin.
What’s special about the bonus itself is that the regular Mystery Symbols don’t count down. Instead, they will reveal a symbol right away, which often results in massive clusters. Even with low-paying suites this can result in some very impressive wins.
There’s a faster way to the bonus too.
Buy Feature Option
To shave off a good couple of hours of symbol collection, you can buy the Free Spins for 200x bet. That would be 20 credits if you play with 0.10 credits per spin, or a mind-boggling 5,000 credits if you play with 25 credits per spin.
Fortunately, if you have some keys in the Key Collector, each one will save you some money proportionally when you top-up for the missing keys.
👍 Tip: The RTP is 96.46% in the Lockdown mode, 96.30% in the Mixed mode, 96.83% in the Feature buy.
If you think you’ll fare better when you collect all 2,000 keys then you can learn from my experience. The win that I got from the Free Spins bonus after hours of key collection was no more or less than 38.5x. In the base game, however, I had some lucky moments resulting in some epic 384x wins.
Conclusion
Final Verdict
With low polygon visuals inspired by the pixelated games of the 80s, a stunning soundscape and immersive gameplay, this rollercoaster of a game will make an exciting addition to any operator’s slots portfolio.
Gavin Hamilton, Simon Hammon, Relax Gaming CPO
The resemblance of Hellcatraz with Flame Busters (Thunderkick) is uncanny. Nevertheless, Relax Gaming has created a monster of a slot that players with nerves of steel will enjoy.
Having triggered 1,000x in the bonus myself is a good evidence that there are some colossal wins to be had. Given its very volatile gameplay, however, I remain sceptical about Hellcatraz’ value for money for the more casual players. On the other hand, the phenomenal 50k win potential is there when you want to take the risk. After all, even one seemingly trivial combo in this 16-big game can compound your bets very quickly compared to most online slots. A well-executed theme and a nice flow of the game on top of that make it super easy to follow and play at your own pace, which adds extra points to the positive experience.
Good luck!
Deposit €/$10 or more and get a 100% match bonus up to €/$500, plus 25 Free Spins per day, every day on a different game. Wagering requirement: 35x bonus. Free Spins wagering: 35x. Real money played first. Game weighting restrictions apply. New 18+ customers only. Play responsibly. Full T&C apply.
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