Darkness Online Slot
Darkness Slot Game Review
Released by Print Studios in 2023, the Darkness slot machine is a perfect embodiment of the horror genre. Without a doubt, the game’s main feature is a unique design with thrilling animation. But aside from that, this 5×4 slot with high volatility and 26 bet lines has enough to offer in terms of gameplay and payouts that reach 20,000x. Accepted stakes range from $0.10 to $50.
The game mechanics are based on Sticky Wilds and Multipliers. Yet, the provider made these features work in an unusual fashion.
The free version of the game is at your disposal on our site. No downloading or registration is needed to enjoy the gloomy charm of Darkness for fun. Just enjoy the gameplay and leave your feedback in the comments. If you’d like to play it for real money, feel free to pick a reliable casino from the list on this page.
And while you’re at it, be sure to read my review of the game’s mechanics, feature set, and winning potential. I also share my player experience after the first 100 spins in the game.
A Quick Overview: the Pros & Cons of Darkness
Should you play the free slot demo mode? Are there reasons to skip it? Let’s observe the strong and weak sides of Darkness by Print Studios.
- Originally working gameplay
- The potential of 20,000x
- The Buy Feature option
- The theme is not quite niche
- The max bet size is too low
- Bonus Buy is 100x
Obscure but Lucrative: Gameplay Specifics in Darkness
The game’s layout is formed by five reels, four rows, and 26 winning lines. The backgrounds include shady attributes of a haunted house, like stairs overgrown with cobwebs or turbid mirrors.
Try a free Darkness slot session, and you’ll soon discover that its characters fully deserve the game’s name. Besides low-paying Daggers, Vials, and other pagan ritual attributes, be ready for a set of human characters, showing their vicious nature in the most animated way on every winning spin.
Special Symbols
The Dirge character pays the best, but only five of these symbols count. It also serves as Wild. Together with the Lantern Multipliers called Superspinners hanging in random locations on each spin, the Wild is the main booster in the base game.
Yet, you may also rely on quite useful Giant Symbols. They move into the grid and occupy a sector ranging from 3×2 to 5×4. All grid boxes covered by this ‘picture’ represent a collection of identical tokens, thus granting you more chances of winning.
The Inverted Pentagrams work as Bonus Darkness Symbols. They unlock the mind-blowing bonus round with such a form of Sticky Wilds that you have hardly experienced before.
The slot knows how to entertain you right from the start. Thanks to authentic animation in the gameplay and background, players can expect to get excited during both the base and bonus games.
Spice up the Somber Tonbe: Darkness Features
While in other slots, smooth designs usually serve to hide the lack of features, in Darkness, the provider excels in supplying players with extras. It’s clearly seen from the list of feature bonuses in the gameplay:
- The Giant Symbol Feature. This Darkness feature adds large symbols to your reels from time to time. One such Giant Symbol has the form of a dusty picture with a random character. The entire part of the grid covered with this painting will be equal to the corresponding number of identical symbols.
- Free Spins. Three to five Bonus Symbols in the form of an Inverted Pentagram are enough to proceed with the Dark Ritual, that is, the Free Spins round. You may win 10, 12, or 14 of them. The Specialty of this part is that you play it on a giant Inverted Pentagram, and your goal is to land a Wild Dirge right on the cusp of the star.
As soon as it happens, Dirge adds 2 additional spins to your balance, becomes a Sticky Wild, and stays on the edge. Collect five Dirge Stickers in each cusp, and you’ll evoke Lucifer, thus grabbing the ghastliest prize possible in the game.
Surely, common winning combos can also be formed with or without Wilds during Dark Ritual. Superspinner Multipliers are also active and can help you boost your wins, too.
- The Scatter Boost Feature. Don’t plan to make 200+ spins in the game? Then, increase your basic bet size by 1.5 and ensure that Pentagrams will fall onto your reels much more frequently.
- Bonus Buy. Although Scatter Boost may help you enter the Dark Ritual room, you still might need to spin the reels a significant number of times. To activate free spins immediately, opt for the Buy Feature option. It will cost you 100x of your standard bet, however. If you are OK with the prize, you’ll receive 3-5 Pentagrams on your next spin.
So, the slot’s gameplay is anything but boring. My experience with the Darkness demo slot has proved the benefits of the Buy Bonus feature. In the real money version, you might need to make 50-300 spins to trigger the Dark Ritual. So, buying it at once may be an effective strategy for winning huge.
Darkness Win Potential: Is It as Impressive as Its Design?
Darkness is an ambitious release in terms of max winnings. Its main characteristics include high volatility and a maximum win of 20,000x. This combination promises huge prizes, though a player should be ready to spend a lot.
It also goes with a decent Return to Player rate: the Darkness RTP is 96.14%. It increases slightly if users apply the Buy Bonus options to their winning strategies for the game. Yet, they must consider one more factor. The bet range supported in the game may disappoint high rollers. The largest bet size available here is $50 per spin. If your approach requires 100+ wagers of a lower nominal, you’ll be happy to know that you can bet as little as 10 cents.
In my experience, the wins during the base game were fairly low. I chose to wager $20 and soon increased the bet with the help of Scatter Boost. My best return was 208 dollars, while usual prizes rarely exceeded $50.
However, I must admit that wins happened pretty frequently. The slot’s hit frequency was close to 40%, which is a very good percentage for a high-volatility game. My record Dark Ritual Win was $4,264, with only one Sticky Dirge missed.
How to Play Darkness and Win Huge
A user does not need any special skills to play Darkness. The required steps are as follows:
- Launch the game.
- Explore its paytable and rules if necessary.
- Choose your preferred mode of playing (Sounds, Music, Turbo Mode, etc.).
- Fix a fitting bet size.
- Apply Scatter Boost if you want to extend your chances of getting 3+ Pentagrams.
- Tap the Spin button or use ‘Space’ to run the game.
- Opt for the Buy Bonus feature if it suits your betting strategy.
- Enjoy your Free Spins session.
You do not need to manually collect your wins. Each of them will be credited to your balance automatically. Pay attention to the payout table of the slot:
How Symbol Pays | 3 of a kind | 4 of a kind | 5 of a kind |
---|---|---|---|
Dirge | – | – | 50x |
Agatha | 5x | 10x | 25x |
Isadora | 2x | 4x | 10x |
Chalice | 1x | 2x | 6x |
Dagger | 0.7x | 1.5x | 5x |
Vial | 0.6x | 1x | 4x |
Eldritch Wiccan Twigs | 0.4x | 0.8x | 2x |
Nobble Wiccan Twigs | 0.4x | 0.7x | 1.5x |
Vibrant Wiccan Twigs | 0.2x | 0.5x | 1.2x |
Night Wiccan Twigs | 0.2x | 0.4x | 1x |
So, the Darkness paytable explains why most wins in the base game tend to be small. To gain a solid prize, a player needs a truly strong combo, which happens less frequently than we wish. So, a reasonable strategy for the slot is to do your best to unlock the Free Spins round.
The First 100 Spins Experience with Darkness
The game lets you begin with a balance of $5,000. I chose a $20 stake, but my wins in the base game were still small. I activated the Scatter Boost option, which helped: I got more free spin rounds than prizes bigger than $40 in the standard round. Two of my Dark Rituals ended with wins of $4,264 and $2,608. I ended up with $6,844, which is more than I had at the beginning.
So, the slot is fun to play, but if you intend to win big, you should concentrate on the bonus round with free spins. Both Buy Feature options supported by the slot are worthy, and you can apply any of them to your real sessions. Yet, I recommend starting with the Darkness free slot to try everything with your own hands.
FAQs About Darkness Slot
What Is the Max Payout of Darkness?
The highest prize you can grab from the slot is 20,000x of your basic bet.
What Does High Volatility Mean?
Highly volatile games like Darkness offer huge payouts, but they are riskier than slots of the low or medium-volatility types. To hit a truly massive prize, a player might need to survive 50-200 spins. So, high volatility slots require a strong bankroll and careful management of your bets.
How Much Can I Bet Per Spin in Darkness?
The lowest stake accepted in the game is $0.10. The maximum you can bet is 50 dollars.