Cereal Killers Demo
Cereal Killers Slot Review
Feast your eyes on a variety of breakfast choices, served up by the cereal-slashing dream team in Cereal Killers, courtesy of Light & Wonder!
It’s true…the most important meal of the day is breakfast. Whether you stick to the same old cereal or enjoy switching it up with the occasional full English, this terrifying trio are here to serve up whatever your heart desires.
Given the rather clever theme and play on words, it can’t be a coincidence that each killer character makes reference to individual mascots found on the boxes of popular cereal brands. Lucky the Leprechaun, Tony the Tiger, and Coco the Monkey are iconic figures for Lucky Charms, Frosties, and Nesquik cereals.
To fit in with the Halloween/Thriller theme, Light & Wonder has given this trio a terrifying makeover so they resemble memorable killers in some of the best slasher movies. Cereal Killers places us in a heavily blood-stained kitchen (or could that be jam?) that’s looking a little worse for wear.
The game’s graphics are top-tier, as are the quirky animations, hair-raising soundtrack and effects. Each sound effect is much higher-pitched, almost screechy, which is exactly what makes a successful horror/slasher movie or game.
With a fixed RTP of 96% and a high volatility score, Cereal Killers delivers a hair-raising max win potential of 5,600x your bet, but can you survive long enough to achieve it? Let’s find out…
Base Game & Features
Cereal Killers is a 5-reel, 3-row video slot from Light & Wonder, which begins each spin with 243 ways to win, up to a maximum of 15,120. Winning combinations are determined when 3, 4, or 5 matching symbols land on adjacent reels, starting from reel 1.
The Cereal Killers Logo represents the highest-paying symbol, awarding payouts between 1x, 2x, & 4x your bet for 3, 4, or 5-of-a-kind. Other symbols, including bacon, eggs, coffee, milk, and A, K, Q, J, & 10 card suits, award payouts between 0.1x and 1x your bet, where applicable.
Additionally, special Wild symbols appear on reels 2, 3, and 4 only, substituting for all symbols except Scatters & Jackpot Cereal. Lastly, Scatter symbols, in the form of toasters, are responsible for triggering the Free Spins mode when 3 or more land in the base game.
Character Features
Each time a Wild symbol appears in the base game, it can activate the available Character Feature above its reel:
- Leprechaun (reel 2): Splits up to 2 paytable symbols, doubling the number of instances and upgrading the ways to win
- Tiger (reel 3): Splits up to 4 paytable symbols and upgrades the number of ways to win
- Monkey (reel 4): Splits up to 3 paytable symbols and upgrades the number of ways to win
The targeted paytable symbols are those adjacent to the triggering Wild symbols, either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. In the base game, the Character Feature will only trigger when there are winning combinations available.
Please note that symbols cannot be split more than once in a single spin, while Wilds, Scatters, & Jackpot Cereal icons are not affected.
Jackpot Cereal
In the hands of the Tiger, above the reels, sits a special fillable Cereal Bowl. With each spin, Golden Cereal Icons can appear alongside regular paytable symbols, which are collected into the Cereal Bowl.
Each time this happens, there is a chance to trigger the Jackpot Picker, where 1 of 4 Jackpot Prizes can be won:
- Mini: 10x your bet
- Minor: 50x your bet
- Major: 250x your bet
- Grand: 1,250x your bet
In the Jackpot Picker phase, players must choose Doors to reveal a random Jackpot Prize or Golden Spoon. When 3 identical Jackpot Prizes have been revealed, the corresponding prize is awarded.
If 3 Golden Spoons are revealed, a new Picker Phase is awarded, where you can win a random Modifier:
- x4 Jackpot: Applies a Multiplier of x4 to all Jackpot Prizes
- Pick Again: After winning a Jackpot, you can continue picking Doors to win a second Jackpot
Cereal Killers Free Spins
The Free Spins mode is triggered in the base game by landing 3, 4, or 5 Scatter symbols, awarding 9, 10, and 12 Free Spins, respectively.
In this mode, each Wild symbol that appears on a reel will trigger the Character Feature; only the Wild symbol will be locked in its position until the end of the feature. During each spin, a random symbol will be selected to split, following the same rules from the Character Feature.
Please note that if the Free Spins mode & Jackpot Picker trigger in the same spin, the Jackpot Picker will be played first.
Bonus Buy
Players within permissible regions can purchase the Free Spins mode for an additional 100x their bet. This option will guarantee 3, 4, or 5 Scatters to land in the base game, triggering 9, 10, and 12 Free Spins, respectively (RTP 96.27%)
Cereal Killers has a maximum win potential of 5,600x your bet. If a single session exceeds this, the current mode ends, and the player returns to the base game with the qualifying amount.
Our Honest Verdict
Light & Wonder is more typically associated with classic mechanics and old-fashioned aesthetics, but you can imagine our surprise when we loaded into Cereal Killers. The game’s graphics, animations, and sound effects are on par with today’s modernised optics, while the hair-raising horror ties into the upcoming festivities.
While this game falls under a specific genre, the overall theme is fairly unique, including the brilliant play on words in the title. Every UK ’90s baby or adult will remember the Kellogg’s and Nestle adverts, but it took us some time to establish which branded cereal the Leprechaun represented, which we now know to be Lucky Charms.
Although there’s no hard evidence to confirm this, it’s just a little too coincidental that all 3 characters match the mascots from those mentioned above, especially given the theme, right?
In the base game, each character can split paytable symbols below their respective reels, upgrading the total ways to win to a maximum of 15,120 in a single spin. In addition, each paytable symbol can reveal special Cereal Icons, which accumulate in the cereal bowl above the reels.
Although there’s only 1 pot (cereal bowl), the feature falls under the ‘3 Pots’ mechanic, which has made its debut in games like Wild Swarm Triple Hive and 3 Magic Pots. When the cereal bowl triggers, it will transfer players to a special Pick Phase, where 1 of 4 Jackpot Prizes can be won.
While the value of each Jackpot is nothing to scream home about, there is an opportunity to enhance their potential through the Golden Spoons Modifer, which guarantees to multiply each Jackpot Prize by x4.
During Free Spins, Wild symbols continue to unlock Character Features, only this time, they remain in view throughout spins, so that their respective character feature consistently activates.
All in all, Cereal Killers is a gripping addition to Light & Wonder’s portfolio, both for its hair-raising theme and engaging features. Granted, the 5,600x max win potential is not the best we’ve seen, but it’s a solid improvement against other releases in Light & Wonder’s portfolio.
*The images found in this slot review are currently from Demo Play. On average, our reviews are written prior to the initial release date and before real play is available.
