Frightening Frankie Slot Review
Lights flicker as crashes of lightning fill the air…are you brave enough to face Reel Kingdom’s Frightening Frankie? The next provider to join in the Halloween festivities is Pragmatic Play partner, Reel Kingdom, with a terrifying take on the 1818 Gothic novel, Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley.
As darkness and fog fill the air, one daring Scientist successfully creates a living zombie- while his appearance is terrifying, his temperament, it seems, is not. Frightening Frankie is the latest Halloween-themed slot release on our agenda, offering two Free Spins modes, Global Multipliers, and an Ante Bet & Bonus Buy option.
Certain attributes from the Big Bass Bonanza series are available in the Monster Trail Free Spins mode, while the Lightning Free Spins mode acts as a Mini Bonus with fewer spins and less potential. Stripping the game of Money symbols, Reel Kingdom has upgraded the Global Multiplier for a chance to achieve bigger payouts.
With a fixed RTP of 96.53% and a high volatility score, Frightening Frankie can produce wins worth up to 2,800x your bet. Will Frankie prove to be the gentle beast that he’s portrayed to be? Let’s find out…
Base Game & Features
Frightening Frankie is a highly volatile, 5×3 slot release from Reel Kingdom, offering 20 fixed pay lines. Winning combinations occur when 3, 4, or 5 identical symbols land on adjacent reels, starting from reel 1.
The highest-paying symbol is the Moon, followed by the Screws, Torches, Castle, and A, K, Q, J, & 10 card suits. When a winning combination has been awarded, a fixed payout between 0.2x and 4.8x your bet is applied.
Finally, Wild symbols, in the form of Frankie, appear on all reels and substitute for all symbols except Scatters & Test Tube symbols.
Ante Bet & Bonus Buy
Players may purchase any of the following Ante Bet & Bonus Buy options:
- Ante Bet: Increases the chance of triggering the Free Spins mode by adding further Scatters to the reels for double your current bet (96.53%)
- Free Spins: Instant access to the Free Spins mode with 3, 4, or 5 Scatters for 100x your bet (96.53%)
Frightening Frankie has a maximum win potential of 2,800x your bet. If a single mode reaches this, the current session ends, and the player returns to the base game with the qualifying amount.
Frightening Frankie: Free Spins
The Lightning Free Spins mode is triggered when 1+ Lightning symbols appear within the base game, awarding 2-6 Free Spins. At the start of the mode, a random low-paying symbol is removed from the reels for every Lightning symbol that triggered the mode.
Throughout spins, each time a new Lightning symbol hits, an additional 2-6 Free Spins is awarded, plus another low-paying symbol is eliminated from the reels, up to a maximum of 5. Once all 5 low-paying symbols are eliminated, no further Lightning symbols will appear on the reels.
Alternatively, if 3 or more Scatters land at this time, the session will upgrade to Monster Trail Free Spins, carrying over all remaining spins from this session to the next. In Monster Trail Free Spins, the session continues with the current low-paying symbols eliminated.
Monster Trail Free Spins
Landing 3, 4, or 5 Scatters anywhere in the base game triggers the Monster Trail Free Spins mode, awarding 10, 15, and 20 Free Spins, respectively. In the base game, as a result of a spin that reveals 2 Scatters, a Lightning animation may position a 3rd Scatter onto the reels, triggering the Free Spins mode.
This mode begins with a Multiplier of x2. Each time a Lightning symbol appears in view, a single low-paying symbol is removed from play for the remainder of Free Spins. For future spins with a Lightning symbol present, the next low-paying symbol is removed until all 5 are eliminated from play.
Once the 5th low-paying symbol is removed, the Lightning symbol is no longer able to land in the remaining Free Spins. Furthermore, landing a Test Tube symbol will fill its respective Meter above the reels.
When 7 Test Tube symbols are collected, an additional +10 Free Spins and a random Multiplier of x1, x2, x5, or x10 is awarded.
Our Honest Verdict
From time to time, software developers like Reel Kingdom, who are tied to one specific group of games, try their luck at something new and trend-worthy. With Halloween just around the corner, Halloween-inspired slots are creeping out of the woodwork fast, and Frightening Frankie is one in a long line of them, but was it any good?
Thematically, the game ticks all the right boxes. The backdrop reveals a deep-purple, night scene with stars, bats, and a giant-sized moon. To the right of the reel set, you’ve got Frankie looking over the reels, watching as you take a bash at winning the 2,800x max win potential, while soundscapes fit nicely with the Halloween aesthetics.
Besides the addition of Wild symbols, the base game is particularly stale. Thankfully, Wild symbols appear frequently on the reels, creating wins and topping up your balance as you wait for the real action to commence, and it doesn’t take long for the Lightning Free Spins mode to trigger.
The Lightning Free Spins mode is a smaller session to Monster Trail Free Spins, and a taster of better things to come. This mode is easily accessible, requiring a single Lightning symbol to land in the base game to award 2-6 Free Spins at random.
Each additional Lightning symbol to appear in this mode will result in the elimination of the lowest-paying symbol; however, you only have a limited number of spins to eliminate all 5 low-paying symbols for a higher payout chance.
In Monster Trail Free Spins, the elimination of low-paying symbols is still the heart of gameplay, only there’s an additional Meter above the reels that requires Test Tube symbols to fill it. Once 7 Test Tubes are collected, +10 Free Spins and an upgraded Global Multiplier are awarded.
During testing, we found it challenging to achieve the 7 Test Tubes needed for a retrigger, particularly on the lower volume of Free Spins, and in true Reel Kingdom fashion, though, the minute the session starts, Test Tube symbols disappear from the reels, making it all the more difficult.
The best outcome to occur from a single session is 2,800x your bet. For a game with limited functions, a max win potential of this amount is almost expected, but we’d certainly take the 5,000x max win potential from the Big Bass Bonanza series right about now.
*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.
