Ghost of Dead

Ghost of Dead Slot Review

Dust on the gems, cobwebs in the corners, and one gold urn still faintly lit: this burial chamber was left in a hurry, and Play’n GO has let the ghost keep it. The claim worth arguing over is that the spook isn’t decoration – it’s the reason this game earns a slot beside its own ancestors rather than under them. Ghost of Dead runs on a 5×3 grid with 10 paylines, high volatility and an RTP of 96.22%.

It’s a close relative of Book Of Dead and Rich Wilde and the Amulet of Dead, built on the same expanding-symbol bones with a second, ghostly hand on the levers. The family resemblance is strong; the question is whether the new hand does enough.

How the Reels Pay

Wins pay left to right from the leftmost reel, across 10 fixed paylines. When several lines win in the same round, the amounts are added together, and everything is paid out at the end of the round. There are four high-paying symbols, five royals, and one symbol doing two jobs at once.

The Canopus Scatter is both the wild and the scatter. It substitutes for any other symbol to complete a win, it pays anywhere on the reels rather than on a line, and scatter wins are added to any payline wins in the same round.

Because the wild is also the top payer, its returns deserve a proper look:

• 3 Canopus Scatters – pays 2x the total bet
• 4 Canopus Scatters – pays 20x the total bet
• 5 Canopus Scatters – pays 200x the total bet

Those multiples are of the total on-screen bet, not the line bet, so five of them is a genuine 200x result rather than a dressed-up line win.

Free spins play out at the same bet and the same number of lines as the round that triggered them, and nothing can be changed mid-round. All wins, from lines, scatters and features alike, are totalled together before the round closes.

Randomly on any normal spin, gold Canopus Scatters can flip into their green Spectral counterparts. The Spectral version behaves identically as a wild and a scatter. The difference is what it triggers, which is where the game splits into two bonus paths.

That spectral flip is the hinge the whole game turns on, so it’s worth laying out the four features side by side:

• Spectral conversion – randomly on any normal spin, gold Scatters may turn into Spectral Scatters
• Ghost Spin – may activate randomly on any normal spin
• Free Spins – triggered by three or more gold Scatters in the base game
• Awakened Free Spins – triggered by three or more Spectral Scatters on the reels

Ghost Spin

On any normal spin, the Ghost Spin can activate unannounced. The ghost picks one royal or high-paying symbol and turns it into a special expanding symbol for that round. If the chosen symbol forms a winning combination, every instance of it expands to cover its reel.

It only expands when that expansion creates a win, so a screen full of the wrong symbol stays as it is. The chosen symbol can also form winning combinations across non-adjacent reels, which widens what counts as a hit.

There’s no re-triggering it and no onward path – no free spins attached, no meter filling up. What it does is put expanded-reel wins on the table that a normal spin wouldn’t offer.

Free Spins

Landing three or more gold Scatters anywhere on the reels in the base game triggers 10 free spins. Before they start, you pick one of three random royal or high-paying symbols to serve as the special expanding symbol for the whole feature.

• Initial award – 10 free spins, played at the triggering bet and lines
• Expanding symbol – your pick from three random royals or high-payers
• Gaps allowed – in free spins only, expanding symbols pay for winning combinations with gaps, from left to right, beginning on any reel where a win is possible
• Retrigger – three or more Scatters award 10 additional spins, keeping the chosen symbol
• Restriction – Spectral Scatters cannot land for the duration of the feature

The expansion rules are the ones that matter here. The chosen symbol can form winning combinations across non-adjacent reels, and when it forms a win, all instances expand. That gap rule is where the big rounds come from.

Spectral Scatters can’t land during this feature, so there’s no crossing over into the other bonus while you’re in this one. Retriggers keep your original symbol, so the round you chose is the round you keep playing.

Awakened Free Spins

Landing three or more Spectral Scatters – the green ones – triggers 10 Awakened Free Spins. This is the game’s headline round, and it works like standard free spins with one addition that changes the maths considerably.

Again you pick one of three random royals or high-payers as your expanding symbol. But each spin, the ghost also picks a second expanding symbol at random. Both symbols can form wins across non-adjacent reels, and both expand when they hit a winning combination.

One spin your chosen symbol is doing the work; the next, a royal you’d never have selected is covering three reels. Gold Scatters can’t land for the duration, so the round stays in its own lane.

Retriggers come from three or more Spectral Scatters and award 10 more spins, with the same chosen symbol kept. The second, ghost-picked symbol keeps changing every spin, retrigger or not.

Our Honest Verdict

Overall Rating: 7.2/10

Playing this is like house-sitting a tomb you already know: quiet corridors, familiar furniture, and one resident who keeps rearranging the ornaments. The reason to visit is the ghost itself. In the Awakened round you’re never watching a single symbol and hoping – something else is always being pulled into the game, and that second pick turns a round you could plan into one you can’t.

The strength is that the ghost’s interference is real, not cosmetic. Two expanding symbols paying with gaps allowed produces reels behaving in ways this formula hasn’t offered before, and it happens often enough within the round to matter. The weakness is everything around it: a 10-line base game with a wild that tops out at 200x, and a random base-game feature that breaks the silence without ever paying for the disturbance.

For anyone bored of the classic formula, the ghost is a genuine reason to come back to this tomb. For players who never left it in the first place, there’s not enough dust disturbed to justify the move. This one is for the curious, not the devoted.

Ghost of Dead FAQs

• What is the RTP of Ghost of Dead?

  The RTP of Ghost of Dead is 96.22%.
• Is Ghost of Dead high volatility?

  Yes, Ghost of Dead is a high volatility slot, so wins tend to be less frequent but potentially larger when they land.
• How many paylines does Ghost of Dead have?

  Ghost of Dead has 10 paylines on a 5-reel, 3-row grid.
• What is the grid size of Ghost of Dead?

  Ghost of Dead uses a 5×3 grid.
• Who makes Ghost of Dead?

  Ghost of Dead is made by Play’n GO.
• When is Ghost of Dead released?

  Ghost of Dead’s release date is 16 September 2021.
• How do you trigger free spins in Ghost of Dead?

  Landing three or more gold Canopus Scatter symbols in the base game awards 10 free spins, with a further 10 spins added if three or more scatters land again during the feature.
• What are Awakened Free Spins in Ghost of Dead?

  Awakened Free Spins are triggered by three or more Spectral Scatters, the green versions that can randomly replace normal scatters on any spin. You pick an expanding symbol as usual, and the ghost also picks a second expanding symbol at random on every spin.