Lab of Madness: It’s a Wild! Demo
Lab of Madness: It’s a Wild! Slot Review
Hidden away in a storm-forged Castle, a mysterious Dr Frankenstein prepares to unleash her greatest experiment yet. She’s smart, brilliant…and strangely sweet. As crackles of lightning illuminate the sky, Dr Frankenstein pulls the switch, bringing to life her monstrous creation.
Sparks begin to fly, wires rumble, and the Wild symbol, Frankenstein’s new monster, emerges from the shadows, glowing with uncontained energy. Will her creation rise to the storm’s fury, or will the Power Up Feature send it into overdrive?
Lab of Madness: It’s a Wild! is an experimental release from Play’n GO, inspired by Mary Shelley’s gothic/horror novel, Frankenstein. This game tells the classic story of a brilliant (or mad) Scientist who creates a monstrous creature made from body parts. Only this time, the monster is the work of a frail, old lady with wicked skills and a kind heart.
When you think about it, every software developer is a Dr Frankenstein, piecing together their next release and making the necessary adjustments to make it the best it can be. Hacksaw Gaming & Gold Coin Studios even went as far as conducting their own experiments in Twisted Lab and Dr Wildshock: Mad Loot Lab.
Lab of Madness: It’s a Wild! has the potential to do great things, given its fixed RTP of 96.23%, high volatility score, and 8,000x max win capabilities, as well as the increasingly-popular ‘3 pots’ mechanic, but will it prove worthy against the long line of games with similar functions? Let’s get down to business and find out.
Base Game & Features
Lab of Madness: It’s a Wild! is a highly volatile slot release from Play’n GO, featuring 5 reels, 4 rows, and 20 fixed pay lines. Winning combinations occur when 3-5 matching symbols land on adjacent reels, starting from reel 1.
The highest-paying symbol falls to Dr Frankenstein, followed by body parts, weapons, and A, K, Q, J, & 10 card suits. When a winning combination is confirmed, a random payout between 0.2x and 10x your bet is awarded. Lastly, Wild symbols can appear on all reels, substituting for all symbols to complete a win.
Bulbs & Orbs
Above the reels in the base game are special Red, Green, & Purple Bulbs. Each Bulb is charged when its corresponding Orb symbol falls upon a reel. In the Free Spins mode, each Bulb awards a unique Wild symbol.
The Overcharged feature can be awarded at random during a spin where at least 1 Orb symbol hits. Once a Bulb is overcharged, it triggers its respective Free Spins mode. Furthermore, all 3 Bulbs can be overcharged at the same time if their corresponding Orb symbols land within the same spin.
Each Orb symbol that appears in the base game has the chance to trigger its respective Free Spins mode, while only 1 Orb of the same colour can land in a single spin at any time.
Zap Prizes
Landing the Power Up symbol in the base game triggers the Zap Prizes Feature, where 1 of 4 Jackpot Prizes is awarded at random:
- Mini: 20x your bet
- Minor: 50x your bet
- Major: 100x your bet
- Mega: 5,000x your bet
Please note that Zap Prizes can only be won throughout the base game.
Lab of Madness: It’s a Wild! Free Spins
Once a Red, Green, or Purple Bulb is overcharged, its corresponding Free Spins mode will trigger, awarding 10 Free Spins. Each Bulb awards a special Wild Feature, depending on which was triggered – these include the following:
Multiplier Wild
In this mode, each Wild symbol on the reels will reveal a random Multiplier of x2, x3, x4, or x5. If a winning combination includes a Wild Multiplier, its value will be applied to its payout.
If more than 1 Wild Multiplier is part of the same win, their values are added together and applied to the win. In addition, Multiplier Wilds can appear stacked on the reels, revealing the same Multiplier.
Expanding Wild
During this mode, each Wild symbol that appears in view will expand to cover the entire reel. If the Multiplier Wild feature is also active, the value of the Multiplier is the same for the whole reel.
Walking Wild
When a Wild symbol falls upon the reels during this mode, it will move horizontally towards the leftmost reel. If the Multiplier Wild mode is also active, each Walking Wild will receive a x2, x3, x4, or x5 Multiplier, which remains the same as it moves along the reels.
If the Expanding Wild feature is also available, the Wild symbol will expand across the reels, moving from right to left. Each time a Walking Wild moves, it awards +1 Respin, meaning that your current Free Spins do not decline.
Only when all Wild symbols leave the leftmost reel will your current Free Spins resume.
Our Honest Verdict
Not many software developers choose to get creative these days – All they really have to do is wait for the next trend to hit and follow in its footsteps. In fact, most of our recent interactions with releases have fallen victim to the ‘3 pots’ mechanic.
Unfortunately, we can’t really reference another ‘3 pots’ release for our thoughts on each game that includes the same features or mechanics, so we’ll do our best to analyse Lab of Madness: It’s a Wild! in its own right.
Firstly, we’d like to commend Play’n GO for their skilled artistry in this release, which reveals an interesting take on Dr Frankenstein’s monster, even if a little flamboyant – was its devilishly good looks part of the design? We’re not sure, but there’s certainly a fanbase for it.
In terms of features, Lab of Madness: It’s a Wild isn’t quite as intensive as the bulk of ‘3 pots’ releases from other software developers. Here, we have staple Wild Features, which are not particularly innovative but effective enough for most players.
The issue with features like this is that they feel slightly diluted when only 1 of the 3 Wild Features triggers. We can’t help but feel that one on its own isn’t going to perform as well as it could.
All in all, Lab of Madness: It’s a Wild has its brief moments of excitement, but the features it offers are not exactly groundbreaking. Our only saving grace is the 8,000x max win potential, which is a definite step in the right direction, but is it enough to consider this game a smash hit? We don’t believe so.
*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.
