Nightmare Family Megaways Slot Review
Down for some seasonally ghoulish fun and frolics on the reels?
Then check out this installment conjured up by Red Tiger partner MaxWin Gaming that has more than a whiff of The Addams Family and Dia de Los Muertos rolled into one, while infused with various occult references. Prepare for a real mash-up of themes that lean to the dark side just in time for spooky season…
Nightmare Family Megaways presents a superbly playful Halloween-like scene populated by all manner of paraphernalia associated with October 31st. Think lanterns, witches’ hats, tombstones candles, and monsters backdropped by a vivid moonlit sky, with a pair of gargoyles sitting ominously atop the reels.
Trees always tend to sport conspicuously jagged branches around this particular time of year to further thicken the atmosphere – and the ones in Nightmare Family Megaways don’t disappoint.
Mix in some fitting tunes, and we have one of the more tastefully designed Halloween slots on the market. Let’s unpeel the outer wrapper and inspect the mathematical side of Nightmare Family Megaways…
Nightmare Family Megaways Base Game and Features
Nightmare Family Megaways’ gaming matrix comprises 6 reels and 7 rows – the standard Megaways format – meaning 117,649 win ways at full pelt. If you’re been hiding under a rock or consider yourself a slot newbie, know that Megaways is a dynamic reel modifier that shifts up the number of symbols landing on each spin.
As to symbols, expect to find a mishmash of occult oddities acting as the low pays: a 9-bearing potion jar, a 10-bearing potion jar, a falling wine glass full of some green liquid, then a cauldron, a jack in the box, and finally a creepy, bowler hat-wearing stuffed toy. Remember that twisted abomination Sid from Toy Story fashioned out of his demonic desires? Yeah.
Next come the premiums, four family members possessing varying values. Of the daughter, son, mum, and dad, the latter is the most valuable, coughing up 50 times the stake for winning 6OAK combos.
Megaways and Cascades go together like cheese and crackers, or like witches and… err… witches’ hats. Kicking in after every win, the device removes symbols forming parts of winning combos and fills their vacant positions with new ones. The process repeats upon each subsequent cascade, ending with no new wins hit.
Nightmare Family Megaways Free Spins
So far, fairly run-of-the-mill stuff from yet another Megaways entry. Things take an unexpected turn in Free Spins, however. Land at least 3 scatters to begin with a starting haul of 3 spins in addition to a 1x multiplier. Add an extra 3 spins if 4 scatters were responsible for triggering the feature, plus a much tastier-looking 5x multiplier.
The minimum number of Megaways possible between 1,000 and 25,000 is then determined by the spin of a wheel, while your free spin count gets reset upon each win and the multiplier augments upon a result-yielding Cascade.
Free Spins conclude once you log 3 back-to-back winless spins, or by cracking the slot’s 10,000x max win – a not-so-nightmarish amount, all things considered.
Nightmare Family Megaways Bonus Buy
For those of you outside the UK, the game offers a couple of Bonus Buy options. Pay 100 times the bet to gain instant access to Free Spins, or upgrade to Super Free Spins in exchange for 300x the bet. This guarantees a minimum of 25,000 Megaways for the duration of the round.
Nightmare Family Megaways: Our Verdict
Let’s start with the pluses. Nightmare Family Megaways is easily one of the better-looking games around for players looking to kick off Halloween early. Overflowing with Halloween iconography done in a playful style, it’s been given a sharp, elegant finish, reflecting the artistic prowess of its creator.
Sure, Megaways slots are two-a-penny, but we can’t think of too many Halloween-themed creations powered by the mechanic boasting such polished visuals.
On a less positive note, eagled-eyed slot fans may notice a similarity or two between this and an earlier Max Win Gaming release, Amazon Island Megaways. That’s because Nightmare Family Megaways is largely modeled on the latter in terms of features and overall gameplay.
Not quite to the letter; indeed there are some discrepancies in the numbers, but the overall experience for all intents and purposes is the same if you take each’s respective outer wrapper out of the equation.
Still, this is a decent effort that should get players’ freak on after plowing through a few spins.
