Slot of the Week: Halloween Jack

Get in the Halloween spirit with a few spins on our spooky Slot of the Week, Halloween Jack, which offers walking wilds, free spins, and a chilling story.

Though available for reel-spinning any time of the year, Halloween Jack is best suited for the season of spirits and with Halloween fast approaching, what better way to get in the mood than with some chills and thrills?

Read on for our tour of this terrifying title, if you think you’re brave enough…

In Short:

• Halloween Jack is a 20-payline online slot by NetEnt.

• It is available to play at 16 New Jersey online casinos including Golden Nugget, Unibet Casino, Pala Casino, and Harrah’s Casino.
• Halloween Jack features include Walking Wilds and Free Spins with additional unlockable wilds.
• The maximum payout of Halloween Jack is 600,000 coins.

The Basics

Halloween Jack is a very dark and mysterious, 20-payline slot by NetEnt that was first launched in the runup to Halloween 2018. It’s one of those seasonal type slots that doesn’t see much action at other times of the year, but as soon as Halloween rolls around, it’s a firm favorite with players.

Though this slot doesn’t pack in as many features as we’re used to seeing in other popular NetEnt titles, Halloween Jack makes up for it with plenty of atmosphere, from the design of the reels themselves to the chilling short story excerpt listed on the last of the in-game info pages.

First Impressions

When  you first open the game, it’s highly recommended that you take a minute or two to read the short story snippet on the last info page, which is accessible via the “i” menu at the bottom left of the slot. This sets the scene and gives meaning to the various symbols in the game.

Looking at the reel set now, you’ll notice it’s all very dark and spooky; there are no comical pumpkins or stereotypical witches in this slot! Each of the five reels is delineated by a vine of poison ivy, with the strands hanging ominously between two dilapidated stone pillars. A creepy orange glow emanates from a rotting pumpkin on one side, with the two on the other being rested upon by a ghoulish cloaked skeleton, who seems fixated on the reels.

The information section underneath the reels is decorated with demonic-looking skulls with orange flames raging out the top, while your spin button lies in the gaping jaws of another skull. Finishing off the rich design is a foggy grey backdrop that’s punctuated by the odd flash of lightning. Look a little closer (if you dare!) and you’ll just make out the shadow of ravens flying by, crooked dead trees, and gravestones.

In terms of sound effects, random lightning flashes are accompanied by rolls of thunder, and there’s a musical score that consists of a foreboding piano and strings melody with shuffles, creaks, moans, distant bells, howling winds, and wailing tones thrown in for added chill factor. This is one slot you probably shouldn’t play alone!

Symbols

Triggering wins in Halloween Jack is a simple case of lining up three or more matching symbols along any of the game’s 20 paylines, which results in a flash of lightning-reminiscent lines, fitting the theme nicely.

All of the symbols in this game carry their own unique chiling character, with the main ones split into high-paying and low-paying symbols.

The high-paying symbols consist of the tortured lady in the story, a demonic red-eyed horse, a nasty-looking bat, a red-eyed raven, and a web-covered horseshoe. Each of these symbols is laid against a different colored background to make spotting them easier.

The low-paying symbols continue the undead theme, with the typical 10 to A card value symbols creeped up by gray-colored hands that seem to clamber and crawl!

Adding even more shudders is the very evil-looking pumpkin, which serves as this game’s wild symbol, standing in for all other symbols except the lantern and jewelry box to help you make up winning lines. This symbol also carries another perk, which we’ll cover shortly.

This is the cursed jewelry box that’s referred to in the story. This symbol triggers the game’s main features.

This spooky lantern, which can only be found within the game’s feature, unlocks special wilds for an extra boost to your win-potential.

Halloween Jack Features

Halloween Jack offers three different features to spice up your gameplay: Walking Wilds, Free Spins, and Jack’o’lector, the latter of which is part of the Free Spins round, but it deserves a section of its own. Let’s check out each of these features in turn and see what’s waiting to reward your bravery!

Walking Wilds

Available in both the base game and the free spins feature, the glowing pumpkin wild symbol not only stands in for other symbols to help you make winning lines, it also imparts another effect on the reels. When it appears, the wild triggers a respin, during which it will move one reel to the left. Respins will continue until the wild moves off the reels completely. Even better, any wins involving the wild will be tripled! The effects of this unique symbol are even bigger when multiple land on the reels at once.

Free Spins

Halloween Jack’s free spins feature is triggered by landing three or more jewelry box symbols anywhere on the reels at once, which results in green spectres emerging from the trinket chests and the awarding of 10 free spins.

Landing three or more of these symbols during the feature triggers an additional five free spins.

During your free spins, you’ll benefit from the Walking Wilds, but here these wilds come in three additional forms, as introduced by the Jack’o’lector feature.

Jack’o’lector

The free spins feature takes place in an even darker and creepier section of the graveyard, with lichen hanging from some very spooky trees. Take note of the tree to the right of the reels and its different carvings. Landing a lantern symbol on reel five will result in an ember floating over to ignite one of the three pumpkin carvings above the uppermost carved head. 

Light all three pumpkins above the top figure and your walking wilds will transform into Stacked Hell Hound Wilds, which stand up to two symbols in height.

Ignite the three pumpkins above the center carved head on the tree by landing six lanterns in total on reel five and your walking wilds will turn into Stacked Jack’o’lantern Wilds, which can be up to three symbols in height.

If you’re lucky enough to land nine lanterns, you’ll unlock the ultimate spooky wild, the Expanding Death Reaper Wild, which expands to cover the entire reel.

These unlockable walking wilds together with the respins they trigger will make those 10 free spins last a lot longer than in other games, and with triple payouts on every win involving the wilds, this feature has the potential to pump out a lot of coins!

Halloween Jack Payouts

So what kind of wins can you expect from Halloween Jack? Like many slots, the amount you stand to win depends on three factors: how much you bet per spin, how many matching symbols you’ve lined up along one of the game’s paylines, and what those symbols are.

Here’s a breakdown of the game’s symbols and their payouts:

	3x	4x	5x
Lady	20x bet	200x bet	1,000x bet
Horse	15x bet	100x bet	750x bet
Bat/Raven	10x bet	50x bet	250x bet
Horseshoe	8x bet	30x bet	125x bet
A	6x bet	25x bet	100x bet
K/Q	5x bet	20x bet	75x bet
J	4x bet	15x bet	50x bet
10	3x bet	10x bet	30x bet

As you can see, the maximum you can win in any one spin is 1,000x your bet. However, this will be multiplied thanks to the effect of those walking wilds, and with the free spins with variable walking wilds thrown into the mix, the maximum you can win from this game skyrockets to up to 600,000 coins!

Halloween Jack RTP and Volatility

How does Halloween Jack compare to other slots in terms of payout amounts and frequencies? In order to make a useful comparison, we’ll use two industry standard measurements: Return to Player (RTP) and Volatility (or Variance).

Return to Player is the percentage of all played funds that is paid out to players in the long run. In other words, it’s the opposite of the house edge. Halloween Jack’s RTP is 96.28%, which is a shade above the industry average of 96%, making this slot an attractive one to play in terms of payouts over time.

The Volatility of a slot is the balance between small, frequent wins and larger, less frequent wins. The payouts of a high volatility slot will vary wildly whereas those of a low volatility slot are likely to be more stable. Halloween Jack has a volatility ranking of high, which means you can expect a lot of variation in both the size and frequency of the payouts.

Jack Up Your Win-Potential This Halloween!

Halloween Jack is an intense, chilling slot that’s perfect for this time of year. The spooky sounds, ghostly backdrop, and spine-tingling story all create a real Hallow’s Eve atmosphere and one that you’ll need a lot of guts to endure alone!

What’s particularly appealing about the game is the walking wild and its win-tripling and respins effects, which can result in much bigger wins from just a single spin. Add in the free spins feature with three additional walking wilds unlockable via a unique lantern-collecting mechanism, and you’ve got some big rewards waiting in return for your bravery!

You’ll find Halloween Jack at many of the top New Jersey online casinos including Golden Nugget, Unibet Casino, Pala Casino, and Harrah’s Casino.

Think you’re gutsy enough to take this spooky slot for a spin? Have a read of our in-depth, professional reviews of the online casinos linked above and sign up at the one that best suits you. Claim the site’s welcome bonus then open Halloween Jack and trigger some spirited wins!