Grim Muerto Slot
Grim Muerto is a 5-reel, fixed 20-play line slot from the up-and-coming software company Play'n GO. Play'n GO have swiftly developed a reputation for themselves as the producer of very quirky slots, and this July 2016 release is a perfect example. The title of the game is a combination of 'Grim Reaper' and 'Dia de Muertos' ('Day of the Dead') – the latter being a Mexican holiday celebration that begins on the same day that people in the UK and US celebrate Hallowe'en. The festival brings together families in order to remember the lives of those whom have passed on. If you saw the 2015 James Bond film 'Spectre', then you may remember the opening scenes took place during a 'Day of the Dead' parade.
The theme of this slot is 'Grim Muerto' – a four-piece mariachi band, of all whom have seen better days – i.e. they were once alive. The four-piece are joined on the reels by a handful of other symbols, plus the playing card values ten through to ace. They are twenty pay lines in total, but that number is fixed. You can select your coin value from 0.01 and 1.00, and the number of coins you want in play for each spin. Your final wager is your coin size multiplied by the number of coins, mutliplied by twenty. When you're ready to yell 'que empiecen los juegos!', hit the spin button.
Payout & bonus rounds
The green-bedecked and pink-wearing members of the mariachi band are the lowest jackpot givers. If you land two of these characters in sequence on the reels (from the left-hand reel) you win double your stake-per-line. The 'golden guitar' wild symbol is the real winner – land five and you'll win one thousand times your line bet.
In the 'marco siniestro' ('sinister reels') feature one reel is randomly selected and highlighted for each spin. Any wild that lands on that reel expands until it fills the entire reel. When you're playing free spins, between two and five reels are selected for 'marco siniestro' in this fashion.
If you land three book symbols on the reels then you activate the free spin feature with ten free spins. If you land three candle symbols during your freebies then your free spins are re-triggered. If you land one candle you earn three extra free spins, and if you land two you win six.
During free spins one of the mariachi symbols becomes an extra wild symbol.
If you land two scatter symbols you can select one of the other mariachi symbols. If you're lucky, the mariachi symbol will be hiding a scatter symbol, hence triggering free spins.
As usual from Play'n GO, this is a game well worth your time. Play'n GO – along with Yggdrasil Gaming – are really beginning to threaten the big boys such as NetEnt and Microgaming with the high quality of the games they are producing. This is another online slot with superb graphics and outstanding gameplay, and – for once – an original concept. We expect to hear much more from Play'n GO as they get bigger and bigger – and we can't wait for their next few releases.