Thanks to Irish immigrants at the turn of the last century, who brought the harvesting ritual of carving lanterns out of turnips, or more commonly known as ‘jack-o’-lanterns’, pumpkins have had a great impact on American culture. Jack was a famous trickster of unparalleled mastery, as he was able to con both the Devil and God, who then denied him entrance to the after-life, both hell and heaven. Thus deprived, Jack was condemned to forever roam the Earth with only light from a turnip as his eternal companion. As the Irish became acquainted with the enormous American pumpkins, it didn’t take too long for the pumpkins to become the kings of the ‘jack-o’-lantern’ carving tradition and the pumpkin smash games. Few things are more enjoyable to smash than cavernous pumpkins, especially when you receive a pumpkin smash slots bonus!
Quick Facts
There is nothing that the online casino industry likes more than to translate popular cultural themes into a video slot, and a Halloween theme has so much material to offer. Pumpkin’s place in the Halloween lore is especially unique with its merging of the morbid and the entertaining. The Pumpkin Smash slot was developed by the highly competent, if not barely pronounceable, Yggdrasil Gaming. Right from the intro animation, on par with games on mighty consoles and PCs, you can tell that you will be in for a video slot treat, as high production value is manifested on every level – sound design, macabre music, and colourful artwork – no wonder that Pumpkin Smash has become so popular in such a short time.
- Software: Yggdrasil Gaming
- Paylines: 20
- Reels: 5
- RTP: 96.2%
Pumpkin Smash review
Pumpkin Smash draws you in with the theme and the visuals, but you stay for the playing potential. Although the pumpkin tradition mainly comes from North America, the theme also borrows heavily from the Mexican tradition as well, specifically the Mexican holiday of Dia de los Muertos – Day of the Dead. This is where the seemingly incongruent merger of bright colours with skulls comes in. As befits a modern video slot, you will be able to comfortably play it across the board – smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers. And as always, the major path to rewards will come through the Pumpkin Smash free spins bonus.
How To Play And Win On Pumpkin Smash
Although the theoretical RTP of 96.2% speaks for itself, you will soon find that there are basically three different roads to profit. At its simplest, you can randomly be given an instant prize which will automatically load your balance with extra coins. Then, you can open access to the free spin bonus, by landing at least three bonus symbols (brightly coloured skulls). With the free spin bonus, you can accrue up to 32 free spins, which is quite generous and definitely at the top of what is usually offered. And lastly, you can greatly enhance your free spin bonus, by uncovering multipliers that will affect certain symbols during the free spin mode, which altogether can add up to 7x the regular payout.
Bonus And Free Spins
Before you play for real money, always practice first until you are confident of the mechanics of the video slot. With Pumpkin Smash, if you trigger the free spins bonus by landing at least three skulls, you are randomly given the number of possible free spins which can be: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 14, 16, or 32. Notice that the rise is almost exponential, so you will likely end up on the higher end of the number of free spins. As for the multiplier bonuses, they can range between 2x and 7x, and can be active both during the regular and free spin mode play.
Symbols And Paylines
Across the 20 paylines, smaller but more regular wins will be offered through the geometric cards, slightly ornamental but still rather generic, as is the Yggdrasil Gaming tradition. Four differently coloured pumpkin skulls will open the doors to the major winning potential in the form of already mentioned free spin bonus. You will also find that wild symbols will perform the function of substitutes as well. If you are a beginner, be sure to try the free play first to figure out all the nuances.
Design & Graphics
You can rarely find such an odd combination of combining morbidity in the form of skulls and the extreme colourfulness throughout the theme. This is why Pumpkin Smash works so well aesthetically. It’s almost as if developers intrinsically knew the philosophical intertwining of the exuberance of life and the dread of death. After all, that’s what the “Day of the Dead” festival is all about, and the Yggdrasil Gaming certainly managed to extract the essence of it in digital form.
Sound & Experience
The sound stage perfectly augments the visual representation of Pumpkin Smash with melancholic music that lulls you into contemplative trance as you consider the transience of life. You will enjoy the light guitar melody as it guides you through the lows and highs of life, or in this case – the inevitable losses and wins. Additionally, you will find Pumpkin Smash to be very user-friendly as the help is integrated onto the reels; simply click/tap onto the symbols and you will see a short description of their function and potential for rewards.
Summary
Pumpkin Smash is unique in every way, except for its gameplay mechanics, which is to be expected considering it’s a video slot, and it thus doesn’t have a learning curve if you are at all familiar with video slots. Just the amazing music will make you keep wanting to play over and over again. It is also one of those new generation video slots that runs exceptionally smooth on any device, while having snappy animations like the best of them in the real gaming world. Overall, if your taste is not too specific for your video slot themes, this video slot will serve you well!
