Take a walk on the dark side in Vampires, a 5x3 slot released by Merkur Gaming in 2017. In our Vampires review, we’ll spill all the gory details about this slot — the prizes on offer, the bonuses, and much more. Vampires includes a Free Games round and a Gamble feature to sink your teeth into. It’s highly volatile, and you can win prizes of up to 1,000x your bet on any spin. Keep reading our Vampires review to find out more!
Vampires features 5 reels, 3 rows, and 5 fixed paylines. You can wager from £0.10 to £10.00 on each spin.
To play, hit the ‘spin’ button and see if you can land matching symbols on any of the paylines. The five low symbols award prizes for three or more in a winning combination. But the medium and high symbols payout for two or more.
Vampires has a 96% Return to Player rate, which is the industry average, and high volatility. Payouts are generally less frequent than they would be in a slot game with lower volatility, but they can be more generous.
Still, they’re not exactly huge — the maximum win available is just 1,000x your bet. You need to land 5 Girl symbols on a payline to get your hands on that top prize.
Vampires is available at various online casinos in the UK, and you can find the best slot sites to consider below.
Vampires may look a bit basic and dated compared to more modern slots with a similar theme (such as Immortal Romance 2). However, having played quite a few Merkur Gaming slots, I found Vampires to be one of the team’s most visually impressive releases.
The game features various gothic touches, such as the spooky gates behind the reels and ancient stone columns on either side of the reels. But the male vampire and the girl he’s pursuing have modern clothes and hairstyles, which contrast well with the more traditional elements.
Vampires’ audio is solid, too. Heavy rock music kicks in when you create a winning combination, which suits the dark tone.
In terms of symbols, Vampires features 10. Five symbols are royals, and award the lowest prizes. The three highest-paying symbols are the Vampire, Girl, and Castle. The Vampire is the Wild and the Scatter: it substitutes for other symbols and triggers the Free Games round. Other symbols include a goblet, sword, and creepy castle.
Ten
3 — 1x bet / 4 — 6x bet / 5 — 20x bet
Jack
3 — 1x bet / 4 — 6x bet / 5 — 20x bet
Queen
3 — 1x bet / 4 — 6x bet / 5 — 20x bet
King
3 — 1x bet / 4 — 8x bet / 5 — 30x bet
Ace
3 — 1x bet / 4 — 8x bet / 5 — 30x bet
Girl
2 — 2x bet / 3 — 20x bet / 4 — 200x bet / 5 — 1,000x bet
Vampires includes two bonus features: a Free Games round and a Gamble feature. The Free Games awards more than a dozen chances to win without wagering, and the Gamble round is an optional bonus that can double the value of payouts.
Match three or more Vampire symbols to win 15 free spins. If you create winning combinations featuring one or more Wilds, the non-Wild winning symbols are transformed into Wilds to award bigger wins. The squeaking bats that fly across the reels to turn those symbols Wild is a fun touch!
The Gamble feature should be familiar to you if you’ve played other Merkur Gaming slots. It’s available whenever you trigger a win (without Wilds) in the base game, and it’s optional: you can collect your winnings and ignore the feature if you want to. But if you decide you’d like to wager a prize for a chance to double it, click on either the ‘card’ or ‘ladder’ button to get started.
In the Card game, you need to wager on the colour of a playing card before it’s revealed. Guess the colour correctly to double the staked prize. Guess the wrong colour, though, and you’ll lose your initial win.
The Ladder game is totally different. Press the ‘1:1’ button to move up or down a ladder of prizes to increase or decrease your staked win, respectively.
Vampires is one of the best Merkur Gaming slots I’ve played. Not only does it boast more exciting and polished graphics than some of the company’s other games, but Vampires includes an impressive Free Games feature, too. That’s primarily due to the transforming Wilds that can lead to higher payouts.
The biggest issue with Vampires is the fairly low wins, especially considering the high volatility. You can grab up to 1,000x your bet if you land 5 Girl symbols on a payline, which is a lot lower than some other vampire-themed slots. For example, Immortal Romance 2 offers up to 15,000x your bet.
Still, the Free Games feature and fun design make Vampires good enough to recommend.
Rating: 7.5
Here are five questions people often ask about Vampires: