Necronomicon

Adorable monsters rule the world of Necronomicon, the cuddly horror slot from AGames. Cultist packs supercharge free spins, adding freebies to the total and increasing win multipliers.

Theme

The title Necronomicon refers to an (almost certainly) fictional spellbook for the dark arts, mentioned by many great horror writers including H.P. Lovecraft. AGames has conjured up a suitably unsettling world for this slot.

Not every designer can balance the worlds of adorable creatures and scary monsters, but the AGames design team does so with a flourish. The five reels are set before a dark, wet day, with unwelcoming tentacles reaching out in the depths behind the game screen.

Gaming symbols include an adorable array of horrific, cuddly creatures:

there’s Thorn, a spiky one-armed fellow; and Eater, whose fearsome teeth sit atop his head; the juggling Eye Master, and winged Elder. A kind of elephant/squid hybrid acts as wild, while an unholy version of the Buddha acts as the bonus symbol, the gateway to free spins. Warty versions of the playing card symbols ace through jack act as lower-value symbols. Though all dreadful, they all seem huggable at the same time.

Spooky carnival-style music unfolds in the background, occasionally punctuated by human screams.

Betting Options and Functions

These monsters may be abominations, but the gaming structure on which they’re based is downright handsome.

There are 10 paylines, all paying from left to right. Bet level is adjustable from 1–10, with coin value adjustable from 0.01–1.00 for an overall per-spin bet range of 0.10–100.00 times the betting currency.

Autoplay is available for up to 500 spins, with optional win and loss limits if the feature is engaged through the settings menu, which also allows players to adjust sound and image options, as well as quickspin. The overall theoretical return to player ratio is slightly above-average at 95.6%.

Features

Necronomicon Free spins, triggered by the unholy Buddha scatter symbol, receive a double win multiplier… but the extras don’t stop there.

Three hooded cultists act as freespin scatter symbols, sweeting the deal for players. Whenever a pack of cultists (all three symbols) are gathered, the win multiplier is increased: from 2x to 3x, from 3x to 4x, then from 4x to 5x. What’s more, two extra free spins are added to the total.

Finally, should three different cultists appear on one reel, that entire reel will be replaced by Claw: this is a triple wild symbol which remains in place for the duration of the feature. Monster wins indeed.

Our Take

AGames brought their ‘A’ game to Necromicon. The troubling-yet-appealing visuals, coupled with a very appealing bonus feature, make this an instant classic.