Hellcatraz

What I did to place my first bet

Unsurprisingly, getting into Hellcatraz is easier than finding a way out. If you’re curious like me, here’s how I travelled to the remote prison island. 

1. I picked a casino that features the game. It wasn’t any old site. I made sure it was reputable, had fast transaction times, a wide choice of titles, and a user-friendly app.

2. Once I found one, I created an account by entering my personal details into the fields of the signup form. I also verified my identity as soon as possible to speed up the withdrawal process later on.

3. When my account launched, I headed to the cashier to deposit money using my debit card. The funds arrived within a few seconds, and this action also triggered my welcome bonus.

4. I took another look at the bonus terms to remind myself of the wagering requirements, bet limits, expiry period, and any exclusions. Hellcatraz wasn’t on the excluded list, so I was ready to proceed.

5. The casino I chose had a large game library, so I needed some help finding the title. Fortunately, the search function worked a treat, and I found and loaded the slot in no time.

6. Before I planned my escape from the prison, I checked the rules and payables to understand the payouts, winning ways, symbols, and features. I used the (+) and (-) buttons to adjust my bet, and once I was happy, I started playing. 

My Initial encounter with Hellcatraz

My first impression of the slot came from its style, where everything is shown in pixels. If you’re familiar with Minecraft, it’ll remind you of that. However, it also brought to my mind some old-school arcade games. Either way, I liked the distinct appearance of the slot, which made me eager to explore even more.

Dramatic scenery

There’s a lot to look at in this slot. I’m impressed by the attention to detail. From the police boats bobbing in the bay and the shark fins circling in the water to the misty clouds on the horizon, each aspect built the right atmosphere. I enjoyed switching from day to night to get the different colour schemes.

The animations and the way that matching symbols burst from the reels when they formed a win was a nice touch. The music fitted in with the classic arcade game style of the slot, with traditional beeps. However, I also heard the cry of a seagull and the wail of sirens, which made sense with the scenery.

Set out for San Francisco 

I enjoyed the slot’s quirky take on the Alcatraz setting. There were plenty of cues to build up the setting and the atmosphere, so I was quickly immersed. The lighthouse, city building, island location, and Golden Gate Bridge all made the theme clear.

The reels are inside the prison building, and the symbols continue the theme. They were either connected to law and order or the sharks that I would face if I chose to swim to freedom. The feeling of a maximum security prison was enhanced by the helicopters, which flew in and shone their spotlights when I got a big win.

Breaking out the bonuses

This escape plan involves several bonus features. If you think a remote island isn’t the place for action, think again. It wasn’t just the animations that kept me engaged. There are plenty of features to look forward to, although I had to be patient and wait for most of them.

I’m a big fan of cascading reels, so I was happy to see them here. When a win landed, those symbols paid out and then disappeared. New ones dropped into place, giving me a chance to see more wins land. Another feature that helped build matching combinations was the Wild. It’s the letter ‘W’ and appears on reels two to six.

The paying symbols weren’t the only things I saw on the reels. I also saw plenty of mystery boxes. They contained numbers hidden behind bars. If I played in mixed mode, two random values were assigned to the boxes. In locked mode, they were all the same values. 

The number in the boxes showed how many cascades it would take to reveal identical symbols. Since the boxes got in the way of making matches sometimes, it was tricky to see enough cascades to trigger the feature, especially if four or five were needed. However, when the boxes showed one or two, they helped form some wins.

As I spun the reels, I noticed some tiny golden keys. They appeared randomly above other symbols. Once the reels settled, I collected the keys in the meter. Each key could turn into a cluster of one up to 10.I needed 2,000 to fill the meter, so it was pretty slow going.

Once the meter was full, the Super Free Spins round launched. My bonus game began with five spins. In this round, the mystery boxes opened without needing a cascade, which helped build matching combos. I also spotted a special Golden Mystery box. I had to see two cascades form before it opened. I was awarded an extra spin and it became a random symbol.

Hellcatraz RTP

I thoroughly checked the slot’s documentation to learn more about what I was seeing in the gameplay. If you choose to play in mixed mode, you’ll enjoy a slot with high volatility. On the other hand, if you pick lockdown, you’ll have extreme volatility. You can switch back and forth throughout the game. I stuck to high volatility, and even that was a bit much for me, as I prefer medium.

This slot has six reels, six rows, and 46,656 winways, which pay from left to right over adjacent reels. The RTP also differs depending on which mode you pick. It’s 96.46% during lockdown and 96.30%in mixed mode.

What brought my attention to Hellcatraz?

Hellcatraz is a mix of several of the things that I love about slots. It has cascading reels, which keep the action going without me needing to bet again. I also liked that mix of action in the base game and the bonus round with the mystery boxes. However, it took a long time to trigger those Free Spins.

The game’s style is another strong positive for me. I like the San Francisco setting, and the 8-bit graphics are the cherry on top of that icing. My main hesitations come from the high volatility and the low payouts. I can wait, but there has to be something worth waiting for. When all the winways line up, there’s some potential there.