Step right up, step right up, players, come check out a carnival experience the likes of which you probably haven't seen before. Daring to be different, developer Pragmatic Play has filled the tents of this circus with a variety of undead characters instead of the usual assortment of ringleaders, clowns, acrobats, fire breathers, and animals. The result is rather eye-catching and, when combined with sticky wild multipliers in free spins, can be quite a zombirific jamboree.
Squeamish players will be pleased to know Pragmatic Play has used a cartoonish approach for Zombie Carnival's graphics, where there's an emphasis on humour rather than horror. There's no dripping flesh, fly buzzing, ambling undead monsters putting anyone off their candy floss around here. The atmosphere is rather festive, as fireworks explode in the distance, the sun appears to be dipping into dusk, flags fly in the breeze, and numerous attractions lie in wait on either side of the game's 6-reel, 4-row panel. If we were going to dig for cultural references, the game has a vaguely Plants vs Zombies vibe, leading to wholesome impressions rather than those of dread or disgust.
On the numbers side, Zombie Carnival comes with a set of recognisably Pragmatic Play-ish stats. This includes three RTP values of 96.5%, 95.5%, and 94.5%, powered by a math model which has been rated five out of five for volatility. When picking a bet, options start at 20 p/c per spin before rising as high as $/€100 per spin, with the funfair-filled action being available on any device.
Another one of Zombie Carnival's welcome attractions is its 4,096 ways to win pay system, shooting off a win when at least three matching symbols land in adjacent reels from the left-hand side. Eight regular pays appear on the board, such as J-A symbols on the lower side, worth 0.7x the bet for six of a kind, and four zombified characters as the high pays, worth 1.5-5 times the stake for six in a winning way. Wilds do appear in Zombie Carnival, though never in the base game.
In fact, Zombie Carnival's base game can feel a little light on features at times, but it does have mystery symbols dropping in to add a potential thrill or two. Mystery symbols appear as gift-wrapped boxes, and at the end of a spin, if there are any in view, they all transform into the same matching symbol. Mystery symbols can land in the base game and the bonus round.
Look out for the brain symbol. This is Zombie Carnival's scatter, and when at least 2 hit on reels 2, 3, 4, or 5, then 6 free spins are awarded. For free spins, the triggering brain scatters transform into wild symbols which remain on the reels for the full duration of the feature. Wilds substitute for any normal paying symbol. Now, whenever a scatter symbol lands, the closest wild moves over and consumes it. This action increases the wild symbol's multiplier by +1 and awards an additional free spin. Multipliers are applied to any win they are part of, and when more than one multiplier is used, their values are multiplied together. On a final note, each wild can only consume one scatter per spin. So, if more scatters land than there are wild symbols on the reels, the left-over scatters transform into wilds as well, acting the same way as described above.
Applicable players who would prefer to buy free spins rather than trigger them naturally can do so at the cost of 80 times the stake. The RTP when buying free spins remains the same.
To stand out from the other circus-themed slots on the market, Pragmatic Play has used an undead angle to add individualism. Zombies and carnivals have been combined before in books and video games, but not a lot, so the combo doesn't exactly leap immediately to mind when dreaming up new ideas. It works well too, and while Zombie Carnival might not reach the magical heights of Cirque du Soleil, it has everything needed to provide a solid bout of entertainment. It's not just the amusing theme either; the team has jammed together a set of mechanics and features to create the sort of package that resulted in a nicely playable testing session.
As mentioned in the features section, the base game can feel a little sparse at times, though the ways to win system and mystery symbols act as a warm-up act for the main event. The main event is free spins, of course, and some good things have been stuffed in there. It should be said, though, that the opportunity for scoring a lot of wild multipliers on screen at the same time isn't as great as it can be in other, bigger games that use them – Top Dawg$, for instance. In part, this is because the bonus round can be triggered by just two scatters, so, often, there'll be 'just' two sticky wilds on the reels at the beginning of the bonus round. Technically, it is possible to add more, but landing more scatters than there are wilds on the reels is unlikely to be a common occurrence. Multipliers do multiply each other, though, and single scatters did land fairly frequently enough to grow values. Not that we got anywhere near it during testing, but Zombie Carnival max win has been capped at 5,000x the bet, which feels fair enough, all things considered.
If Zombie Carnival was a real circus, it probably wouldn't be the sort of show that flitted for decades between the great cities of the world, leaving audiences open-mouthed with wonder each time. However, it is capable of letting off a few fireworks, thanks to a pleasant mix of charmingly odd theme and useful features.
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