The Dead Escape

Zombies have been featured in too many movies, video games, television shows and books to name, and there have been a number of zombie-based slots. However, Habanero Systems build The Dead Escape slot around the idea of actually trying to escape from the zombies, which is different than most of the other games out there since it actually has a bit of a story attached to it. The graphics in this game work perfectly with the theme, and the features are designed to make sense in the context of trying to get away from the threat.

Format and Layout

This is a video slot that uses a 30-payline layout. It has the typical format with five reels and three rows, and you have different betting options to make it easier to get the exact bet sizes that you want. Players can bet between one and 10 coins on each of the betting lines for between 30 and 300 coins bet per spin. The minimum coin value is $0.01, which puts the minimum overall bet size at a reasonable $0.30 per turn. The maximum coin size is $0.50, so you can bet as much as $150 per spin in this game.

Wild Symbols

There is a zombie symbol that shows up on the first, third and fifth reels during the regular games. It also shows up on all five reels during the free spins. It's one of the wild symbols in this game, and it substitutes for everything but the scattered truck symbol. You'll also find that there is a stacked wild symbol with a bunch of zombies trying to break through a door, and it gives the same payouts and functions just like the single zombie symbol. With two different wilds, one of them stacked, you'll get more winning combinations.

Scattered Truck Symbols

There's an orange truck that looks a lot like an older Ford F150, and it's the scatter symbol in this game. You'll get wins with it that are multiplied by your overall bet for the spin. Five of a kind wins 50x, and four of a kind is worth 10x. If you get three of a kind, that's worth a 3x payout. The top win for the scatter is like a 1,500x line bet prize, so it's a pretty solid win and one of the largest regular payouts in the game as a whole.

Duel Feature

If you get either the man or the girl survivor directly beside of a single zombie wild symbol on the same row of symbols, then you will have a duel. You'll see a coin flip to determine the outcome of the fight. If the human loses, it turns into a zombie wild to determine the payout for that spin. However, if the human is able to escape, then the zombie wild turns into an expanding wild to cover the entire reel. It's possible to trigger multiple duels on the same spin, which can lead to a number of extra wild symbols on the game board.

Free Spins Feature

Three or more of the trucks will give you a set of 15 free spins. You get an extra free spin for each gas can that shows up on the reels. The wild symbol appears on every reel during this free spin, and it gets its own payouts. Five of a kind pays 500x, four gets 150x and three is worth 50x during this feature.

Other Top Payouts

Five of a kind of either the man or the girl symbol will get you a 500x payout. Five of the hazard symbol gets you 300x, and five of the zombie hand coming up through the ground is worth 200x. There are also card rank symbols A, K, Q, J, 10 and 9. They pay between 100x and 50x for five of a kind each.

Overview

The Dead Escape is a great example of Habanero Systems building up a game completely around a single theme. All of the features make complete sense given the concept of the slot, and the gameplay is made a lot of fun with the way the wild symbols function. The visual appeal of this game is solid as well with good graphics, and the soundtrack is perfect for a zombie-based slot. Overall, this is a title with a reasonable volatility, a balanced pay table and chances to win pretty good payouts with the progressive jackpot that randomly triggers.