Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Slot Machine

Robert Louis Stevenson published the novel The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in 1886. Stevenson is well known for his Treasure Island adventure story but he wrote many other stories.Contemporary audiences probably only know his three most famous stories, Kidnapped being the third. All three novels have inspired countless movie and television adaptations as well as manyparodies and variations.

Betsoft does a fantastic job of adapting Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde to the slot game format. Although this is not quite an adventure game it does afford the player some interactive opportunities thatrecall events in the book. The animations and 3D graphics are of theatrical quality, and the special effects including the Foley sounds will intrigue most players. This is a complicated game andit takes a while to learn all of its rules. You’ll spend hours looking for the next surprise.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a 5 reel, 3 row video 3D slot game using 30 selectable pay lines. All prizes pay from left to right. Prizes are multiplied by the Bet Per Line and in the event that twoeligible prizes appear on single pay line only the highest prize is paid. Winning combinations must appear on active pay lines in order to award prizes.

The Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde logo is the game’s primary Wild symbol. This symbol only appears on reels 1, 3, and 5 and it only substitutes for either Dr Jekyll or Mr Hyde. When appearing on reel 3the logo may trigger a special feature if the two tiles adjacent to it on reels 2 and 4 both contain the same symbol from: Dr Jekyll, Mr Hyde, the Blue Potion, or the Red Potion. See below fordetails.

The Red Potion symbol pays no prize but is used to trigger two special features. Each time a Red Potion appears on a paid spin it spills a little bit of liquid into a collection meter below theplaying reels. This liquid is used to trigger the Free Spins Bonus game. If Dr. Jekyll or the Wild symbol appear on reel 3 and two Red Potions are on reels 2 and 4 the Wild Hyde feature istriggered. See below for details of these special features.

The Blue Potion symbol pays no prize but is used to trigger a special multiplier feature and is used to end the Free Spins game. See below for details. If Mr Hyde or the Wild symbol appear onreel 3 and two Blue Potions appear on reels 2 and 4 the special Multplier feature is triggered.

• Dr Jekyll

  This is one of the game’s two highest value symbols. He pays 1200 times Bet Per Line for five of a kind, 200 times Bet Per Line for four of a kind, an 45 times Bet Per Line for three of akind. He puts on his top hat as he is preparing to go out for the evening when he forms part of a winning combination.

• Mr Hyde

  The Mr Hyde symbol is the other highest value symbol in the game. He pays the same prizes as Dr Jekyll’s symbol. Be careful not to confuse this symbol with Wild Hyde. Mr Hyde is facing to hisleft or the player’s right. Wild Hyde is facing to his right or the player’s left. Mr Hyde rears up and growls when he forms a winning combination.

• The Policeman

  This symbol pays 200 times Bet Per Line for five of a kind, 45 times Bet Per Line for four of a kind, and 15 times Bet Per Line for three of a kind. The Policeman strokes his mustouche whenhe forms a winning combination.

• The Door Key

  This symbol pays 200 times Bet Per Line for five of a kind, 45 times Bet Per Line for four of a kind, and 15 times Bet Per Line for three of a kind. The key turns in the door lock when itforms part of a winning combination.

• Dr Jekyll’s Mansion

  This symbol pays 150 times Bet Per Line for five of a kind, 30 times Bet Per Line for four of a kind, and 10 times Bet Per Line for three of a kind. The player’s point of view takes off andflies up around the mansion when it forms a winning combination.

• The Fireplace

  This symbol pays 150 times Bet Per Line for five of a kind, 30 times Bet Per Line for four of a kind, and 10 times Bet Per Line for three of a kind. The player’s point of view briefly zoomsinto the fireplace when it forms a winning combination.

• Dr Jekyll’s Laboratory Notebook

  This symbol pays 100 times Bet Per Line for five of a kind, 20 times Bet Per Line for four of a kind, and 5 times Bet Per Line for three of a kind. The player’s point of view briefly zooms inon the notebook when it forms a winning combination.

• The Newspaper

  This symbol pays 100 times Bet Per Line for five of a kind, 20 times Bet Per Line for four of a kind, and 5 times Bet Per Line for three of a kind. The player’s point of view zooms in on thenewspaper briefly when it forms a winning combination.

The game scenario is set in Dr Jekyll’s laboratory. The playing reels are positioned inside the shelves holding his unused chemicals and scientific apparatus. His workbench is positioned to theright of the playing reels. You can see bookcases and fixtures of a rich Victorian mansion around the room and jutting out in the background behind the playing reels.

There are two buttons positioned near the upper right corner of the screen. These are label “View Pays” and “Options”.

Click on View Pays to activate the pay tables help screen system. There are five screens in all. Use the Next and Previous buttons to navigate through the screens. Click on Close to return to thegame.

Click on the Options button to activate a dialog screen with settings that control the sounds and music, the animations, and the video quality. Click on Confirm to exit the screen save currentsettings.

Numbers have been burned into the sides of the wooden shelves containing the playing reels. These are the numbers of the pay lines. Hold the mouse cursor over a number and the highlight graphicwill illustrate the pay line for you.

An information marquee is positioned below the playing reels. The game displays your Cash Balance and Credit Balance on the left side. It displays various messages, such as descriptions of theprizes you win, on the right side.

A progress meter hangs in the middle of the marquee. This resembles a tube that fills up with liquid from the Red and Blue potion bottles. Only one color liquid may be stored in the meter at atime. During the normal game the Red potion liquid slowly accumulates in the meter. During the free spins game the Blue potion liquid slowly accumulates in the meter.

The play controls are positioned at the bottom of the screen and from left to right they are as follows:

The Choose Coin widget resembles a mechanical counter with Minus and Plus buttons. Click on the buttons to adjust the coin value up or down. Values range from 0.02 to 1.00 and the default is0.10.

The Select Lines widget also resembles a mechanical counter with Minus and Plus buttons. Click on the buttons to adjust the number of active pay lines down or up. The highlight lines over theplaying reels area will appear and vanish or reappear individually as you change the number of active lines.

The Bet Per Line widget also resembles a mechanical counter with Minus and Plus buttons. Click on the buttons to adjust the number of coins that will be wagered per active pay line per spin.

The Bet and Win display bars are positioned just below the potion meter. The Bet display tells you how many coins your total bet equals. The Win display recaps the total prizes paid on the lastplayed spin.

The Max Bet button sets the number of active pay lines to 30 and the number of coins to 5. It also initiates 1 paid spin of the reels at the new maximum settings. Clicking on this button has noeffect on the coin value.

The Spin button initiates 1 paid spin of the reels at the current bet settings. The button becomes a Stop button so you can halt the animations of the spinning reels or the prizes awarded.Clicking on Stop does not alter the outcome of any game.

The Double Up button activates the special double up feature. This button is only active after any paid spin has awarded a prize and until the next spin is initiated. See below for details.

The Autoplay button activates a dialog where you can choose settings to control coin value, active pay lines, coins bet per line, and how many automated spins the game will play for you at thosesettings. Click on Confirm to initiate the automatic spins. Click on Cancel to exit the dialog. The automatic spins continue until you interrupt them, exit the game, win a bonus round, the lastautomatic spin completes, or your available balance drops below the amount of the total bet per automated spin.

When Dr Jekyll appears on reel 3 and Red potion bottles appear adjacent to his tile on reels 2 and 4 the Wild Hyde feature is triggered.

All the Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde symbols on the screen are transformed into Wild Hyde symbols, which substitute for any paying symbols on the screen.

Then all the symbols are jumbled up and moved around the board.

Wild Hyde pays the same as Mr Hyde if the Wild Hyde symbols form winning combinations.

When Mr Hyde appears on reel 3 and Blue potion bottles appear adjacent to his tile on reels 2 and 4 the special multiplier feature is triggered.

The game determines a random multiplier ranging from 5 to 20 that is applied to your total bet to determine the prize you are awarded for the feature.

After any paid spin pays a prize you can click on Double Up to initiate this game. A special dialog screen is superimposed over the playing reels area.

This new screen looks like an ornately carven signboard. A large bronze coin is positioned in the middle. Two buttons, Heads and Tails, are positioned on either side.

Indicatiors below the signboard show the amount of money (your Current Win) you may risk on a spin of the coin and how much you will win if you guess right.

Click on the Collect button to exit the game. You can play up to five times so long as you keep guessing right. The game ends and becomes inactive either when you lose or you have played throughthe five levels.

As you play the basic game every Red potion bottle spills a little bit of liquid into the progress bar. After 100 spills the Free Spins game is triggered. The first time you win the Free Spinsbonus the game plays a short animation which shows Dr Jekyll leaving his mansion for the evening. He looks up at the large bright moon. He then takes the red potion bottle and drinks it. Thevideo plays through his slow transformation into Mr Hyde and then he runs off down the street.

On subsequent free spins games the transition is briefer than the above. Both the full and short transition end with Mr Hyde running up to a new playing reels screen that stands in the middle ofa rundown London street or alley way. The free spins then begin.

You may win one or more bonus games or special features during the free spins but you cannot win more free spins. That is because the Blue potion bottles now spill and fill up the progress meter.But whereas you need 100 Red Potion spills to trigger the free games feature you only need 12 Blue Potion spills to end it.

There is no predetermined number of free spins.  You may win free spins without any Blue Potion bottles or they may contain up to 5 bottles (allowing for 1 on each reel).

When the Game Logo appears on reel 3 and Dr Jekyll appears on adjacent tiles on reels 2 and 4 the Potions Bonus game is triggered.  You are taken to a second screen where Dr Jekyll waits tomix the Mr Hyde formula.

There are twelve bottles of chemicals on the lab workbench. Six of them hold ingredients for the Mr Hyde formula and six do not.

The object of the game is select the six ingredients for the formula. The fewer wrong guesses you make the more money you win. You are guaranteed to win at least a minimum prize.

When the Game Logo appears on reel 3 and Mr Hyde appears on adjacent tiles on reels 2 and 4 the Frenzy Bonus game is triggered. You are taken to a second screen where Mr Hyde stands ready to rundown a backstreet somewhere in London.

Two arrows appear above Mr Hyde’s head. You choose either left or right and he runs around that corner. You then see Mr Hyde come out onto a main street. What happens next is randomly determined.

Mr Hyde may raid a local store and you are awarded a prize. He may rob a little old lady and you are awarded a prize for that.

However, every now and then Mr Hyde encounters a Policeman. There is a 50% chance the Policeman is sleeping on the job. If so Mr Hyde sneaks past him and the bonus game continues. If thePoliceman is awake Mr Hyde runs away and the Frenzy Bonus ends.

When the game begins Dr Jekyll himself stands beside the playing reels for a brief time and then he walks behind your point of view, reappearing on the right side of the screen. While he standsbeside the workbench he may do something with his potions or he may look at the playing reels. Eventually he walks behind the shelves and playing reels and returns to his original position. DrJekyll occasionally makes a thoughtful “oh” or “hm”.  Or he may “Tally ho!”

The background music changes depending on what screen you are viewing. Even the help screens have their own music. Betsoft spared no expense when designing this game, which they released in July2014. There are enough special features and bonus opportunities to keep any anxious player waiting to see what happens next. The variance is a bit high, meaning you may not win any prizes forseveral spins in a row. It is quite easy to go deep into your available balance before you hit a Free Spins game or one of the bonus games.

Fortunately the Free Spins games have a higher probability of awarding a bonus or special feature so you should come out pretty well.

Be careful about when you change the betting options on the basic game. The progress bar resets for the new betting configuration. But don’t despair!  Your previous progress is saved so thatif you return to that configuration you can resume where you left off. This allows for some interesting strategies if you want to take big risks.