Slot Review: Skulls Up by Quickspin

This week Quickspin is launching its first original game of the year - "Skulls UP!"

Fresh off the back of their last game, Goldilocks gets cloned and turns bi-polar. It's nice to see something new that doesn't seem to have been cloned from any other game. 

Graphically the game is what you can expect for a QS release, fun, quirky, colourful and bold. Pirates, parrots, primates and princesses adorn the reels, and guide you to some average sized wins. This provider isn't well known for its huge base hits, outside of Eastern Emeralds, and this slot is no different. I would say medium to low volatility personally, but I thought the same about my ex-girlfriend and I ended up with vodka thrown in my eyes so I could be wrong.

The game is a simple 3x5 format, with 243 all-ways pay, and extended reel possibilities on the middle 3 reels. Landing a Golden Skull will offer 2 respins and the skull rises up like a Netflix documentary after a real life crisis, and sticks at the top of your screen, extending the reels and ways. Keep landing skulls and all 3 reels can extend to 6 high. I'm sure there is a joke about extending something to 6, but I just cant think of it. According to Quickspin "Skulls smash up to 1,944 ways to win". I wish I smashed in that many ways.

Annoying to few, loved by some, and tolerated by pretty much everyone, this game only has bonus symbols on reels 2,3 & 4, so expect some famous Quickspin "walking past waving" bonus teases. It's like watching your dreams be crushed in front of your eyes when the last bonus symbols drops out of view by one position. This game loves a tease, on my testing dropping 2 chests every 13 spins. The bonus lands (1 in 130 odds, not bad) and 6 spins are awarded. More Golden skulls are in the bonus, and the extended reels stick for the duration of the bonus. 2 Extra spins are awarded for reaching a max reel height. Not a bad bonus, but 

Legal stuff - Game runs at 96.29%. Bets range from 10c to 100 Euros. Max win seems to be 3,650x stake. 

Score - Its hard to rate Quickspin games. They do exactly what they are designed to. Nothing dramatic or life changing wins, but can be fun and always unique bonus round for their new slots. The downside is the low average payout of their bonuses, but they mask that with decent playability and a good user experience. 7/10. Would play again but not regularly... Much like what I say about the gym.