Life and Death

Life and Death Game Overview

Life and Death is one of the latest offerings by Hacksaw Gaming, with exciting multiplier wilds and bonus spin features. It has a captivating theme that effectively draws the player in. 

Pros

• Entertaining theme
• Multiplier wild tiers with high boosts
• Respectable max win

Cons

• Multipliers could have been used innovatively

Life and Death Video Review

Check out our video review of the Life and Death slot machine!

Life and Death Review

Get ready to enter a world at the crossroads of life and death. If the look of the slot makes you curious, read on to discover what it has in store for you. I tested its features and have some interesting insights on the experience you may encounter.

Theme

The slot’s theme revolves around the underworld, terror, and Death. It has a black-and-white life-and-death theme. The way Hacksaw Gaming has weaved it throughout the game, with symbol names, their functions, and the ominous atmosphere, is terrific. The slot has a dark and dreary feeling and evokes a persistent feeling of terror. This dark and philosophical aesthetic creates an atmosphere that feels out of the world.

Graphics, Sounds and Animations

The graphics in Life and Death combine to create an eerie and mysterious ambiance. One thing that I would have loved would be moving symbols, especially wild multipliers. Still, the detailed visuals are so in line with Death and Darkness that they create a captivating atmosphere.

The soundtrack is like a gateway to an eerie world filled with shadows and demons. It has a brooding, low-end rumble punctuated by the sound of a bell ringing in the distance. The arrival of any of the four horsemen intensifies the music slightly, after which it falls back into that same haunting rumble.

The slot does not have much animation. It has the reels moving fluidly and the symbols arriving at specific places. The slight bobbing movement of the two ghosts on either side of the grid is impressive. Hacksaw Gaming could have experimented with some moving ghostly figures in the background. I think it would have added to the overall effect.

RTP, Payout and Volatility

RTP: The slot’s RTP is 96.32%. This is industry standard, although it can be slightly above this.

Payout: This payout is good enough and similar to Hacksaw Gaming’s Slayers Inc slot.

Volatility: This game is a high-volatility slot. It means that you will need to wait for a significant period before expecting a win.

Gameplay

Life and Death is one of those free to play games with six reels and payline wins. It has a decent bet range, so you can set the amount you prefer and start spinning. A winning combination is a minimum of three matching icons aligning on an active payline on an adjacent reel beginning with the leftmost one.

The gothic-style letters have low value, while all other symbols have a high worth. The three-head symbol pays the highest.

Features

The features of Life and Death are not totally out of the box. If you’re used to playing slots in top new casino sites, the game’s features won’t feel very ingenious. Hacksaw Gaming has mixed features that have been a part of its games for a long time. These include expanding wilds, and multiplier wilds that expand. Other providers have also used these mechanics, like NoLimit City in the Tombstone RIP slot and Legion X. However, the way they are incorporated into a devious atmosphere can fill anyone with anticipation.

Wild Multipliers

There are four wild multiplier symbols in the game. They substitute for all symbols on the paytable. If this symbol is a part of a win, the value of the win is multiplied by the value shown. These symbols can show up on reels two to five. Every such reel is connected to a Wild Multiplier represented by the Four Horsemen. These horsemen have different colors and value ranges, as mentioned below.

Horseman	Reel to which it is linked	Multipliers
Blue Pestilence	2	x2, x3, or x4
Red War	3	x5, x6, x7, x8, or x9
Yellow Famine	4	x10, x15, x20, or x25
Green Death	5	x30, x40, x50, x75, x100, or x200

Expanding Wild Reels

The expansion of wild multipliers happens if the expanded wild reel is a part of a win. It should also land on a connected reel. An expanded wild reel maintains the multiplier value from the original wild multiplier. It covers the whole reel and is a substitute for pay symbols. Wild reel multipliers combine their values for use when more than one is part of a single win. A wild multiplier can land on reels two to five.

Devastation Free Spins Bonus

Here’s where you’ll find the free spins. Three FS scatter symbols in view on a base game spin bring the Devastation Bonus Round and give ten free spins. This round kicks up your chances of getting multiplier wilds. Two FS scatters give +2 free spins, while 3 FS scatters give +4 extra free spins.

Reckoning Free Spins Bonus

This bonus is like the one above. It is triggered when four FS scatters in the base game show up and give you ten free spins. This feature triggers persistent activated Death Reels. It happens when you land a multiplier on its connected reel. The wild multiplier connected to that Death Reel will take the form of a wild reel. It doesn’t matter which of the four central reels it shows on.

If you land two FS symbols, you’ll get two more spins. Three FS symbols will get you four more spins.

Bonus Buy

Activating the bonus buy at varying times your bet to trigger the bonus game or wild multipliers.

Bonus Buy feature	Cost	What it does
BonusHunt FeatureSpins	3x the bet	Makes each spin 5 times more likely to prompt a bonus game.
Four Horsemen FeatureSpins	60x the bet	3 wild multipliers
Devastation bonus	100x the bet	10 free spins
Reckoning	200x the bet	Triggers persistent activated Death Reels