Introduction to Castle of Terror 2
Castle of Terror 2 is a casino slot from Big Time Gaming, returning to the royal dwelling haunted by horrors in a sequel to an intriguing release from 2022. The original Castle of Terror seems to have eased us into the ominous mood with its balanced design, split between an unsettling view of a lonely manor in autumn daylight in the base game and the spooky, dark interior during the bonus round. The sequel, however, won't give you time to prepare for the terrors roaming the cursed castle. Drawing inspiration from the Gothic novel Frankenstein, it dives into the ominous atmosphere right from the get-go, placing you in front of a towering monstrosity, where twisted experiments take place. It's definitely not a journey for the faint-hearted, as even the main features' names, like Brains, Alive, Shock, Monster, and Horror, can make you imagine the type of procedures performed here.
If that doesn't dampen your enthusiasm, step right in and search the dark corners of the sinister castle for wins up to 20,160x the bet. But, should you prefer a safer way to explore the establishment without risk, try out the demo available at the top of this page.
Theme, Gameplay & Payouts
Castle of Terror 2 is a video slot from Big Time Gaming with 5 reels, 4 rows, and 1,024 ways to win. Within the bet selection panel, you can pick your stake from a range of options, starting from a Min.bet of 0.1 up to a Max.bet of 24. The game comes with a default RTP of 96.48%, promising steady long-term returns in line with the industry average, although two lower variants of 94.39% and 86.39% are also available to operators, so make sure to verify your version before playing. Due to the game's high volatility, you should expect wins to be less frequent but more valuable on average. It's possible to win up to 20,160x the bet in any single game round.
Castle of Terror 2 doesn't hold itself back with the horror vibes and strikes you with an ominous view of a sinister castle right away. At the beginning, you'll stand before the massive, dark Gothic cathedral, surrounded by a gloomy graveyard studded with tombstones. The nature around seems to have given in to the sinister atmosphere, not bothering to bloom the twisted trees or grace the skies with sunlight. It's all utterly terrifying, heralding something despicable lurking around the corner. Once you step inside after triggering the bonus round, you'll find yourself inside the twisted laboratory, where deranged experiments beyond human comprehension take place. Since the game is optimized to be played on a wide range of devices, you can experience this spine-tingling atmosphere on any desktop, smartphone, or tablet.
The paytable introduces two sets of distinct regular symbols, which award payouts when at least 3 matching instances (or 2, in the case of the top symbol) align on neighboring reels, starting from the leftmost one. Among the low-paying ones, there are playing card icons in different colors, including 9, 10, J, Q, K, and A, awarding from 0.3x to 0.5x the bet for a complete way of 5. The high-paying group contains images of a pair of lungs, a screaming woman, an old man, and a brain. Matching 5 premium symbols on a winning way awards prizes ranging from 0.6x to 1.5x the bet. In addition to regular icons, there are Wilds represented by a crazy laughing scientist and Scatters in the form of a golden orb charged with electricity.
Special Features & Slot Mechanics
What is the max win in the slot Castle of Terror 2?
You can win up to 20,160x the bet.
What features are available in the slot Castle of Terror 2?
The features are Respin, Free Spins, and Feature Buy.
Respin
Landing a single Scatter in the base game awards a respin with one modifier active. The type of the feature depends on the reel on which the Scatter appeared.
Reel 1 = Brains, with extra Brain symbols added to all reels.
Reel 2 = Alive, awarding a win multiplier between x3 and x10 to all payouts within the current round.
Reel 3 = Shock, adding a multiplier between x2 and x5 to Wilds.
Reel 4 = Monster, transforming a random high-paying symbol into Wilds on reels 2 through 5.
Reel 5 = Horror, transforming a random reel between 2 and 5 into Wilds.
Free Spins
With 2 or 3 Scatters landing simultaneously in a regular base game spin or 1 or more appearing during a respin, you'll be granted 10 free spins. Within this round, you'll benefit from a progressive unlimited multiplier that starts at x1 and increases by 1 after every winning spin. Depending on the arrangement of Scatters on the triggering spin, 2 or 3 modifiers will be constantly active throughout the bonus.
Brains = extra Brain symbols added to all reels.
Alive = the initial multiplier starts from x3, x5, x8, or x10.
Shock = all Wilds receive a multiplier of between x2 and x5.
Monster = randomly, one of the high-paying symbols becomes Wild on reels 2 through 5.
Horror = a random reel between 2 and 5 becomes Wild.
Landing 2 Scatters simultaneously during free spins awards 4 extra spins, and 2 more for every Scatter on top of the first two.
Feature Buy
Instead of wandering around the graveyard surrounding the castle, you can step inside right away for a fixed fee that scales with your active bet.
100x = Free Spins with 2 active modifiers.
300x = Free Spins with 3 active modifiers.
Final Thoughts on Castle of Terror 2
Castle of Terror 2 is quite a leap in terms of the sinister atmosphere compared to its predecessor, making it a much more intense horror theme. Instead of shrouding the dangers in an image of a seemingly regular medieval mansion like the first part, it plunges you into a full-fledged, ominous mood right out of the gate. The Frankenstain angle works exceptionally well in this case, given that most of us instantly associate this name with unnatural abominations, deranged experiments, and overall suffering, be it mental or physical. So, before anything even starts to happen on the grid, you can already taste the palpable cocktail of fear and dread. This visceral aura is competently delivered through high-quality, gritty graphics, perfectly capturing Gothic obscurity, as well as a weirdly fitting retro electronic soundtrack. The only elements that clash with the entire setting are the classic arcade sounds of wins that BTG uses in most of its productions. Still, altogether, it's a top-of-the-line horror scene that strikes the right balance between fear and entertainment.
Just as the theme evolved into a more intense story, the gameplay brought more action to the reels. Transforming high-value icons into Wilds, which took center stage in the original, has been somewhat maintained in the form of one of the five boosters, plus four new ones are introduced to empower the line-up. Individually, those are relatively common features, but when you get to mix up to 3 of them together during free spins, that's where their combined potential unravels. Plus, there's the unlimited progressive multiplier that further elevates the possibilities. Surprisingly enough, despite the more elaborate setup, most of the stats took a hit, including the RTP, which dropped from 96.72% to 96.48% and the max win that got reduced from 61,720x to 20,160x the bet. But, if that 0.24% doesn't tip the scales for you and you're not in the habit of focusing on the max win exclusively, the sequel should provide a more diversified gameplay.
Castle of Terror 2 is soaked with a genuine horror atmosphere enveloped in premium artwork and charged with multi-feature gameplay.
