Wicked Tales: Dark Red from Triple Edge Studios: Slot Review - a wickedly good game!

Step inside an enchanted forest to experience a dark and twisted version of the classic fairytale Little Red Riding Hood in this new release from Triple Edge Studios in collaboration with Microgaming. Wicked Tales: Dark Red arrives just in time for Halloween and is a sinister reimagining of the famous fairytale story as Little Red Riding Hood in this game is all grown up now and goes by the name of Dark Red. She is also quite adept at fighting werewolves this time around as she carries a sharp axe in her hand to swiftly chop them down. Let’s find out what fortune awaits us as we join Dark Red on a perilous quest through the forests of Ravenmire to make it back to Grandma’s house safely.

Wicked Tales: Dark Red is a 5 reel slot with 25 paylines that comes with Free Spins, a Pick-Me Bonus Game, and Wandering Reels.

Special Features

The first thing you will notice when you load up this game is that it features a rather unusual reel structure – this is because it incorporates the Wandering Reels feature. Wandering Reels are made up of 3 reels that spin together and can contain Jumbo symbols up to a massive 3x3 in size to greatly increase your chances of landing a big win on the reels.

The Wild symbol is illustrated by an image of the ‘Dark Red’ game logo. This symbol replaces all other symbols bar the Scatter to help create winning combinations on the reels and is also one of the highest paying symbols in the game. Along with the Hooded Lady symbol, if you land 5 of these symbols on an active payline then you will be howling with delight with a payout worth a massive 80X your total bet!

The Scatter symbol is represented by an image of a full moon and if you manage to land 3 of these symbols anywhere on the reels then you will trigger the Wolf’s Wheel Bonus Game. In this fun feature, you get to spin a wheel to reveal a cash prize (from 2X up to 20X your bet) as well as trigger a special bonus feature. You will get to keep on spinning here until you activate one of the following bonus features:

• Forest of Fortunes Pick Bonus – land on the Treasure Chest symbol to trigger this feature. Here, you get to pick from bags to reveal Axes, Wolves, or Cash Prizes. Axes give you an extra life, each Cash Pick increases the win multiplier by 1X which can go all the way up to 10X, and if you pick the Wolf symbol then the bonus round will end.
• Free Spins – land high-paying symbols to trigger this feature and you will be awarded 9 Free Spins. All high-paying symbols are replaced by the symbol that activates the feature which means that all winnings during Free Spins will contain a high-paying symbol.

Theme, Graphics and Sound

The graphics are visually stunning and superbly convey a dark setting and tone for this sinister new take on a much-loved fairytale story. The game takes place just outside the Ravenmire forest with a house to the right of the reels which presumably is where good old Grandma or the man with the torch is staying. Symbols are intricately detailed and consist of Dark Red, a Full Moon, a Wolf, a Candle, a Bag of Coins, a Man, as well as the standard A – J icons. The animations are crisp as symbols speed up and down the reels and enlarge and flash brightly when part of a winning combination. The Wandering Reels certainly adds to the exciting gameplay by displaying massive 3x3 symbols from time to time as it moves its way through the reels.

The music is atmospheric with an almost haunting quality. It ties in really well with the dark fairytale theme of the game.

Win lines, Payouts and Jackpots

The game features 25 paylines, a fairly good RTP of 96.10%, and a fabulous maximum payout worth 5,000X your initial wager.

Below is a summary taken from the PayOut Table from the game. The amount won for each combination depends on the value of the bet when you spin the reels.

Bet Range: 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.00, 1.25, 1.50, 1.75, 2.00, 2.50, 3.00, 3.50, 3.75, 4.00, 5.00, 6.25, 7.50, 8.75, 10.00, 12.50, 18.75..200.00

Based on a bet of 0.25:

• Dark Red Wild Symbol: 0.10 for 3X, 1.00 for 4X, 5.00 for 5X
• Hooded Lady Symbol: 0.10 for 3X, 1.00 for 4X, 5.00 for 5X
• Man with Torch Symbol: 0.09 for 3X, 0.90 for 4X, 2.00 for 5X
• Wolf Symbol: 0.08 for 3X, 0.80 for 4X, 1.50 for 5X
• Gold Pendant Symbol: 0.07 for 3X, 0.70 for 4X, 1.20 for 5X
• Gold Coins Symbol: 0.04 for 3X, 0.40 for 4X, 0.80 for 5X
• Red Candle Symbol: 0.04 for 3X, 0.35 for 3X, 0.70 for 5X
• A Symbol: 0.03 for 3X, 0.30 for 4X, 0.60 for 5X
• K Symbol: 0.03 for 3X, 0.25 for 4X, 0.50 for 5X
• Q Symbol: 0.02 for 3X, 0.20 for 4X, 0.40 for 5X
• J Symbol: 0.02 for 3X, 0.15 for 4X, 0.30 for 5X

Our Verdict on Wicked Tales: Dark Red

Wicked Tales: Dark Red is created by Triple Edge Studios and is a fresh and dark take on a classic fairytale. It features amazing graphics, action-packed gameplay, an eerie soundtrack, as well as a fantastic range of bonus features to keep you hunting wolves in Ravenmire for a long time to come! The Wandering Reels is an excellent feature of this slot and certainly increases the excitement levels as you spin the reels. The most rewarding feature of the game is the Free Spins feature as you can create wins containing only high-paying symbols to really boost your chances of landing a hefty payout. Variance-wise, I found this slot to be Medium so it won’t take too big a bite out of your bankroll. With a top prize worth 5,000X your wager to be won on each spin then what’s stopping you from joining Dark Red on her quest right now? For slots with a similar fairytale theme, check out Fairytale Legends: Mirror Mirror and Little Red.

Uncover the darker side of a classic fairytale to win really big when you play Wicked Tales: Dark Red!