How To Win On Grim the Splitter Dream Drop Slot - Features & Mechanics

It's mighty cool when producers think of alternative ways of presenting symbols on the reels than just endless strips on the rolls. We also get bombarded with endless waves of quirky creatures, stone blocks, and wooden planks, but we rarely get to play a slot based on cards that are much closer to the casino environment. Grim the Splitter lets us take place by an old, dusty table and watch the cards form a familiar 5x3 grid where wins consist of at least 3 matching symbols on any of the 25 pay lines. The pay table is extensive and can reach combinations as long as 20-of-a-kind, which is typically unheard of in such a setup, but here it's all possible thanks to the slot's leading mechanism.

Splitter Feature & Wild Symbol

If you take any regular playing deck and search for the joker, you know what kind of image to expect. It's an identical feeling here, and you'll instantly recognize the most prominent symbol, as it shows in the form of a golden card with the Grim's face. His role is clear, even by looking at the name. Whenever the Wild lands, it will split all symbols on that reel, turning them into doubles. Aside from the feature allowing you to form combinations up to 10-of-a-kind in the base game, it provides a satisfying feeling when it improves your potential win by one level, especially when it's a top-paying symbol where a difference between a set of 4 and 5, for example, equals 15 times the bet (10x vs 25x).

Grim the Splitter Free Spins

The free spins activate traditionally by scoring at least 3 Bonus symbols anywhere in view, and any additional one will grant an extra initial spin. The anticipation effect alone deserves a separate mention as the screen suddenly gets illuminated by flashes of lightning, and the remaining cards reveal one by one in the hope of showing the golden B. If you're lucky enough to see it, you'll be transferred to another, more gruesome (but also more lucrative) table and start a game of 7 free spins. The Splitter feature grows in strength and becomes persistent, meaning that every scored Wild will add to the 3-step progression tracked above each reel. Additionally, every time any Wild lands, the feature will trigger and split cards on all reels according to how many fields have been activated:

• 0 steps active = no split
• 1 step active = split into 2
• 2 steps active = split into 3
• 3 steps active = split into 4

Also, you don't need to worry about starting with an empty progression throughout because the Bonus symbols that triggered the free spins contribute to the initial state of the reels. If that's not enough, every golden B may also get divided, awarding extra spins equal to the number of splits.

Dream Drop Progressive Jackpot

As another addition to the company's increasingly popular Dream Drop progressive jackpot network, the slot allows you to grab a life-changing prize. The jackpot spin triggers randomly with a similar effect to when the free spins anticipation kicks in. If you land a golden card carrying the Dream Drop logo on every reel, you'll enter a pick & click game where your reward will be the first jackpot revealed 3 times.

Grim the Splitter On Mobile

It's a much more immersive and personal experience to try the slot on mobile, especially in the portrait view, where you get to see your opponent in his full repulsive glory instead of just the hands. Even though a 5x3 setup faces apparent challenges in the vertical orientation, the entire composition doesn't focus on the fact that it's still a slot, and in a good sense, of course. The landscape mode is a copy of the desktop view, so no changes or surprises there. The gameplay on mobile, be it a smartphone or a tablet, is fluent and free of stutters, thanks to the latest HTML5 technology.

Final Thoughts

We've seen many slots over the years that tap into the horror genre one way or the other, be it a humorous approach featuring quirky monsters, or a deadly serious and realistic one, bordering on disgust. Relax Gaming took the middle road with Grim the Splitter, and it serves the slot amazingly well. The cartoon design of the character and single items in view (like the scattered coins) puts a bit of a softer touch on the entire setting. However, looking at the high-paying symbols showing frenzied animals with insanity glowing from their yellowish eyes doesn't really calm one's nerves. Additionally, the audio side successfully amps the atmosphere of terror with the constant howling, erratic piano notes, and jumpy effects on wins and special symbols appearance. The perspective of sitting face-to-face with the possessed gambler is also a unique take on including us as players in the theme as strongly as possible. Seeing his bony fingers constantly tapping the edge of the table puts proper pressure on clicking that spin button.

Mechanically, though relatively simple, the Splitter feature feels quite robust. We've encountered some honestly unexpected wins when we got 1 or 2 Wilds somewhere on the front reels in connection with a high-paying symbol. Perhaps they weren't the most significant of hits, but even scoring 30-40x from a spin that you initially thought was barely a hit is a nice feeling. Many games based on a single feature tend to get boring quickly, but this one, thanks to its unpredictability, makes you want to keep going. The bonus round is fairly clear from the get-go, although it might take at least one playthrough to understand what the green boxes above the reels refer to. Once that's explained, the potential feels massive, with parts of the pay table showing wins in hundreds times the bet. The extra bonus symbols also land relatively often, so you can usually count on more spins than you start with. The max win in the game is capped at 10,000x, and it's a bit of a shame because the entire model with sequences reaching 20-of-a-kind has undoubtedly way more potential. Still, it's nothing to sneeze at, so bring the luckiest of your charms and look the undead gambler in the eye to see if the future holds fortune or your demise.