The Wolf's Bane: a werewolf hunt under the full moon

A gothic tale on five reels

The Wolf's Bane borrows from old Hammer horror films: a foggy forest, a church spire in the distance and a village that knows something is wrong. The symbols are characters from the story, from a nervous villager to the hunter, with the werewolf as the one everyone fears. Even the low symbols, the card ranks, are carved in a gothic style. NetEnt put real care into the atmosphere, and it is a game best played with the sound on.

How the game works

Wins come from paylines across five reels, with the characters paying more than the card ranks. The wild completes lines, and the full moon is the symbol that signals the feature. When the moon appears in enough numbers, the free spins begin, and that is when the transformation theme comes into play: the round is built to feel different from the base game, with the werewolf taking a bigger role.

The details, including the number of spins and how the werewolf behaves in the bonus, are in the paytable. As always with themed NetEnt slots, reading it once makes the animations easier to follow.

A Wolf's Bane demo session

You can play The Wolf's Bane free with 1,000 virtual credits, no download and no sign-up. A sensible plan:

• Play 200 spins at a stake equivalent to £0.20.
• Keep a note of how often the moon shows up and how many you needed for the bonus.
• When the free spins arrive, watch what the werewolf does on the reels and how often it helped a win.

The game moves in a steady rhythm with occasional bursts, so a single short session rarely shows its best side.

Who will like it

If you enjoy themed slots with strong art direction, and Halloween slots in particular, The Wolf's Bane is one of the better-looking examples. The same game runs for real money at the casinos below.