The Alter Ego Slot

The Alter Ego by Pragmatic Play gives rise to the age-old tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. By all means, it is neither the first nor last attempt to create a vision. But for what is so popular a story, so few casino software companies have taken on the task of "displaying" their version in the form of a slot machine. 

In this slot review of The Alter Ego, I will discuss not only the gaming essentials that highlight the performance and internal features but also the software and potential for success. Pragmatic Play is, of course, one of the most in-demand developers in the business, but not every game is perfect. Which side of them will we get to see, the Jekyll or the Hyde?

As with all free slot reviews at Casinos.com, you will have free access to the official demo. You can play the game on any Android or iOS device, and you don’t have to download any new software to do so.

The original story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde took place in Victorian London. The slot stays true to this and comes with a wonderful setting that frames the slot under a bridge archway, with the fog and wind moving litter across the cobbled streets on a moonlit night. The character of Dr. Jekyll stands to the right of the reels, swaying in the breeze with a cane in hand. 

The layout of the slot comes with a 3-4-4-4-3 pattern. This negates any paylines and provides users with a Ways to Win feature. The total of these comes in at 576 ways to win. The music to accompany the slot uses sweeping violins and eerie piano music. There is a sense of heightened tension in this game, possibly because anything could turn at any time.

If you’ve played one slot, you’ve played them all. The Alter Ego may look a little different from a conventional 3x5 slot, but it plays just as simply. When you load the demo game or the real money version, the cost of play is set at $2 a spin. This can be changed to suit your budget. Bets per spin can start as low as $0.20 and rise to $240 per spin. Once you have set this to suit your level of play, then press the spin button to begin the round of play and spin those reels. 

To form a win, you must land 3, 4, or 5 matching symbols across adjacent reels from left to right. The symbols featured that will help to make this happen include Dr.Jekyll, a gun, a pocket watch, a hat, and the lower-valued symbols of 9, 10, J, Q, K, and A. The Scatter (bonus) symbol for this game is a bottle of green potion. The Wild symbol is the gaming title – The Alter Ego. There is also a mystery symbol that will transform all landed mystery symbols into the same random symbol.

The Alter Ego slot game comes with a free spins bonus round that is triggered by landing 3 or more of the scatter symbols. In doing so, you will be gifted 3 free spins. More spins can be awarded during the bonus round by landing more scatter symbols, which, for this round of play, are red potion bottles. Also, the highest-paying symbol of Dr. Jekyll is now replaced with Mr.Hyde. The game setting also changes, with Mr. Hyde now next to the reels, and the background is inside Dr. Jekyll’s house, in some laboratory room. 

One of the cool features of the bonus round is that the reels will expand upwards and can feature an increased number of symbols (up to 10 max). These reels will remain expanded until the end of the bonus round. Once you have used up all your free bonus spins, the feature is over, and you return to the normal game and normal set of reels. 

Your experience of play can be dictated by your budget, and if you have the funds, you can skip the main game and play the bonus rounds directly via the Bonus Buy option. There is a huge cost difference, but you can select the free spins bonus with either 3, 4, or 5 Scatters. I confess I am not too sure of the difference because even after buying 4 or 5 Scatters, you still end up with only 3 free spins.

When I first looked at The Alter Ego’s design, I thought, why has Pragmatic Play done a Western in an old London town? It completely threw me. The cowboy-style hat probably doesn’t help, especially when you see the gun symbol on the reels. But the actual real idea, which is a take on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, is very subtle.

Now, if truth be told, my experience was rubbish. I played 20 spins at $10 per spin and didn’t hit a single win. I dropped by wager to $2 a spin, and after 50 spins on autoplay, I got… nothing. Okay, a few small wins here and there, but ultimately, it was a disaster. Sometimes, luck just isn’t on your side.

What possibly helped my failure was the fact that The Alter Ego comes with a high volatility setting. This makes the game harder to win and costlier to play. The RTP is varied depending on the gaming feature. In normal play, the RTP is 96.07%. Now, with the Bonus Buy, this drops to 96.05% when playing free spins with 3 Scatter symbols. It reduces further to 96.01% with 4 or 5 scatters.

The maximum amount that can potentially be won is $2,400,000. However, you will need to spin reels at $240 a go. This is because the maximum return is always 10,000 times the amount you wager. 

The Alter Ego slot is okay. It’s nice to see another rare adaption, but I feel that a popular story deserves more grandeur. With just free spins as a bonus with expanding reels, it feels a bit of a letdown. A bit all too simple. This is far from being in Pragmatic Play’s top 10.

If I were to recommend something alternative to this, made by Pragmatic Play, I would have to go with Blade & Fangs, Viking Forge, and any game within the Moon Princess series.