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New Slot Announcement Afterlife Inferno by Leander

I realised I'd got a decent number of free spins bonuses from Videoslots over the last few days, played them all through and ended up with just shy of £20 of real money funds (not a bad result), which I lobbed at Afterlife Inferno. I then got my Casino Race reward of £11, which I also chucked in Afterlife Inferno's direction. (All played at 40p spins.)

Things didn't improve much, I've added another 400 spins to my real money total, but my RTP has actually gone down slightly.

Just can't get past that 143x win blockade! The 400 spins today didn't require any fresh deposits on my part (the Videoslots free spins rewards pay straight into your real money balance with no WR, as do the Casino Race rewards), but I'm not minded to deposit again - I'll just stick a film on, and perhaps return again in the near future.... :D

I do appreciate I'm just running badly on this slot at the moment, it'd only take a 1000x stake win at a 40p spin and I'd be right back in the game, but after so many miserable bonus rounds it's easy to get into the mindset that it's just never going to happen.

The one trick I think has been missed here is a lower volatility bonus round, maybe put the multiplier range in Inferno to 2x-10x, add five extra spins on, something like that? Make it a nice solid choice for 50x-ish a good chunk of the time, but still with the potential to pay more. As it stands I'm starting to feel like every bonus round needs that ONE MEGA SPIN to be respectable, and when you watch it not happen enough times over, motivation to carry on can start to dip.

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after about 2 dozens features i can agree with free spins not being... tense enough anymore. I know its a small sample but i ended up quickspining my last few features after just 2 spins because its kinda obvious if feature is going to pay anything :oops:

might be just my mind playing games with me though :p but so far not a single feature that started badly has paid anything to me. Its a HV monster and im well aware of that but after just 20ish features i was kinda ... meh when another feature triggered. You should be jumping of joy when that happens, so it does feel a bit odd but that could be because i havent had a monster feature yet.

Mind you most of my life ive been playing slots like Bdba, DoA, Reel steal and such so getting low paying features is nothing new to me, but even when i get DoA fs, which pays like 10x on a good day, it gets my hopes up. here not so much :/

today after i hit 0,4x feature win i played it for another 50 spins and biggest win was 2x. So i left it and played tiki. my 2nd time ever. In my 2 plays i had 4 sets of free spins. Its also HV slot. but out of those 4 features my lowest paying one was 150x. It just shows how 2 slots while both being high variance can be completely different kind of beasts.

I blame it on hell freezes feature because im sure a decent chunk of RTP goes there, and slots like tiki dont have random features outside of FS, so their free spins tend to be better. Dont get me wrong i love that feature, but if you dont hit it, and free spins dont pay, you end up with 50% rtp. Much like Blueprint or Redtiger slots that have 5-10 base game features each, if you dont hit those you end up with 18% rtp.

only now i realized how hard it must be to make a slot that will appeal to everyone. I remember first time i played blueprint game, i was like... daaam why netent and others dont have random features in their games. Now after playing redtiger slots i hate random features. Its never that simple is it :)
 
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I will reserve judgement until I've played it...
I'll be honest, I'm not a big fan of the graphics... the reels symbols are not the best in my opinion, but as we all know, slots are far more about the maths than they are the graphics....

I also found the reel spins to be very slow, and there is a minor fault where you hear the reels stop behind the expanding wilds...

Which testing house did Simmo use for this? GLI?
Very good review Dunover :thumbsup:I didn't realise that I was involved in an innovation when I took part in the process :)

I agree in part with Trancemonkey's conclusion but only in as much that they could be from a game produced 5 years or so ago. That is not such a bad thing for me because it gives the feel of a slot that does not rely on gimmicks without potential to sell a game- DOA v any number of childish themed slots with little chance of reward.

I intend to hammer this slot this evening for the first time in real play once I manage to settle down with a nice big glass of Vodka :p
 
@theapple @ChopleyIOM

Your comments are really interesting. One of the biggest issues with slot design is the fact that you are very aware that (the inevitable) bad runs result in negative perceptions. Even more so with HV games. That was the hardest part of the design process for me: trying to get people experiencing a bad run to see enough potential in the game to keep them interested beyond the losing session.

Dont get me wrong i love that feature, but if you dont hit it, and free spins dont pay, you end up with 50% rtp.

game developers won't ever put all the game maths in the public domain but in this case but I guess what I can say is, I think you'd be surprised.
 
@theapple @ChopleyIOM

Your comments are really interesting. One of the biggest issues with slot design is the fact that you are very aware that (the inevitable) bad runs result in negative perceptions. Even more so with HV games. That was the hardest part of the design process for me: trying to get people experiencing a bad run to see enough potential in the game to keep them interested beyond the losing session.



game developers won't ever put all the game maths in the public domain but in this case but I guess what I can say is, I think you'd be surprised.

yeah i was exaggerating a bit there but if i was some random player and today was my first play on this slot, it would be hard to convince me to come back again. Thats the thing with HV slots and bad runs :) Ive seen screenies here and on my first play it got me from 20 to 90 in a few 20-40c spins so i know whats this beast about. But for someone whos not part of CM its going to be just another slot.

Im sure how with time it could get some sort of cult following simply because of enormous potential it has on every single spin, and not just free spins (something like DoA, with 5 scatters in base game + wl hunt), so your slot will be fine but until that happens i can see quite a few people playing it once and running away screaming :=)

Base game can, and most of the time is going to be brutal because 5OAK are so rare (i still had only one so far) and without decent hell freeze feature some people could end in tears :P 1x features not being so rare just adds to its variance but as i said thats the price you have to pay if you want your game to be able to pay 10000x wins, so im ok with it.
 
It may be a special game because some of us where given the privilege to access and maybe a few gain from it but my honest truth is very different to the homage paid to this slot.
I expressed my thoughts in the most positive way I could during the process then I also did so in this thread.
It is akin to playing Dead or Alive on 20p spins for two hours on an egg timer when you have £2000.00 to blow without worrying about it.
 
It may be a special game because some of us where given the privilege to access and maybe a few gain from it but my honest truth is very different to the homage paid to this slot.
I expressed my thoughts in the most positive way I could during the process.
It is akin to playing Dead or Alive on 20p spins for two hours on an egg times when you have £2000.00 to blow without worrying about it.
Don't hold back Colin :eek2::eek:
 
You are the bloke I need with me at the pub :)
No, because I'd be the one sat in the corner talking to myself, without so much as even my partner to use as a human shield.

We could wave to each other though?
 
I can edit your posts. Bet you feel helpless now :D
When have you ever helped me in here other than provided me with a reason to reply?
This forum is maybe to introverted?
I may resign from here and go see what pornhub casino has in store for me with their very interactive forum
 
When have you ever helped me in here other than provided me with a reason to reply?
This forum is maybe to introverted?
I may resign from here and go see what pornhub casino has in store for me with their very interactive forum
You'll find it very stimulating
 
Why can I not get a feature on this slot? So many two symbol teases and no Hell Freezes Over bonus in two long sessions. Leander needs to fix this issue. If I wanted to play a slot that takes forever to bonus, I’d play Bonanza.

Almost every slot was tight today at VS. It’s sad that I have to get the megahit/lucky bloke of the day win to get a cashout. Building it slowly rarely happens now.
 
Been there, done that!

In fact, one of my final testing sessions on Inferno was so bad, it made me think "Oh no! What have I done?!" :D
Then that player won 8000+ x stake at 5 euro, and Simmo thought "Oh no! What have I done?!" :)

Look, the game performs exactly as I'd expect with the mechanic and math model incorporated and the range of wins possible. Chopley's example of 85% or whatever over several thousand spins is exactly the behaviour one expects from games of this type. Take Bonanza recently, in excess of 9,000 spins, 14 features, a 5-scatter trigger paying 164x bet and the other 13 paying 97x and the remaining 12 no greater than 58x, with the worst at 5.4x. An RTP of around 76% on my play in this run and features averaging well below the mean long term results of around 100x. One single 1-2000x one and it all seems sunny in the garden again. You want those adrenaline rushes of giant wins then you pay the price beforehand usually, if not definitely afterwards.

Chopley makes good examples and shows all aspects, and he 'recovered' by his own admission albeit in demo. He similarly bemoaned Bonanza when he first played it and then saw a 800x arrive in the feature and all his stats swayed the other way, this time positively. It is what it is folks....:thumbsup:
 
@theapple @ChopleyIOM

Your comments are really interesting. One of the biggest issues with slot design is the fact that you are very aware that (the inevitable) bad runs result in negative perceptions. Even more so with HV games. That was the hardest part of the design process for me: trying to get people experiencing a bad run to see enough potential in the game to keep them interested beyond the losing session.



game developers won't ever put all the game maths in the public domain but in this case but I guess what I can say is, I think you'd be surprised.

And to get around the "bad run" issue, you obviously rigged it, right :p

What's it like to join the dark side Simmo - now you know all our dirty secrets..... haha
 
Hey - game looks great :). What's the top payout possibility?

Good question. In fact, there isn't one because the "Paradise" and "Purgatory" features could (very theoretically!!) award infinite spins.

And to get around the "bad run" issue, you obviously rigged it, right :p

What other way would there be? :D

What's it like to join the dark side Simmo - now you know all our dirty secrets..... haha

Fascinating in a word. I guess there aren't many secrets - it's all pretty much common sense and logic but there is definitely an art to making a game match the initial concept (in terms of game play). Until you play a game *a lot* - or have developed a lot of them I guess - you just can't tell if you've got the balance as you'd envisaged. I had several testing sessions throughout the process where I knew something in the maths wasn't right but often, knowing how to fix it without impacting another element wasn't easy.

I've always thought that very, very few HV games are any good at keeping you entertained when things aren't going your way and going through this process, it's easy to see why developers struggle to do that. I don't think it's so much about rocket science as it is about compromise, nonetheless, it is very interesting.
 
Yes, the hit frequency feels about right to me, although I think they should have binned off the win animations for all win/wins that add up to less than 1x stake, seeing a fiery inferno animation for an 8p 'win' from a 40p spin time and time again starts to feel a bit old after a while.
 
I'm really surprised at a 1 in 2.65 hit frequency... it's just not necessary to have wins that frequent on any game, let alone a HV one...
It's not a 1/2.65 hit frequency if you look, but 2.65/10 which is a gnat's knacker under 1/4 spins....:p
 
It's not a 1/2.65 hit frequency if you look, but 2.65/10 which is a gnat's knacker under 1/4 spins....:p

Apologies - i didn't see the "/10"... makes more sense now :)

God knows why they didn't just use either 26.5% or 1 in 3.77 - both of which make more sense than this!
 
Apologies - i didn't see the "/10"... makes more sense now :)

God knows why they didn't just use either 26.5% or 1 in 3.77 - both of which make more sense than this!

Oh yeah? Why don't YOU design a slot game then, hotshot! :mad:



Hold on
 
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Cos it's the my My RTP screen that's showing it, not the game :p

I'm more bothered about the fact Colin only managed 46 spins in 1 1/2 hrs :eek:
I know, I'm only joshing. I haven't played it as much as some others here, only had the solitary Paradise feature. And one Wild Desire :p

If you know of any 'special combinations' to hurry these along, PM me :laugh::eek:
 
Cos it's the my My RTP screen that's showing it, not the game :p

I'm more bothered about the fact Colin only managed 46 spins in 1 1/2 hrs :eek:

Yeah considering I played the first 50 on autoplay, it does seem a tad wrong lol.

Had 4 bonuses today, 3 under 10x stake, best was 28x I think, one was 1.4 think this will be one of those games you play and NEVER win on for me!
 
I know, I'm only joshing. I haven't played it as much as some others here, only had the solitary Paradise feature. And one Wild Desire :p

If you know of any 'special combinations' to hurry these along, PM me :laugh::eek:

Please, you'll upset him with that terminology - it's 'HELL FREEZES OVER' GODDAMIT!!!
 
Look, the game performs exactly as I'd expect with the mechanic and math model incorporated and the range of wins possible. Chopley's example of 85% or whatever over several thousand spins is exactly the behaviour one expects from games of this type. Take Bonanza recently, in excess of 9,000 spins, 14 features, a 5-scatter trigger paying 164x bet and the other 13 paying 97x and the remaining 12 no greater than 58x, with the worst at 5.4x. An RTP of around 76% on my play in this run and features averaging well below the mean long term results of around 100x. One single 1-2000x one and it all seems sunny in the garden again. You want those adrenaline rushes of giant wins then you pay the price beforehand usually, if not definitely afterwards.

Nothing you've said there is inaccurate dunover, but I think it's very important to be mindful of how far a player's patience can be stretched when it comes to camping out a decent hit.

I appreciate there's only so much RTP to go around, and from the excellent article Simmo wrote about the slot (which I read in its entirety) and his very informative posts to this thread, it's clear that an awful lot of thought went into trying to reconcile producing a HV slot with keeping the player engaged.

However, do we really need wins of 5000x and more on the paytable? Cap the thing at 2500x stake, that's a monster hit, and frees up a nice chunk of RTP for distribution elsewhere on the game. Once you get to 2500-3000x stake or more you're sort of into 'Five Reel Wild Desire' territory, yes we all know it's there on the paytable as something we might hit, and the fact it's there as a one-off is enough.

I think Afterlife Inferno would benefit from having its pay range 'squished' a bit at the high-end, free up some space for hits in the 250-500x stake range, a single 5000x stake win could pay for ten 500x stake wins. I'm at the point now where I need 1000x stake to get back to level pegging, and as I know how rare those hits are, I'm really disinclined to deposit again and chase it, even though I know I'm 12% off expected RTP from nearly 6500 spins and random numbers should eventually start to kick back in my favour.

(It also really needs a lower variance bonus round option, Inferno could have been tweaked to serve this purpose IMO, and have been the relatively safe 25-50x bonus round on average, with the ability to hit those 250-500x rounds that can really help kick a balance back up.)

I know theoretical RTP is worked out over millions of spins, but consideration has to be given to how much lumpiness a single player is prepared to tolerate on his own spin sample size, which will always be small in comparison.
 
Yes, the hit frequency feels about right to me, although I think they should have binned off the win animations for all win/wins that add up to less than 1x stake, seeing a fiery inferno animation for an 8p 'win' from a 40p spin time and time again starts to feel a bit old after a while.

I don't know if it's fixable with an update but I seriously hope so. Win animations should start at 10x or more on all slots.
 
Nothing you've said there is inaccurate dunover, but I think it's very important to be mindful of how far a player's patience can be stretched when it comes to camping out a decent hit.

I appreciate there's only so much RTP to go around, and from the excellent article Simmo wrote about the slot (which I read in its entirety) and his very informative posts to this thread, it's clear that an awful lot of thought went into trying to reconcile producing a HV slot with keeping the player engaged.

However, do we really need wins of 5000x and more on the paytable? Cap the thing at 2500x stake, that's a monster hit, and frees up a nice chunk of RTP for distribution elsewhere on the game. Once you get to 2500-3000x stake or more you're sort of into 'Five Reel Wild Desire' territory, yes we all know it's there on the paytable as something we might hit, and the fact it's there as a one-off is enough.

I think Afterlife Inferno would benefit from having its pay range 'squished' a bit at the high-end, free up some space for hits in the 250-500x stake range, a single 5000x stake win could pay for ten 500x stake wins. I'm at the point now where I need 1000x stake to get back to level pegging, and as I know how rare those hits are, I'm really disinclined to deposit again and chase it, even though I know I'm 12% off expected RTP from nearly 6500 spins and random numbers should eventually start to kick back in my favour.

(It also really needs a lower variance bonus round option, Inferno could have been tweaked to serve this purpose IMO, and have been the relatively safe 25-50x bonus round on average, with the ability to hit those 250-500x rounds that can really help kick a balance back up.)

I know theoretical RTP is worked out over millions of spins, but consideration has to be given to how much lumpiness a single player is prepared to tolerate on his own spin sample size, which will always be small in comparison.

"I think Afterlife Inferno would benefit from having its pay range 'squished' a bit at the high-end, free up some space for hits in the 250-500x stake range, a single 5000x stake win could pay for ten 500x stake wins. I'm at the point now where I need 1000x stake to get back to level pegging, and as I know how rare those hits are, I'm really disinclined to deposit again and chase it, even though I know I'm 12% off expected RTP from nearly 6500 spins and random numbers should eventually start to kick back in my favour."

Then that defeats the purpose of the slot; high variance with the belief huge prizes can be won, and it's that belief that keeps players like myself who like HV playing. I wouldn't play IR if it weren't for the fact I could possibly hit that 10k x bet WD feature, or a few k x bet for a 4-reeler with the right symbols because I sure as hell won't hit that amount in the free games! I wouldn't play Bonanza if it wasn't for the belief I could have that special drop-in on a 14x multiplier paying thousands x. Your example in italics means I may as well play St*rb*rst or Twin Spin all night (perhaps St*rb*rst is a little unfair here as that won't pay 500x while the sun still shines).

Your example simply describes a different math model and mechanic altogether, one which the game wasn't intended to be. It's a complex task for any developer or designer to cut the RTP pie to everyone's liking so they accept beforehand there'll be fans (like myself) and naysayers in equal measure. If you want to see a developer that tries to please everybody and ultimately pleases nobody then check out the garbage Netent have spewed out in the last year, and how anonymous they have all turned out to be bar one or two.

P.S. Wait until tomorrow (Weds) for my next new slot announcement, as it will be a HUGE hit and I cannot wait for the Chopley treatment......
 
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"I think Afterlife Inferno would benefit from having its pay range 'squished' a bit at the high-end, free up some space for hits in the 250-500x stake range, a single 5000x stake win could pay for ten 500x stake wins. I'm at the point now where I need 1000x stake to get back to level pegging, and as I know how rare those hits are, I'm really disinclined to deposit again and chase it, even though I know I'm 12% off expected RTP from nearly 6500 spins and random numbers should eventually start to kick back in my favour."

Then that defeats the purpose of the slot; high variance with the belief huge prizes can be won, and it's that belief that keeps players like myself who like HV playing. I wouldn't play IR if it weren't for the fact I could possibly hit that 10k x bet WD feature, or a few k x bet for a 4-reeler with the right symbols because I sure as hell won't hit that amount in the free games! I wouldn't play Bonanza if it wasn't for the belief I could have that special drop-in on a 14x multiplier paying thousands x. Your example in italics means I may as well play St*rb*rst or Twin Spin all night (perhaps St*rb*rst is a little unfair here as that won't pay 500x while the sun still shines).

Your example simply describes a different math model and mechanic altogether, one which the game wasn't intended to be. It's a complex task for any developer or designer to cut the RTP pie to everyone's liking so they accept beforehand there'll be fans (like myself) and naysayers in equal measure. If you want to see a developer that tries to please everybody and ultimately pleases nobody then check out the garbage Netent have spewed out in the last year, and how anonymous they have all turned out to be bar one or two.

P.S. Wait until tomorrow (Weds) for my next new slot announcement, as it will be a HUGE hit and I cannot wait for the Chopley treatment......

Actually I disagree here... you don't need a 5000x win anywhere in a slot for it to be successful. This is proven by many games time and time again....

You DO however if you want to appeal to the streamers and the streamers audience and people on this forum...

We are a small subset of players and we are not necessarily indicative of a games success.

Don't get me wrong... I love games with huge potential. I've just done a game that can award £10,000 on a 60p bet (that's the maximum win)... and it's not theoretical, we know it happens because it does in the simulations (and it's not a progressive).

But my main focus for big wins is normally the 250-500x range. Players don't expect to win more than this...

The question I ask myself as a designer (not a player) is: "Is it better to give 50 people a 100x win, or 1 person a 5000x win." And there is a very careful balance to that..

One thing I learnt early on in this industry is that games that I can't only make games that I would play as a player... I need to make games that have a wider audience than just me.

My honest guess is that Afterlife Inferno will be an average performing game - although i hope it does well for Simmo!
 
But my main focus for big wins is normally the 250-500x range. Players don't expect to win more than this...

The question I ask myself as a designer (not a player) is: "Is it better to give 50 people a 100x win, or 1 person a 5000x win." And there is a very careful balance to that..

One thing I learnt early on in this industry is that games that I can't only make games that I would play as a player... I need to make games that have a wider audience than just me.

If I was designing regularly and under pressure to deliver successful mass-market games then I'm sure I'd produce games more along those lines and when Leander first approached me, I considered this for a long time but I ultimately decided that if that's what they wanted, they didn't really need me. I decided therefore that "Afterlife: Inferno" had to be a game that I would play first and foremost otherwise it would have been a largely pointless and less interesting exercise. I know that I am not a "mass market" player and am definitely NOT the sort of player to play a game that pays me 250x - 500x regularly: I want to see 5,000x (+) potential in a game and I don't mean "unachievable" potential like many HV games that promise amazing hits which you never, ever see: I mean "achievable" potential - which I experienced myself in testing with a full screen of wild reels - and when LuckyLoser posted that 8,300x win within hours of release, that was almost a vindication of the strategy for me.

Whether that will be a successful strategy or not, only time will tell and you may very well be right in your assessment but I would rather have tried to push the envelope a bit and end up with an average game than to have created something "safe" and ended up with an average game. TBH, I think Leander also probably got worried a few times when they saw what I was trying to do but they really put their trust in me to try and create something that pushed the boundaries and while the features may lean towards the tried-and-tested, albeit with a unique twist, the variance coupled with the frequency of decent payouts was the real risk while trying to make an HV game accessible to a wider audience was the challenge.
 
If I was designing regularly and under pressure to deliver successful mass-market games then I'm sure I'd produce games more along those lines and when Leander first approached me, I considered this for a long time but I ultimately decided that if that's what they wanted, they didn't really need me. I decided therefore that "Afterlife: Inferno" had to be a game that I would play first and foremost otherwise it would have been a largely pointless and less interesting exercise. I know that I am not a "mass market" player and am definitely NOT the sort of player to play a game that pays me 250x - 500x regularly: I want to see 5,000x (+) potential in a game and I don't mean "unachievable" potential like many HV games that promise amazing hits which you never, ever see: I mean "achievable" potential - which I experienced myself in testing with a full screen of wild reels - and when LuckyLoser posted that 8,300x win within hours of release, that was almost a vindication of the strategy for me.

Whether that will be a successful strategy or not, only time will tell and you may very well be right in your assessment but I would rather have tried to push the envelope a bit and end up with an average game than to have created something "safe" and ended up with an average game. TBH, I think Leander also probably got worried a few times when they saw what I was trying to do but they really put their trust in me to try and create something that pushed the boundaries and while the features may lean towards the tried-and-tested, albeit with a unique twist, the variance coupled with the frequency of decent payouts was the real risk while trying to make an HV game accessible to a wider audience was the challenge.

Totally understand why you've done that... you're reasons make sense. Hope it works for you :)
 
If I was designing regularly and under pressure to deliver successful mass-market games then I'm sure I'd produce games more along those lines and when Leander first approached me, I considered this for a long time but I ultimately decided that if that's what they wanted, they didn't really need me. I decided therefore that "Afterlife: Inferno" had to be a game that I would play first and foremost otherwise it would have been a largely pointless and less interesting exercise. I know that I am not a "mass market" player and am definitely NOT the sort of player to play a game that pays me 250x - 500x regularly: I want to see 5,000x (+) potential in a game and I don't mean "unachievable" potential like many HV games that promise amazing hits which you never, ever see: I mean "achievable" potential - which I experienced myself in testing with a full screen of wild reels - and when LuckyLoser posted that 8,300x win within hours of release, that was almost a vindication of the strategy for me.

Whether that will be a successful strategy or not, only time will tell and you may very well be right in your assessment but I would rather have tried to push the envelope a bit and end up with an average game than to have created something "safe" and ended up with an average game. TBH, I think Leander also probably got worried a few times when they saw what I was trying to do but they really put their trust in me to try and create something that pushed the boundaries and while the features may lean towards the tried-and-tested, albeit with a unique twist, the variance coupled with the frequency of decent payouts was the real risk while trying to make an HV game accessible to a wider audience was the challenge.
You did a great job simmo i havnt played for real money yet but will be asap ive played for fun balance and i love it,
 
Been there, done that!

In fact, one of my final testing sessions on Inferno was so bad, it made me think "Oh no! What have I done?!" :D
I'm going to give this biatch another £50 on low stakes just because of my emotional involvement.

* Nothing to do with my emotional involvement in wanting to hit something big I hope you understand :)
 
Here is my video review of this slot. Please note this is only my first 1500 spin session, I'll do a follow-on video for the next 5000+ spins in due course :)

 

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