Eldritch Dungeon: Slot Overview

It’s wild how you can be looking at a simple 3×3, 3-line fruit slot one day, then the next you’re faced with a beast of a title complete with a rulebook that feels a mile long, sitting somewhere between an online slot and a video game. A lot of that comes down to who made it, and Print Studios has shown time and again it isn’t interested in churning out quick, familiar, assembly-line stuff we’ve all seen before. Exhibit A is the bruiser in front of us, Eldritch Dungeon—a near tabletop-RPG-style experience that’s anything but a standard pull-the-handle slot.

Eldritch Dungeon is a cluster pays slot played on an 8×8 grid set across a dungeon floor. Corridors split off, and as you push further in, the action transitions into fight levels before you reach a treasure room for the final bonus phase. It’s built like a quest, and once you scan the rules, you realise just how big the undertaking is. Luckily, you won’t be going it alone. You’re accompanied by a Wild Warrior plus the companion you choose—Arcanist, Ranger, or Mauler. More on them shortly.

Regular wins are calculated using a cluster pays setup, where 5+ matching symbols need to connect horizontally or vertically. Any winning symbols drop off the board, and the empty spaces are refilled via a tumble mechanic. This cascading continues until a drop produces no fresh win. In many respects, Eldritch Dungeon plays like an all-or-nothing title, helped along by a highly volatile math model, though it isn’t completely unforgiving. RTP changes depending on feature buys and which companion you pick, with the default sitting at 96.1%. The betting range is also pretty broad at 10 c to $/€50 per spin.

There are four stone runes as the lower-value symbols in Eldritch Dungeon, while 4 gemstones make up the premium pays. A 5-symbol cluster returns 0.2 to 2 times the stake, while clusters of 15+ pay 20x to 1,000x. The wild symbol and the Wild Warrior symbol substitute for all other symbols on the reels.

Eldritch Dungeon: Slot Features

Your objective in Eldritch Dungeon, if you’re up for it, is to carve a route to the Dungeon Battle Bonus by clearing winning symbols, overcoming battles, and eventually advancing into the Treasure Hall Spins stage. When the on-screen Wild Warrior defeats enemies lurking beneath the floor, he sets off Spectral Effects and gathers Power Relics. It’ll click in a moment.

Wild Warrior

Each spin begins with the Wild Warrior appears on the leftmost reel, and an exit appears on the rightmost reel. As symbols are removed, the Wild Warrior moves to the position closest to the exit. The wild symbol and the Wild Warrior symbol substitute for all other symbols on the reels.

Base Game Battle

Every spin has 4 symbol positions hide an enemy. The Wild Warrior battles an enemy if there is a clear path to the enemy’s position. When an enemy is beaten, you receive 1 of 4 Power Relics and 1 Spectral effect. Spectral Effects trigger when there are no more wins.

Spectral Effects

• Nightwing – 10 symbols are transformed into the same random symbol.
• Elderwing – 19 symbols are transformed to the same random symbol.
• Nightfang – 4 wilds are added in random positions.
• Elderfang – 10 wilds are added to random positions.

Power Relics boost what the warrior can do during the Dungeon Battle:

• Relic of Vitality – increases health.
• Relic of Strength – increases attack damage.
• Relic of Fury – some attacks deal significant damage.
• Relic of Protection – blocks some enemy attacks.

Companions

You begin the game with 1 companion unlocked. The remaining 2 companions can be unlocked through play and then chosen once they’re available. Each companion comes with a Companion Strike Ability and a Dungeon Battle Attack. When there are no more wins, the Companion Strike can activate.

• Arcanist – The Companion Strike Ability is transforming 11 to 16 symbols to the same random symbol and removing adjacent symbols above and below. Its Dungeon Battle Attack is to instantly defeat a single enemy. Its preferred enemy is Gnaw Brute. Volatility rating 4.
• Ranger – The Companion Strike Ability is transforming 1 line of 8 symbols to the same random symbol and removing adjacent symbols above and below. Its Dungeon Battle Attack is to deal damage to a single enemy. Its preferred enemy is Wraiths. Volatility rating 3.
• Mauler – The Companion Strike Ability is transforming two areas of 2×2 symbols to the same random symbol and removing all surrounding symbols. Its Dungeon Battle Attack is to deal damage to all enemies. Its preferred enemy is Elderkin. Volatility rating 5.

Dungeon Battle

The Dungeon Battle begins once the Wild Warrior reaches the exit on the rightmost reel. Victories against enemies unlocks grid positions in Treasure Hall Spins by awarding Spectral Keys. Portal Shards allow the fallen warrior to proceed to the next enemy room. Two Portal Shards are granted for each bonus. Each Spectral Key unlocks one grid position in the Treasure Hall Spins. The ninth battle is against The Old One. The round ends after losing 3 battles or having battled The Old One.

Treasure Hall Spins

Here, the aim is to land and merge coins to build up bigger rewards. The bonus takes place on an 8×8 grid with the 6 centre positions unlocked. Spectral Keys earned during the Dungeon Battle unlock additional positions. If The Old One was defeated in the Dungeon Battle round, it unlocks the full grid, places a 4×4 coin in the centre and awards a x2 multiplier on the largest coin. You receive 3 spins, and they reset whenever a coin or a Spectral Key lands. Coins combine into the largest size possible; Spectral Keys unlock 2, 3, or 6 positions. When you run out of spins, the coins pay out their values. 1×1 coins are worth 0.5-2x, scaling up to 8×8 coins worth 1,000-10,000x.

Feature Bet

Turning on the Feature Bet ensures 1 Companion Strike and up to 4 enemies defeated on the first spin.

• 1 Companion Strike – 17.3x.
• 1 Companion Strike + 1 defeated enemy – 43.5x.
• 1 Companion Strike + 2 defeated enemy – 83.6x.
• 1 Companion Strike + 3 defeated enemy – 143.7x.
• 1 Companion Strike + 4 defeated enemy – 218x.

Eldritch Dungeon: Slot Verdict

Blimey—this felt like opening the D&D Player’s Handbook for the first time and then trying to pick a race, class, and background on the spot. There are loads of moving parts and plenty of rules. It can look a little daunting in writing, but it’s straightforward once you’re playing: clear winning symbols to push the Wild Warrior from his side of the grid toward the exit while taking down enemies along the route. After that, win as many fights as you can in the Dungeon Battle round to earn Spectral Keys, then head into the Treasure Hall to spin and try to merge coins. Few studios make slots feel as game-like as Print Studios—Reapers and Cash Defense are great examples—and Eldritch Dungeon holds its own among the best of them.

That said, it isn’t a gentle ride. This isn’t some level 1 dungeon crawl with a flimsy boss at the end guarding a neat stack of loot or enchanted trinkets. You may need a bit of patience to consistently reach the juicier stages, and Feature Bets—while they offer major head starts—absolutely don’t promise a triumphant finish. Eldritch Dungeon is one of those Print slots that almost begs to be taken slowly, like a pricey whiskey, giving it time to develop before you swallow it down. It’s the kind of sit-down session that could fizzle out, or could turn into a lucky expedition, with top winnings capped at 20,000x the bet.

While playing Eldritch Dungeon, echoes of other titles popped up, along with plenty of Cthulhu energy. Shinobi Spirit, Relax Gaming’s Snake Arena, and ReelPlay’s Mega Pearl Gigablox were three that came to mind, though overall Eldritch Dungeon feels distinctly its own. It’s also a strong showcase of a studio with a curious, absorbent imagination—pulling ideas and inspiration from all over the place, then funnelling them into inventive, standalone slots.