Polterheist Introduction

Polterheist comes from a joint effort with a small Canadian studio called Side City. They’re not newcomers, though, and have a handful of titles out there already – Venice Magic and Fortunes of the Dead being two examples. Our initial hype for a new NextGen slot dipped a fair bit once we realized it was a collaboration. Honestly, we still don’t quite get why established, well-regarded developers keep partnering with smaller studios—a pattern that seemed to kick off with Microgaming and, in our view, missed the mark every time. Could Polterheist be the game that changes our mind? Let’s see.

Polterheist is a 5-reel, 4-row video slot featuring 100 fixed pay lines and a 96.6% RTP, which is slightly above the more typical 95%-ish RTP we often encounter in NextGen slots. It runs smoothly across all devices and can be played from €0.50 and €50. This western-themed slot with a ghostly spin includes two random base-game features plus a free spins round that can, potentially, keep awarding more spins.

From a visual standpoint, it leans toward a somewhat childish style, which may put some players off. Even so, the overall presentation is solid, and the classic western soundtrack fits the theme nicely. The controls and general playability are well tuned, although the pace of the spins could have been a touch faster.

Polterheist Symbols & Features

A, K, Q, J, and 10 make up the low-paying symbols, while the higher-value icons are the blue, red, green, purple, and golden ghosts—collectively known as the Hauntin’ gang. The Golden Sheriff ghost is the top payer, awarding 10 times your stake for 5 across a full pay line. None of the symbols are stacked on the reels, so standard-mode payouts tend to be modest. Wilds appear as a wanted poster and can only show up on the three middle reels.

To break up the otherwise repetitive base game, there are two main game features. Both are triggered at random, meaning they can kick in before any spin. The Haunted Wild feature places a random number of wilds onto the three middle reels, while the Ghost Break-In feature drops stacks of one randomly selected ghost onto the reels, with all other ghosts also transforming into that same ghost.

Polterheist Free Spins

The free spins round is the real centerpiece in Polterheist , and it’s where the long wait for the bonus can finally feel worthwhile. To activate it, you must land the Golden Safe Scatter on reels 1, 2, and 3, which grants 8 free spins. The bonus uses the same reels as the base game, but before each spin a random multiplier is applied, so every win is multiplied by 2x, 3x, or 5x.

On top of that, both the Haunted Wilds and Ghost Break-In features are available and tend to show up more often here, with the latter making it possible to hit a full screen of the highest-paying symbol. If that happens alongside the 5x multiplier, it can result in a win of 5000 times the stake. There’s also (at least theoretically) space for unlimited spins, since landing 1, 2, or 3 scatters during the feature adds another 1, 5, 0r 8 free spins respectively.

Polterheist Conclusion

On paper, Polterheist offers the possibility of never-ending free spins, but without a fact sheet we have to assume there’s a cap in place. It’s not realistic to expect the bonus to run indefinitely, or for players to repeatedly land 4-5 full screens at the maximum multiplier and cash out 25,000x wins. If this were Big Time Gaming, or another studio with a track record of wins on that scale, then maybe—but here we’re keeping expectations in check. For all we know, the maximum could be 2000x.

For us, the two random features didn’t do much to lift the experience, and the overall pace felt slow and drawn out. Yes, there’s potential for a 1000x win outside the bonus, which is respectable for a base game, but it still doesn’t compensate for what we found to be rough gameplay. Polterheist isn’t the worst collaboration we’ve come across—actually, it’s among the better ones—but it still falls short of fully delivering.