Don't bother turning your lights back on, as these ghosts are steering clear from a general horror genre. Cute would be a good way to describe our heroes from Ghost Glyph as these little spooks will try their best to secure you some decent wins. A lot of brainstorming, drawing and discussing has been going down in the offices of Quickspin, wherein the end they came up with the game we see today. We are promised a well-balanced slot, with charming spooky visuals, so let's see if there is any truth to that. Ghost Glyph uses cluster pays, otherwise known as tumble mechanics. This is strips away the traditional gameplay that includes regular paylines and awards winning combinations for made up clusters of symbols. Ghost Glyph comes with a 2260x max payout, so you can expect to be fairly rewarded for your efforts. Let's find out, if Ghost Glyph is just quirky Haloween fix, or is it a strong standalone slot.
Time and time again, we will state the obvious, Quickspin are masterful visual artists and Ghost Glyph is no exception. The eccentric game characters are a fun addition, although for some the game might seem too ''playful'', but Quickspin has been releasing these type of slots for a while, so at this point Ghost Glyph design shouldn't come off as a surprise. The paranormal activity happens outside the old manor. Ghost Glyph uses a large 7x7 grid layout which floats in the middle of the front porch. For every win you score on Ghost Glyph, the winning symbols, which form in clusters, disappear and new ones are dropped from above. Chain up a winning streak and get rewarded with a bonus feature. Ghost Glyph comes with 4 low and 3 high pay symbols, that makes it 7 regulars in total. These symbols are of different style coins and gems. All the low symbol have the same value paying 15x for a max combo. Same applies for high symbols which pay max 600x, which is a night and day difference between the two. Ghost Glyph is actually a symbol on its own. It spawns inside the winning combo, activating one of the Ghost Urns, but more on that once we progress.
The piece that holds it all together, the math model and payouts. Well, truth to be told Ghost Glyph is not a very explosive slot. It's more like a fine wine, that needs to be enjoyed gradually, instead of just chugging it all down at once. The cluster pays deny the one-hit spin wonders, instead, you have to ''work'' for your wins, combining multiple wins. In the modern video slot world we are used to huge max payouts, so for some the 2260x win might seem rather tame, but realistically that is not a bad potential to have. Volatility on Ghost Glyph is medium-high, which seems to be a good standard for cluster slots, the same goes for 96.18% RTP. On the whole, the payouts are quite decent, so there shouldn't be too much complaining from the player's side.
Ghost Glyph Bonus Features
Let's get into the nitty-gritty of Ghost Glyph, the wonderful bonus features. First off, we must clarify how the bonus progression works. On the upper right corner, you will see 5 urns. These must be destroyed for the bonus feature to begin. Every win, that includes the Ghost Glyph symbol will destroy one of the urns. These are called the Ghost Urns and there are 4 of them in total. Once Ghost Glyph destroys the Ghost Urn a special effect will proceed, for example, Red Ghost Urn targets one random type of low symbol and it removes every instance of it. The yellow Ghost Urn will grant 4-10 Wild symbols, that randomly scatter across the reels. The green Ghost Urn will transform all occurrences of a random low symbol into another low symbol type. Finally, once you manage to destroy 4 Urns with the help of Ghost Glyph symbol, the final blue Ghost Urn contains the key to the bonus game.
At the start of Ghost Glyph Bonus Game, you are given 8 Free Spins. During the bonus game, every spin increases the gauge of Paranormality Meter. It's important to fill up the meter as soon as possible, as it rewards Massive Wilds feature. The first level of meter spawns 2x2 Haunted Wild symbols. If you get to level 2, the reward is a 3x3 Colossal Wild symbol. For every level afterwards, the Colossal Wild makes a move, jumping around the reels, creating additional wins. Don't worry, the fun doesn't stop at 8 spins as for every Blue Urn you get during the bonus, the game grants you +3 free spins. So remember to keep an eye out for those Ghost Glyphs.
Conclusion
Merry, spooky and quirky, that sounds like a perfect recipe for an entertaining slot and Ghost Glyph is just that. Sure, the math model might not leave you with the most explosive payouts you've seen, but the Ghost Glyph slot on its own is filled content and beautiful visuals. With the Halloween around the corner, Ghost Glyph is just what the doctor ordered. Quickspin seems to continue the upwards rise, so we are excited to see how they will finish off the year.