Beheaded

Imagine being on a desert island, secluded from society, gentle waves lapping the golden sands of the shore, margarita in hand without a single care in the world.  A dream for many, right?  Well beyond that tranquil beach lies a dark, dank jungle…explored by few, survived by none.  The soft golden sands become a littering of crumbling bones beneath your feet, the gently breaking waves now a rumbling, boiling cauldron and that sweet margarita you was holding a mere moments ago has suddenly transformed into a rotting Tzantza shrunken head.  Oh, and did I mention the cannibalistic, soul-collecting Witch Doctor lurking close by, quietly waiting for the right moment to collect, perhaps, one more?

This is no ordinary desert island; mind you, when did Nolimit City ever do just “ordinary”?  Welcome to the island of the Beheaded, a new release by the fabled provider that is looking to add even more bang into their armory after the recent successful releases of Deadwood RIP and Loner.  Known for adding somewhat dark twists into their releases, Nolimit City has certainly not veered off that path with this one; rotting heads, soul devouring and tribal cults really don’t scream out sunshine and rainbows do they?  But audiences around the world love extremes so why change something that works!?

Opening the main game reveals a similar sight to lovers of the volatile provider…a screen full of symbols, features and a wild air of confusion at first glance; fear not, all will be explained in due course.  The scene is set in a dark patch of overgrown jungle, colour is noticeable but the dreary pallet of greens, browns and beige definitely cement the atmosphere being presented to us here.  Sculls dangle from the branches, heads impaled on spikes, a tree to the left of the game grid contains 3 progressive feature masks and a progress bar lines the base of the screen.  And then there is the game grid itself.  A 4 row 5 reel set up featuring bone symbols and shrunken Tzantza heads, all strung up over a boiling cauldron of evilness.

The overlaying of sounds and effects work very well together; a low hum of pipes, the bubbling of the cauldron, distant chirping of birds, it all plays a key role in portraying the feeling of seclusion and demise.  Things take a step up during bonus game play where sadistic and ritualistic chanting echos through your ear drums; it’s unnerving to say the least and something about it reminds me of a bad curry the night before…play the game and you will understand what I’m getting at.

Heads will most definitely be rolling upon the UK Casino release of Beheaded on the 18th June 2024.  The high volatility and potential max win of 15,950x bet is more than enough, but throw into the pot the chance to gamble bonus winnings for the max win and an RTP of 96.03%…well that’s enough to lose your head entirely.

Welcome to the jungle…let’s see what’s waiting for you…

Beheaded base game play

Base Features

Payout wins are accumulated by matching 3 or more of the same symbols across a payline.  With every winning spin, once all wins have been factored in, the rope above all winning symbols highest up on each reel will be cut and all symbols below the cut will fall into the cauldron below.  The rope then extends down to reveal new symbols in their place creating cascades.  Once no more wins are possible, the spin ends.  Beheaded contains 15 regular paying symbols; Low paying symbols are 10, J, Q, K, A, medium paying symbols are shrunken heads and skull and the high paying symbols are the same heads but with an eerie blue glow.

Low paying symbols – payout value between 0.05x to 0.75x for 3 to 5 matching symbols

Medium paying symbols – payout value between 0.3x to 1.50x for 3 to 5 matching symbols

High paying symbols – payout value between 1x to 9x for 3 to 5 matching symbols

Wilds are also present within the game and substitute for any regular paying symbol.

Progression Bar

Beneath the game grid is a progression bar which plays a large role within the game.  There are 5 levels of progression in total and dropping certain symbols into the cauldron with each win helps increase the meter.

A wild symbol dropping will increase by +3, a high paying symbol will increase by +2 and a medium paying symbol will increase by +1

Each level requires more points to advance starting with Level 1 – 15, Level 2 – 25, Level 3 – 50, Level 4 – 80, Level 5 – 110.  It needs to be noted that the score resets to 0 with each progression but any overspill of points that caused the latest progression will carry over.  The entire progress bar will reset after each completed spin.

Each level reached will convert medium paying symbols into high paying symbols

Progressing to Level 3 will activate AYAHUASCA Spins and reaching Level 5 will activate TZANTZA Spins.

Landing 3 dropped scatter symbols will instantly trigger Tzantza free spins rewarding 6 spins and for each level skipped along the way, 2 extra free spins will be rewarded.

Collect souls to trigger Wild Souls Feature

Soul Wilds

As mentioned earlier, the tree to the left of the game grid contains 3 soul collectors, each relating to a different Soul Wild feature.  Souls are harvested and collected from wins containing high paying symbols.

Each level needs a set number of souls to be collected in order to activate:

Level 1 – Happy Soul Wild – 4 souls required for activation

Level 3 – Sad Soul Wild – 10 souls required for activation

Level 5 – Angry Soul Wild – 18 souls required for activation

Soul Wilds will only become active once no more wins, therefore souls, can be collected and the collector has been filled.

Each Soul Wild level determines the size of the wild zone that appears on the screen; 1×1, 2×2 or 3×3 and a multiplier of 1x, 2x or 3x respectively.  The multiplier resets after the soul wild event.

All scatters inside a Wild Zone will award 1 respin each and the Soul Wilds Collected will reset when it fails to collect enough souls to progress to the next level.

Build up the Progression Bar and achieve Tzantza Spins for big wins

Ayahuasca Spins

Reaching Level 3 on the progress bar will trigger Ayahuasca Spins.

Reaching a new level on the progression bar will award 2 extra free spins to the player until Level 4 with 6 spins being awarded while advancing up to Tzantza Spins.

To those applicable, buying Ayahuasca Spins will advance the bar directly to Level 3, awarding 6 free spins.

Three of the medium paying symbols are replaced by 3 high paying symbols.

Tzantza Spins

Reaching Level 5 on the progress bar triggers Tzantza Spins where all medium paying symbols are replaced by high paying symbols for the chance of bigger wins.

Once the bonus is completed, assuming the maximum win allowance has not been reached, you will be given the chance at the Pick A Potion feature.

Pick A Potion

Upon completion of the Tzantza Spins, again as long as the Max Win allowance has not been achieved, you will be given the choice to pick between 2 potion bottles; the Butterfly Bottle or the Skull Bottle.  Choose wisely as each bottle can bring a different level of furtune!

Butterfly Bottle – choosing this bottle will guarantee you an additional win on top of the win achieved during Tzantza Spins.  The multipliers rising out of the cauldron can range from 5x all the way up to a staggering 8,000x.  The prize given will add to the already accumulated total before paying out.

Skull Bottle – it really wouldn’t be a Nolimit City game review without maximum volatility would it!  Choosing the Skull Bottle will gamble any wins accumulated during the Tzantza Spins for the chance to achieve the Max Win.  Lose the gamble and lose everything.  To make an important note…the higher the win prior to the gamble, the better the chance of achieving the max win.

Pick A Potion to increase your win or gamble everything for the max win

Nolimit Bonus and Nolimit Booster

To those it applies to, there are 3 Bonus Buy options and 1 Boost option available to players:

XBet – at the cost of 2x bet, each spin is 3 times more likely to trigger Tzantza Spins, beginning from Level 1.

Ayahuasca Spins – at the cost of 100x bet – RTP 96%-06.03%.

Tzantza Spins – at the cost of 500x bet – RTP 95.94%-96.08%.

Lucky Draw – at the cost of 225x bet – RTP 95.99%-96.17%.

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Pros and Cons of Beheaded

• Plenty of features to keep you entertained
• Great mechanics
• Max Win gamble opportunity
• 15,950x max win potential
• Can be difficult to progress higher up the levels
• Individual spins can take a while to play out

Similar Games to Beheaded

• Blood & Shadow
• Dragon tribe
• The Crypt

First Impression

Beheaded just screams out Nolimit City; the theme, the mechanics, the features, the volatility.  They are not games for the faintest of hearted and can just as easily pay out your biggest ever win as they can suck you in and spit you back out the other side.

I must say that, on the whole, Beheaded seems at first glance a much safer game than we have been made used to lately.  Once you get your head around the features and what to look out for, the game is fairly simple to understand.  You know exactly what you need, what you’re going to be getting and without game mechanics full of Xnudge wilds, Xsplits and Xways to keep a look out for throughout, this presents a more laid back approach to playing.  On the flip side of that point, I often found myself wondering where those big hits out of nowhere come from here.  With recent releases like Deadwood RIP and Kenneth Must Die, any spin can literally make your head explode in true Nolimit fashion…with Beheaded it felt more of a case that you need to get to those elusive Tzantza Spins to really get a chance at the big shot.

In terms of graphics and game play, Beheaded is a great game.  The rope cutting mechanic works well and we all like to feel that we are progressing a game to the dizzy heights of big win legendary.  Progression can be difficult though.  Getting out of Level 1 is fairly simple but trying to achieve at least Level 3 greatness can take time.  For those that don’t get tired of trying, do try to persevere as the chance of getting to that last level increases massively and there are rewards to be reaped.

The addition of the Pick A Bottle feature after Tzantza Spins is an excellent touch.  It caters for everyone in truth as, for those that enjoy extra value, the Butterfly Bottle literally gives you a guaranteed extra prize haul and for those that love to risk it all for that chance of glory, the Skull Bottle is there for you too.  Obviously do think hard about choosing the Skull as you can easily carry a lot of winnings into the feature that have built up nicely over the level progressions.

All in all, Beheaded will be a popular release from Nolimit City.  It’s not crazy or in your face but its a little bit off the cuff from some of the recent releases of late and, therefore, a nice little breather.  Will it become a mind-blowing cult classic?  Probably not, but sometimes it’s far better to keep a level head rather than a shrunken one!

*The screenshots taken of games reviewed on this site are taken from Demo Play, as reviews are often written before games are released for real play.