The Scatter provides the only route into the Free Games feature.

Landing three Scatters awards 10 Free Games, four awards 15 Free Games and getting all five provides 25 Free Games.

I like the scaling here.

Finding additional Scatters actually makes a meaningful difference to the feature you're about to play. Twenty five spins for the five Scatter trigger is substantially more appealing than simply awarding the same ten spins regardless of how difficult the combination was to land.

There's also no Bonus Buy, so if you want into the carnival's main attraction, you're going to have to queue like everyone else.

Carnival of Madness uses a dedicated reel configuration during Free Games, meaning the symbol distribution changes rather than simply providing another batch of ordinary base game spins.

Most importantly, the Wild becomes available.

That's quite an old fashioned approach to bonus design, but it gives Free Games a clear advantage over normal play. Instead of gradually improving a feature through meters and modifiers, GAMOMAT simply reserves some of the better symbols for the bonus.

Simple, but at least reaching Free Games actually changes something.

The rather unsettling Scary Clown acts as the game's Wild Symbol, substituting for regular paying symbols to help complete winning combinations.

The unusual part is that the Wild is exclusive to Free Games. It doesn't appear during normal paid spins.

That makes the bonus reel configuration more valuable but leaves the base game noticeably bare.

As clowns go, he doesn't do anything particularly clever.

Then again, a clown appearing only after you've entered a haunted carnival is probably doing enough already.

Special Instant Prize Symbols are also added to the Free Games reel strips and provide another source of value that isn't available during ordinary play.

This is important because otherwise the bonus would amount to little more than the base game with a Wild added.

The Instant Prize Symbols give the feature another objective alongside conventional line wins and help justify the separate Free Games reel set.

Following an eligible win, players can use the Card Gamble, a traditional Gamble Feature.

You predict whether the next card will be red or black. Get it right and the amount is doubled. Get it wrong and the amount is lost. The game uses an even 50/50 probability, so the feature itself doesn't alter the game's overall RTP.

It's about as old school as slot features get.

But it actually feels appropriate here.

Carnival of Madness already behaves more like a traditional cabinet game than a modern online slot, so a straightforward red or black gamble doesn't feel out of place.

There's also a separate Ladder Gamble, giving players another way to risk an eligible win.

Instead of predicting a card colour, players move through different prize levels on a ladder, with the probabilities changing according to the current position and prize value.

Having two Gamble options provides a little more choice than the standard red or black implementation.

Neither fundamentally changes the game, but considering how sparse the base feature package is, they're useful additions.

Carnival of Madness also allows players to partially collect during its Gamble Features rather than forcing an all or nothing decision.

Within the Card Gamble, half the amount can be banked while the remainder stays available. The Ladder Gamble has its own equivalent arrangement involving movement between prize levels.

It's a small feature, but a sensible one.

The carnival may be mad.

You don't necessarily have to be.

Carnival of Madness doesn't contain a progressive jackpot.

Its maximum win is a comparatively modest 500x the stake, so there is no Jackpot Modifier for this review.