Zombie Circus Slot by Relax Gaming

October 2018 puts Zombie Circus in Relax Gaming's early catalogue, back when 5x3 with 10 fixed paylines was still the default shape and bonus buys hadn't yet swallowed the format. The headline trick is the pre-bonus pick'em, which is unusual enough to justify the whole game.

Three Scatters open the Zombie Pick screen. Nine undead carnival performers sit in a row and you tap them one at a time. Each pick reveals one of two things: a number that adds to your free spins total, or a paying symbol that will turn Wild for the entire round. Picks continue until you uncover the round-ending zombie. So you're not just triggering a bonus - you're literally building it. A short pick run might leave you with 7 spins and one extra Wild symbol; a long one can stack three or four symbols as Wilds across a much fatter spin count. Two players triggering on the same trigger can end up with completely different bonus configurations, which is rare for a 2018 release. The whole structure leans on the pick bonus mechanic in a way most studios were still avoiding back then.

The base game itself is honest 2018 fare. Standard Wild substitutions, no respins, no modifier symbols sneaking in between spins. Four high-pay characters do the heavy lifting: a top-hatted ringleader skeleton clutching a whip, a purple-faced knife thrower fanned out with blades, a fortune teller bent over her crystal ball, and a sinister green-haired clown with a mouth full of teeth. The card royals (10 through A) are bone-textured and chipped at the edges, faded sepia against the gloom. Reels sit framed by tattered red-and-white striped tent canvas, with brass lanterns hanging on chains either side and a darkened big-top scene blurring behind - balloons, abandoned props, that violet-blue moonlit haze you'd expect from a Halloween piece. There's no buy option, which fits the release year more than it fits modern habits.

What you get from Relax Gaming here is a low-key base loop with one genuinely clever bonus trigger bolted onto it. The pick'em isn't deep, but it gives the player real input before the spins start - a small thing that most slots from this period never bothered with.