Six Feet Under review
Nolimit City
Some days you open a new slot and it's a cheerfully bright and bubbly number that's been designed to plaster a smile on your face before the spin button has even been pressed. Other days, you get a game like Nolimit City's Six Feet Under, a slot which sits at the polar opposite end of the feel-good meter. Forget treasure hunts and cheerful characters; this is a much grimmer affair, labouring under a constant feeling that something unpleasant lies just beneath the surface. From its earth-lined underground setting to its Bomb fed explosive moments, Six Feet Under delivers morbid gaming with a focus on Gem symbol collecting in a slot that's as grimy and unpredictable as the secrets it hides.
Have to say, Six Feet Under is not the most glamorous-looking Nolimit City release. The studio has spent time below ground in games like Fire in the Hole and Dead Canary, which had a dank heaviness, but looked quite good as they went about mining and whatnot. Six Feet Under just looks dirty, literally, as the game drops blocker symbols onto the grid in the form of dirt, while the background consists of a lot of earth, rocks, roots, and subterranean things. The reason why players find themselves beneath ground but not mining for gold nuggets is because the protagonist has a nasty habit of burying his BFFs in boxes, alive too, by the looks of it. Either way, Six Feet Under is a macabre game, similar in some ways to Shady Lady's Love Nest even if it unravels a different story of brutality.
Play is conducted on a 6x6 gaming grid, with up to 46,656 ways to win. On each spin, positions on the bottom rows are randomly filled with dirt. Some of the dirt positions may contain symbols. Symbols hidden under the dirt can be scatters, Bombs or Gems. The game also has a cascade feature which removes winning symbols, letting new symbols fall into the grid for another chance to win. Operating from the shadows is an 'extremely' volatile math model, where there are three RTP varieties, with 96.05% as the greatest value. On the topic of bet selection, the lowest stake is $/€0.20 while the highest is $/€100.
Pay symbols are made up of ransom note-style 10-A card ranks, then boots, a backpack, a music box, a helmet, and a camera. Landing 6 matching royals awards 0.5x to 0.9x the bet, or landing a 6 OAK premium symbol combination is worth 1.1x to 2.5x the bet. Wild symbols substitute for all of the pay symbols.
Six Feet Under's features are its Bomb symbols, Gems, Gem Upgraders, The Descent bonus round, Extra Spins, Nolimit Boosters, Nolimit Bonus buys, and side hustles.
Bombs land in different types. When they explode, they remove paying symbols and dirt in certain patterns. These Bombs may land:
Each Gem has a base value of 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x, 10x, 20x, 50x, 100x, 200x and 1,000x. When the dirt covering a Gem is removed by a Bomb's explosion, the Gem's value is awarded to the player. At the start of each avalanche, the value of every Gem increases by its base value.
When a Shovel symbol lands, it removes itself and adds random Gem symbols to empty dirt positions on the same reel. Gem symbols already on that reel are upgraded to Gems of a higher value. The Toolbox works the same as the Shovel except that it affects all reels.
Landing 3 scatter symbols triggers The Descent. Scatter symbols hidden beneath dirt do not count towards triggering the round. The grid starts empty. On each new drop, dirt symbols and regular symbols are added in. Dirt symbols are sticky. The round ends when the reel area is filled with dirt symbols. For each extra scatter above 3 that contributes to triggering the round, the next lowest value Gem type cannot land during The Descent.
Players may be given the chance to buy an additional spin when a round ends. The additional spin keeps all dirt symbols containing symbols as well as any scatters from the previous spin. The cost of the spin is calculated on the active feature and remaining symbols. If the cost of the Extra Spin is less than or equal to the total win, players are presented with the Extra Spin option.
For 3x the bet, the Bonus Booster guarantees a scatter hidden beneath the dirt. Pure Spin costs 8x to ensure only Gems worth 5x or more can land, while the Purer Spin at 80x only lands Gems with values of 50x or higher. Greedy Spins cost 30x to fill all dirt positions with Gems, while Greedier Spins cost 300x to fill all dirt positions with Gems worth 50x or more. Lastly, Greediest Spins can be activated for 3,000x to fill all dirt positions with Gems worth 1,000x. Players can also pay 60x, 250x, 600x, 1,900x, 260x or 2,965x for The Descent 3x, 5x, 6x, 8x, and two Lucky Draws, respectively.
Side Hustles are optional side bets on top of the base bet that pay when certain outcomes occur. The options are:
Nolimit City has a history of designing disturbingly bleak slots such as Tombstone RIP, True Grit Redemption, and Disorder, to name but three. Six Feet Under comfortably sits alongside those titles, even if it's not the most visually impressive slot the studio has ever made. The base game is actually a little drab-looking, as is the bonus round actually, though the underground chamber is quite creepy. That said, factor in the grisly count-up scenes and Six Feet Under manages to establish an unsettling personality. Amidst the claustrophobia, Gems play a critical part in Six Feet Under, though they don't look particularly enticing either, kind of plastic-looking instead of high-value, desirable items.
The actual Gem values, on the other hand, are quite covetous, at the higher levels especially - made even more so when avalanches occur. Instead of landing a collect symbol to mine them, Six Feet Under utilises a very different collection method. Bombs not only provide destructive spectacle, but they're needed to clear away the blocker symbols to expose what lies beneath, and award Gems. Diversification is provided by the various Bombs and their explosive abilities, leading to unusual and potentially exciting sequences of possible rewards up to 30,000x, or possibly shovels full of muck when the going's not so good. After all, the subterranean activity is 'extremely' volatile, so attempting to uncover something valuable might amount to little more than shifting dirt around when things are tight.
Six Feet Under probably isn't a slot for players looking for a cheerful escape, but those who appreciate twisted storytelling and a violent atmosphere may find something to latch on to. The theme is disturbingly memorable, its features fit, and the various Bomb effects should appeal to players who enjoy virtually blowing stuff up. Not everyone wants to play a buried underground simulator, but gamblers willing to get their hands dirty have access to a unique experience waiting to be dug up.
Six Feet Under is a disturbingly memorable, if visually underwhelming, addition to the macabre section of Nolimit City's catalogue.
Have to say, Six Feet Under is not the most glamorous-looking Nolimit City release. The studio has spent time below ground in games like Fire in the Hole and Dead Canary, which had a dank heaviness, but looked quite good as they went about mining and whatnot. Six Feet Under just looks dirty, literally, as the game drops blocker symbols onto the grid in the form of dirt, while the background consists of a lot of earth, rocks, roots, and subterranean things. The reason why players find themselves beneath ground but not mining for gold nuggets is because the protagonist has a nasty habit of burying his BFFs in boxes, alive too, by the looks of it. Either way, Six Feet Under is a macabre game, similar in some ways to Shady Lady's Love Nest even if it unravels a different story of brutality.
Play is conducted on a 6x6 gaming grid, with up to 46,656 ways to win. On each spin, positions on the bottom rows are randomly filled with dirt. Some of the dirt positions may contain symbols. Symbols hidden under the dirt can be scatters, Bombs or Gems. The game also has a cascade feature which removes winning symbols, letting new symbols fall into the grid for another chance to win. Operating from the shadows is an 'extremely' volatile math model, where there are three RTP varieties, with 96.05% as the greatest value. On the topic of bet selection, the lowest stake is $/€0.20 while the highest is $/€100.
Pay symbols are made up of ransom note-style 10-A card ranks, then boots, a backpack, a music box, a helmet, and a camera. Landing 6 matching royals awards 0.5x to 0.9x the bet, or landing a 6 OAK premium symbol combination is worth 1.1x to 2.5x the bet. Wild symbols substitute for all of the pay symbols.
Six Feet Under's features are its Bomb symbols, Gems, Gem Upgraders, The Descent bonus round, Extra Spins, Nolimit Boosters, Nolimit Bonus buys, and side hustles.
Bombs land in different types. When they explode, they remove paying symbols and dirt in certain patterns. These Bombs may land:
Each Gem has a base value of 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x, 10x, 20x, 50x, 100x, 200x and 1,000x. When the dirt covering a Gem is removed by a Bomb's explosion, the Gem's value is awarded to the player. At the start of each avalanche, the value of every Gem increases by its base value.
When a Shovel symbol lands, it removes itself and adds random Gem symbols to empty dirt positions on the same reel. Gem symbols already on that reel are upgraded to Gems of a higher value. The Toolbox works the same as the Shovel except that it affects all reels.
Landing 3 scatter symbols triggers The Descent. Scatter symbols hidden beneath dirt do not count towards triggering the round. The grid starts empty. On each new drop, dirt symbols and regular symbols are added in. Dirt symbols are sticky. The round ends when the reel area is filled with dirt symbols. For each extra scatter above 3 that contributes to triggering the round, the next lowest value Gem type cannot land during The Descent.
Players may be given the chance to buy an additional spin when a round ends. The additional spin keeps all dirt symbols containing symbols as well as any scatters from the previous spin. The cost of the spin is calculated on the active feature and remaining symbols. If the cost of the Extra Spin is less than or equal to the total win, players are presented with the Extra Spin option.
For 3x the bet, the Bonus Booster guarantees a scatter hidden beneath the dirt. Pure Spin costs 8x to ensure only Gems worth 5x or more can land, while the Purer Spin at 80x only lands Gems with values of 50x or higher. Greedy Spins cost 30x to fill all dirt positions with Gems, while Greedier Spins cost 300x to fill all dirt positions with Gems worth 50x or more. Lastly, Greediest Spins can be activated for 3,000x to fill all dirt positions with Gems worth 1,000x. Players can also pay 60x, 250x, 600x, 1,900x, 260x or 2,965x for The Descent 3x, 5x, 6x, 8x, and two Lucky Draws, respectively.
Side Hustles are optional side bets on top of the base bet that pay when certain outcomes occur. The options are:
Nolimit City has a history of designing disturbingly bleak slots such as Tombstone RIP, True Grit Redemption, and Disorder, to name but three. Six Feet Under comfortably sits alongside those titles, even if it's not the most visually impressive slot the studio has ever made. The base game is actually a little drab-looking, as is the bonus round actually, though the underground chamber is quite creepy. That said, factor in the grisly count-up scenes and Six Feet Under manages to establish an unsettling personality. Amidst the claustrophobia, Gems play a critical part in Six Feet Under, though they don't look particularly enticing either, kind of plastic-looking instead of high-value, desirable items.
The actual Gem values, on the other hand, are quite covetous, at the higher levels especially - made even more so when avalanches occur. Instead of landing a collect symbol to mine them, Six Feet Under utilises a very different collection method. Bombs not only provide destructive spectacle, but they're needed to clear away the blocker symbols to expose what lies beneath, and award Gems. Diversification is provided by the various Bombs and their explosive abilities, leading to unusual and potentially exciting sequences of possible rewards up to 30,000x, or possibly shovels full of muck when the going's not so good. After all, the subterranean activity is 'extremely' volatile, so attempting to uncover something valuable might amount to little more than shifting dirt around when things are tight.
Six Feet Under probably isn't a slot for players looking for a cheerful escape, but those who appreciate twisted storytelling and a violent atmosphere may find something to latch on to. The theme is disturbingly memorable, its features fit, and the various Bomb effects should appeal to players who enjoy virtually blowing stuff up. Not everyone wants to play a buried underground simulator, but gamblers willing to get their hands dirty have access to a unique experience waiting to be dug up.
Six Feet Under is a disturbingly memorable, if visually underwhelming, addition to the macabre section of Nolimit City's catalogue.
