It’s unlikely that you know who Bill Nolan is. You may, however, know his work on the Felix the Cat cartoon. While Nolan didn’t create the character, he used it as a vehicle to develop and popularize the rubber hose animation style in the 1920s. This type of animation is defined by a character with flowing rubber limbs without articulation at wrists, elbows, or knees.

With that pub quiz trivia in hand, it’s clear that someone on the Hacksaw team is an animation nerd. The game provider’s newest game, The Count slot, is just its latest homage to the rubber hose animation style, with previous titles like SixSixSix, Pray for Three, and Stack ‘Em. The Stack ‘Em slot even has a mouse that looks remarkably similar to the one featured in Felix the Cat. This newest addition to its library of rubber hose homages may, however, be their best yet.

Classic animation with modern bonus features

The Count slot features 19 paylines spread across a 5×5 reel layout. Betting starts at $0.20 and goes up to $25 per spin. At the maximum bet, you can win up to $312,500 thanks to the 12,500x maximum multiplier. The slot has medium to high volatility and an RTP of 96.36%.

Play Now

When a Blood symbol lands on the reels, it expands into a Bloody Wild if the expanded symbol will contribute to a winning combination. Once expanded, the Bloody Wild may either act as a standard wild or reveal a multiplier ranging from x2 to x500. When included in a win, the multiplier is applied to the total value, and if multiple Bloody Wilds are involved in the same win, their multipliers are added together before being applied.

A Wild Bat symbol can act either as a standard wild or carry a multiplier value ranging from 2x to 500x. An Epic Wild Bat symbol also features multiplier values from x2 to x500 and will add its multiplier value to all Expanded Bloody Wild multiplier and Wild Bat multipliers present on the reels.

With the appearance of three FS scatter symbols during the base game, you’ll trigger a round of 10 Bat to the Bone free spins. This feature retains the base game’s bonus features, increasing the probability of Wild Bat symbols appearing.

Play Now

If four FS scatter symbols land during the base game, you will trigger a round of 10 Rest in Piece free spins. This round of the slot’s free spins will include a Symbol Counter feature with five segments corresponding to the low-paying symbols. Each time one of these symbols contributes to a win, its counter progresses by one section. Once all five sections are complete, all instances of that symbol are transformed into Wild Bats for the remainder of the bonus round.

Play Now

Landing five FS scatter symbols will trigger 10 Count on Blood free spins. This feature builds on the mechanics of Rest in Pieces but increases the likelihood of Epic Wild Bat symbols appearing. Every spin during this feature includes five guaranteed Wild Bats.

The Count slot gives you the option to purchase a round of either Bat to the Bone or Rest in Pieces free spins. The Count on Blood free spins can, however, only be triggered the old-fashioned way.

Is The Count slot an homage or a bastardization?

If you look at SixSixSix and Pray for Three, Hacksaw’s previous two rubber-hose-style slots, there was a degree of sameness that was depressing to see from a game provider I admire so much. The Count slot erases that disappointment. While I wouldn’t recommend trying the two other titles, this one gets my most sincere recommendation.

There is a level of care and skill in the illustration and animation that just bursts with life and joy, and it makes me happy just looking at it. Yes, the bonuses are a little on the complicated side, an increasing trend among slot providers, but their abundance and relatively low learning curve make them a net positive overall. If you’re going to play one horror or spooky-themed slot this Halloween, this is the one. I give The Count slot one of my rare and always confusing eleven-out-of-ten ratings.

If you’re looking for a few other Hacksaw slots that I would recommend, try 2 Wild 2 Die, Immortal Desire, and Vending Machine.