There’s something strangely comforting about post-apocalyptic stories. Civilization has collapsed, billions are dead, and the few remaining survivors are fighting over tins of expired beans. But at least nobody has to sit through another pointless meeting that could have been an email.
Bullshark Games clearly sees the appeal of a world without HR departments with its new Doctor Dust slot.
The doctor will see you now
Doctor Dust features a 5×5 grid, with wins awarded for landing four or more matching symbols in connected clusters. Betting starts at $0.10 and tops out at $25 per spin. With a 12,000x maximum multiplier, betting at the upper limit gives you a shot at winning up to $300,000.
The slot features very high volatility, meaning you can expect fewer frequent wins as you chase the bigger payouts. Its RTP is 96.3%.
Doctor Dust uses a cascading reels mechanic, with winning symbols disappearing and new symbols falling into the empty spaces. Every winning symbol is also added to a collection meter beside the reels. For every eight symbols collected during a spin, one of four Grid Boosters is randomly activated.
The four Grid Boosters are:
- Clone: Copies a random row onto one or two adjacent rows, including any multipliers attached to its positions.
- Switch: Selects between one and three random rows and transforms the symbols in each row to match its first symbol.
- Wilds: Adds between two and five wild symbols to random positions on the grid. These can carry multipliers of up to 100x.
- Power Line: Clears the symbols from a random row and column, replacing them with new symbols and adding multipliers of up to 100x to the affected positions.
Multipliers are attached to individual positions on the grid. When multiple multiplier positions contribute to the same win, their values are added together before being applied to the payout.
Collecting 40 winning symbols during a single base game spin triggers a round of Surface Search free spins. The round begins with one free spin and all four Grid Boosters activated.
During the bonus, collecting at least eight winning symbols awards another free spin, with additional Grid Boosters unlocked for the following spin as more symbols are collected. There is no limit to the number of free spins you can trigger, with the round continuing until you fail to collect at least eight winning symbols during a spin.
If you manage to collect 72 winning symbols during a single base game spin, you’ll unlock the Toxic Vault bonus feature. This version awards two guaranteed free spins, both featuring all four Grid Boosters. Additional free spins can be triggered using the same collection mechanic as Surface Search.
If you’re not keen on waiting for the bonus features to trigger naturally, Doctor Dust offers four Buy Bonus options.
The Doctor Dust slot has a serious case of Fallout envy
Bullshark Games has been producing some interesting slots lately, so I was curious to see what the Doctor Dust slot had to offer. Unfortunately, this one caught my attention for all the wrong reasons. Firstly, it’s a pretty lazy Fallout knockoff, complete with a jittery intro that looks suspiciously AI-generated. Then there’s the lack of attention to detail.
The game features two free-spins bonuses: Surface Search and Toxic Vault. Despite their very different names, both use exactly the same background. Why? Surely a bonus called Toxic Vault should actually take you inside a vault.
To give the game some credit, the bonus features are interesting and do a good job of keeping the action going. If that’s all you’re looking for, and you’re a fan of the post-apocalyptic theme, the Doctor Dust slot might have enough to keep you entertained. For me, though, the lack of originality and attention to detail are difficult to overlook. Doctor Dust gets a six out of ten.
If you’re looking for a few Bullshark slots that I would recommend, try out Empress of the Shadows and Charm of the Dragon. And if you’re looking for a Fallout-inspired slot that does the game justice, try Slotout Wasteland.
