Charon drags you down to the banks of the river Styx. Toxic green mist curls around skulls on stakes and the ribcages of long-dead beasts, a full moon hangs over jagged cliffs, while the hooded ferryman himself stands in his bone boat, pole in hand and lantern glowing. A frame of twisted bone surrounds the reels. My stake was 1.00 per spin with 1,000 to play.
Theme and Gameplay
The symbols are steeped in Greek myth: a skull crowned with laurels, a glowing green lantern, a spiked crown of jade and a bone harp, with carved stone card ranks underneath. The Gate is a screaming green ghoul labelled Bonus, and square Obol coins show multipliers like x5, x50 and x100.
Slot Features
Wins count across ways from reel 1, and each winning symbol pays once per evaluation across all its ways. Winning symbols explode and new ones tumble in from above, repeating as long as fresh wins form. Gates pay nothing and never explode, but they fall with the tumbles like everything else.
Obols stand in for any paying icon, and each Obol in a win adds its value to that win’s multiplier, so several Obols in one win stack up quickly. Charon’s Crossing can happen on any spin, when the ferryman rows across and drops one to three Obols onto cells holding paying symbols. A Crossing can come before the board is first evaluated, so the new Obols join every win, or after the tumbles have settled, sparking a new run of wins. He can even cross twice in a single spin.
Landing three Gates opens the Styx Bonus, four the Acheron Super, five the Lethe Epic and six the Hades free spins. During free spins, Obols stay on the board from spin to spin until a win uses them.
RTP and Win Potential
A feature buy menu offers bonus modes and direct free spins purchases. With Obol multipliers adding together, a 5,625-ways grid and a 50,000x ceiling, this is a very high volatility slot that can swing hard in either direction.
My Thoughts On This Slot
Charon is a really atmospheric game. The ferryman rowing across the reels is a great piece of theatre, and the double-timing of his Crossings, before or after the tumbles, keeps every spin unpredictable. Naming the bonus tiers after the underworld’s rivers and its ruler is a lovely touch.
The dark, busy art can make the board harder to read quickly, and with such a high ceiling, quiet stretches are inevitable.