Habanero, Play’n Go and StormCraft Studios: on the spin – slots round-up

On the spin includes BGaming’s Luck Lady revamp, Kalamba’s German title, Big Time Gaming’s trip to Vegas and 4ThePlayer’s Egyptian slot. 

As a number of new gaming titles grace the CasinoBeats inbox, sit back and get to grips with a select few new slot games as we take a look at Habanero’s Mexican-themed slot, Play’n Go and Stormcraft Studios’ Norse adventure titles, Scientific Games’ Asian-inspired reels and Hacksaw Gaming’s juicy fruit-filled release.

Calaveras Explosivas – Habanero

Habanero invites players to put on their dancing shoes and join the celebration in this Mexican-inspired cluster-pays adventure with features including cascading wins, multipliers, wilds and scatters. 

The game takes players to the town square for a ‘cascading adventure’ inspired by the popular Mexican national holiday, Dia de Muertos – the Day of the Dead.

Featuring a mariachi soundtrack, the action begins when the decorative Calaveras – Spanish for ‘skulls’ – tumble down the screen along with wilds, scatters and multipliers.

Within the game, there are up to 30 symbols that can tumble in any round. Winning symbols are replaced with new ones in addition to cascades that continue alongside any new wins.

Moreover, each cascade increases the win multiplier, culminating with wins of x128 when the player lands eight or more in a row, or a maximum of x640 when Badge symbols are included.

“Dia de Muertos is a globally recognised festival that brings families together to demonstrate love and respect for their ancestors, so we wanted to construct a title that provides a feast for the senses,” said Toni Karapetrov, head of corporate communications at Habanero.

“We are thrilled with how the game’s festive theme, dazzling graphics and innovative mechanics combine to bring something entirely new to our portfolio, and hope that it is well received by our audience.”

Odin: Protector of the Realms – Play’n Go

Play’n Go takes players into the world of Norse Mythology with this cluster pays video slot that features a hexagonal grid with cascading wins, random wilds, symbol swap and symbol collection. 

The game revolves around Norse God, Odin, who remains to protect Asgard from oncoming attacks while Thor and the other gods defend the Realm. Players must harness Odin’s magical powers to defeat Asgard’s enemies. 

In the game, symbols drop on the grid to create cascading wins: five or more connected symbols in a cluster award a win, but only the highest win in the cluster is paid. Winning symbols are then removed with new ones falling onto the board to replace them. Multiple clusters of the same symbol that are not connected are paid as separate clusters.

All wins are added to the Ring Metre, which has three charge levels: Level one requires 30 winning symbols and activates the Bronze Forged feature; Level two requires 70 winning symbols. Activating the Silver Forged feature; finally, Level three requires 120 winning symbols, activating the Gold Forged feature.

Once activated, the forged ring feature creates a pattern filled with the symbol in the centre of the grid, creating a new winning cluster. The Bronze forged creates a minimum cluster of seven symbols; Silver forged creates a cluster of 12-19 symbols; and Gold establishes a cluster of 20-37 symbols.

When a charge level is complete, the respective feature is added to the queue. When there are no further wins, the next feature in the queue is activated. The game round continues as normal after each feature has been completed. At the end of the game round, the metre is reset.

Odin’s Ability can be activated randomly on non-winning spins, including wisdom, which upgrades the central symbol to any high-paying symbol or wild before the forged ring activates; power, which destroys two random symbol types across the grid; and glory, which awards between two and eight random wilds to the grid.

“Mythology is one of our most popular themes as it casts the way for rich narratives and awe-inspiring artwork that our players just can’t get enough of; lighting, thunder, and magic – what’s not to love?” said Charlotte Miliziano, head of games at Play’n Go.

Thunderstruck Wild Lightning – Stormcraft Studios

Stormcraft Studios has launched its sequel to Thunderstruck II with this 5×4, 40-fixed payline slot which includes wildstorm free spins mode along with a Link&Spin bonus feature. 

Within the game, the wild symbol appears as Thor and, when substituting, can award a x2 or a x5 multiplier to help boost the win potential. Thor’s mighty hammer is the scatter and awards entry to the feature selection screen where five free spin destinations are available to unlock. 

Furthermore, if the player collects 20 x2 scatter symbols the Wildstorm free spin round is unlocked, turning up to five reels wild on a single spin. 

The electric blue thunderball symbols scattered across the reels provide clues to the location of the main event, where a jackpot prize of over x15,000 is waiting to be won in the Link&Win bonus feature.

Jin Ji Bao Xi Megaways – Scientific Games

Scientific Games has extended its Jin Ji Bao Xi series as this new six-reel slot title incorporates Big Time Gaming’s Megaways mechanic as well as six players’ choice free spins and jackpots.

In the base game, coins are added to the pot that sits above the reels whenever wilds land in view. As the pot lid closes – which can happen on any spin – players are presented with 12 coins and are required to match three symbols to scoop the corresponding jackpot prize.

Four or more coin symbols will trigger free spins, where there are six different bonuses to choose from that differ in terms of volatility. Each free spin mode uses the ace, king, queen, jack, ten, nine, wild and coin symbols, with the addition of one other high-paying symbol depending on which mode is selected.

Additionally, a Buy Pass feature is available in selected markets to guarantee entry into the free spins picker mode, and the title is fully equipped with responsible gaming tools.

“This year has seen us produce a wide range of Megaways games that have proven to be a hit with players, demonstrating that we are capable of bringing new twists to a genre of slots that shows no signs of slowing down,” said Rob Procter, content specialist director, digital at Scientific Games.

“Bringing the Jin Ji Bao Xi brand into our Megaways family made perfect sense given its global fan base. It’s a strong title packed with features that we’re sure will resonate with a wide audience.”

Xpander – Hacksaw Gaming

Looking to expand its mobile-focused Pocketz series, this 7×7, cluster paying slot includes various features such as the hopper mode, double up and grow symbols, along with the traditional free spins bonus. 

The title features Hacksaw Gaming’s Hoppers feature, integrating a hopping multiplier that is on the grid at all times. Once the game starts, players will see a multiplier overlaid on a random position among the reels. Between each spin, this multiplier will hop to a new position. 

If the multiplier overlaps with a winning cluster, the multiplier value will be multiplied by the win amount. Each winning cluster will then be removed and make way for more symbols. The drops will continue until no new winning clusters are created.

Players can collect grow and double up symbols to expand the multiplier to 4×4 in size with the value of x128. Every time the multiplier grows in size, they will also be awarded with an additional respin. 

In addition, if the player lands at least three free spin symbols to trigger the free spins feature. Within this mode, the multiplier value and size is kept progressively for the remainder of the round. 

The round starts with five free spins. If the 1UP symbol lands, players receive an additional spin and extend the length of the feature.