While there were few surprises over the top three slots in the 2020 Bigwinboard Awards, the next game on the list sure raised a few eyebrows. Coming out of nowhere to snap the fourth spot was the fiendishly good Chaos Crew from relative newcomers Hacksaw Gaming. Setting its sights on the mobile side of the market, the studio has proven proficient at designing slots that are magnitudes of order more potent than their looks might suggest. Many punch far above their weight and Chaos Crew is an excellent example.
Today’s lucky punter picked it to try their luck, triggering the bonus game off a 50 Ruble bet (approx. €0.50). The bonus awards three spins where four active symbols may appear, while remaining positions are taken up by signs proclaiming things like ‘No!’, ‘Nope!’, ‘Dead’, or ‘False’ – did we mention Chaos Crew packs a lot of sass? Each of the five reels displays a multiplier at the top, starting at x1. Whenever one of the active symbols lands, it modifies the respective win multiplier above it while resetting spins back to three. So far it might sound similar a ton of other bonus features out there, yet Hacksaw has a knack for stamping their personality on a product to make it stand out.
One way they’ve done so in Chaos Crew is via charismatic symbols. In the bonus, we find Sketchy Skull who adds up to +20 to the multiplier and Cranky Cat who multiplies it by up to x20. The ones you want though are Epic Sketchy Skull and Epic Cranky Cat which apply their modifiers to all multipliers, not just the ones situated above them. Again, simple, but get them on a roll and spectacular things can happen.
This particular round starts off in a distinctly non-chaotic way until around the one minute mark when an x20 Cranky Cat lands on the middle reel, boosting its multiplier to 160x. Another breakthrough occurs several spins later when the third reel is rocked once again by another x20 Cranky Cat symbol, this time sending its value through the roof to 3,280x. The middle reel battering continues when yet another Cranky Cat lands to triple its value, nearing the 10,000x max win on its own. Several spins later the round ends to a banging EDM track accompanying the ₽500,000 (€5,595) count up.
No doubt an epic win from one of the higher paying slots in the Hacksaw catalogue. Taking inspiration from Nolimit City‘s Punk Rocker slot, there is something about the unique mix of theme, visuals, gameplay, and attitude in Chaos Crew which has connected with the gambling community. Certainly enough to garner a shed load of votes. Would more of these clips a week or two ago have bumped Chaos Crew up the award ladder, perhaps toppling Punk Rocker for third place? We’ll never know, but footage like this can only increase what was already a popular game, and raise expectations even higher over what we can expect from Hacksaw in the future.
