Laced

Laced: Slot Overview

Clearly not one to shy away from controversial topics, software provider Shady Lady has set about combining what some may consider two of humankind's biggest vices, gambling and mind-altering substances, into one convenient place. This is not the first time a studio has done so, and one example could be Exco's mescaline-fuelled rampage, Vegascaline, reviewed not long before. However, this time players aren't tripping their way from Barstow to Las Vegas but are instead parking their butts on the couch for some intense staring at the wall through a haze of smoke, just like zoning out, man, in the online slot Laced.

Gamblers are often accompanied by a character, but it's a wonder if Laced's protagonist is aware that anyone else is here. Going by the name of The Dude, this thoroughly blazed, red-eyed, multi-coloured t-shirt-wearing stoner spends much of his time munching chippies and waving an impressive doobie about. The assumption is he isn't using marijuana for medicinal purposes but to commune with beings from the other side, or just get smashed and have totally far-out deep thoughts, dude. Some may consider this way of living a waste of someone's life, others may think slaving away in an office, losing a piece of their soul on the commute, a death sentence. Let's put some dub on the turntable and join The Dude as we ponder that one.

If you can be bothered hitting spin, a 5x6 set of reels spins and evaluates wins using a 7,776 ways to win pay system. You won't always get that many ways due to all the Bud symbols blocking the place, though these can be removed. When digging deep to find enough motivation to click the plus and minus buttons, a stake of $/€0.10 to $/€50 may be selected while serving up an assortment of boosters and buys. Highly volatile, the highest of its three RTP configurations is 96.1%.

Laced's pay symbols are four baggies, an old Nokia type phone, a slice of pizza, a pipe, a wallet, and a pink elephant. Landing 5 OAK winning combinations of these symbols pays 0.5x to 2x the bet. Wild symbols help make wins by substituting for all regular paying symbols. In addition, Laced has a cascading mechanism that removes winning symbols and fills the grid with a symbol drop that repeats as long as new wins appear.

Laced: Slot Features

Rolled up in a Rizla, we find such features as Burning Buds, Laced Buds, a bonus game, a super bonus game, and various options from the game's Store.

Burning Buds

On each spin, parts of the grid are covered by Bud symbols that block wins. Landing a Lighter symbol triggers the Burning Buds feature. When triggered, a random number of Buds on the grid ignite and burn away, each one revealing the same mystery symbol. Some burnt Buds may uncover an extra Lighter, which sparks a second burn where more Buds transform into matching mystery symbols.

Laced Buds

As well as regular green Buds, it is possible for Laced Buds to appear in Purple or Gold. Burning a Laced Bud summons a flying elephant. Purple Buds bring 1x1 Purple Elephants with multipliers of x1, x2, or x3, while Gold Buds bring 2x2 Golden Elephants with multipliers of x1, x5, x10, or x100. Once Buds have been burnt, awarded elephants land on random positions acting as wilds.

Bonus Game

Landing 3 scatters awards 6 free spins. During the bonus round, more Laced Buds appear, and the chance of landing a Lighter symbol is increased.

Super Bonus Game

Landing 4 scatters triggers 8 free spins in the super bonus game. Laced Buds are even more common, and Lighters appear with 'fiery frequency.'

Store

From the Store, players can buy the bonus, super bonus, bronze bonus, silver bonus, or gold bonus for 74x, 237x, 127x, 347x, or 1,596x the bet, respectively. It is also possible to buy the best 3 results from 100, 300, or 500 spins for 79x, 204x, or 312x the bet, respectively, or Loot Boxes, which range in cost from 186x to 571x. There are also boosters: the Bonus Boost at 1.5x and the Big Bonus Boost at 5x both increase the feature trigger chances, while the 25x Lighter Boost ensures a Lighter symbol lands on each spin.

Laced: Slot Verdict

You often hear about something being 'on roids' - the Belgian Blue is like a cow on roids, or that cat's zoomies are feline energy on roids, or whatever, but rarely do you hear something being described as 'on weed'. Seems there is a first time for everything, then, because on weed is one way of describing the dank, hotboxed cloud of smoke slot that is Laced. Laced isn't a slot which cheekily alludes to 420 culture; it leaps in, finds a warm spot on the couch and refuses to move for the rest of the afternoon. Though, while it is a humorous experience, which brought to mind Nolimit City's The Rave for some reason (with a focus on other chemicals), the drug references might not be everyone's cup of matcha.

Unless they're fans of mystery symbol reveals, because Laced has a lot of that going on. Mystery symbols have long been a slot staple, but they at times feel like side features, tossed in as an afterthought to increase the list of extras. In Laced, the game is essentially built around removing Buds from the reels to reveal matching symbols. The system used here is more complex than a regular reveal, though. For starters, you need a Lighter symbol to hit to spark the process off. Also, since Buds are present on every spin, reveals can technically occur at any time, provided Lighters hit. It's relatively simple yet potentially effective, since there are thousands of ways to win, revealing matching pay symbols across the board might turn out to be quite productive. So by extension may the special Purple and Gold Buds, since they are able to not only reveal wilds, but wild multipliers, as well as the much vaunted 2x2 Gold Elephant.

Without the special Buds, it might have been tougher to stick through the phases of play where Laced can get a bit repetitive. In saying that, get a couple of Lighters on there, open up the grid, and solid hits are a possibility, up to a cap of 20,000x the stake. Laced isn't as laced with features as a mystery symbol-heavy slot like Iron Bank 2, but it's an amusing game for players who enjoy bold themes, uncomplicated mechanics, and a slot that doesn't take itself too seriously.