Shadow Treasure

Shadow Treasure: Slot Overview

Never one to rest on its laurels and bask in past glory, not only has software provider Hacksaw Gaming made the highly successful transition from scratch to slot, but it's also embarked on a journey of partnering up with various studios. Backseat Gaming and Bullshark Games are already well and truly in the fold; now, we've got a new developer to contend with. Literally, the name of the studio is NowNow Gaming, and its first release to be powered by Hacksaw OpenRGS is the Lara Croft-esque, badass adventurer slot Shadow Treasure.

Shadow Treasure kicks things off by dropping a back story about a brave heroine exploring a perilous landscape with a map and compass in hand. Pretty generic, and maybe naming the heroine the way Play'n GO has done with its Wilde adventurers might have added a more personal touch. Never mind, into the perilous landscape we go, all dank, dimly lit subterranean it is, like a glowing eye gargoyled Khazad-dûm. The UI is pure Hacksaw Gaming, and the background picture isn't bad at all. Beware the big spider creature, too, depending on how you're viewing the game.

Shadow Treasure's makes use of 5 reels and 4 rows in combination with 14 paylines running across it. This is a fairly volatile slot (rated in 4 out of 5 in this regard), available in two RTP configurations - 96.29% and 94.3%. Wagers of 10 c to $/€100 may be placed, and a free spins buy is here, too.

Five gems coloured purple, blue, green, orange, and red start the paytable off, awarding 0.7x to 1.5x for a 5-symbol win. After them is a map, a compass, a backpack, and the adventurer lady, paying 2 to 5 times the stake for 5 OAK. Wilds appear on all reels, counting for any regular pay symbol when wins are being calculated. A 5 wild symbol only win pays 10 times the stake.

Shadow Treasure: Slot Features

Shadow Treasure functions around a win and respin feature called Stack, Spin, Win! available in the base game and in free spins. Also present in both phases of play is a Reel Multiplier feature tied to the Stack, Spin, Win!, potentially powering up payouts.

Stack, Spin, Win!

When a winning combination lands, the winning symbols stick to the reels while all other positions spin again. If the win is improved upon, the new symbols stick and the process repeats, ending when no new winning symbols land. At the end of the respin sequence, payouts are awarded.

Reel Multipliers

A random multiplier appears above each reel in ascending order, showing possible values of x2 to x500. Once a reel has been filled with winning symbols, its corresponding multiplier is unlocked. The multiplier awarded is the highest unlocked value above the reels. This is determined by the number of consecutive reel multipliers that have been unlocked, starting from the leftmost reel. The more consecutive unlocked multipliers, the higher the final awarded value will be, up to the maximum value on the rightmost reel. If the multiplier above the leftmost reel is not unlocked, no multiplier is awarded.

Hidden Treasure Free Spins

Scatter symbols that land during the initial spin and subsequent respins are collected in a meter by the grid. Landing 4 scatter symbols in the base game awards 15 free spins. Each additional triggering scatter beyond 4 awards an extra +5 free spins up to a maximum of 45. The same mechanics as used in the base game are used in free spins, with a rule change to the reel multipliers. At the end of each free spin, all unlocked multipliers above the reels are applied to the win, even if they are not consecutive. If more than one multiplier is involved, the multiplier values are added together before being applied. Reel multipliers are locked at the start of each free spin, and scatters do not appear during the feature.

Bonus Buy

It is possible in Shadow Treasure to buy the bonus round rather than organically trigger it. For 100 times the bet, players get 15 free spins.

Shadow Treasure: Slot Verdict

NowNow Gaming is a South African-born outfit which looks to 'revolutionize the iGaming industry by creating innovative and unparalleled gaming experiences', according to its founder. But they all say that, don't they? Have they achieved this in Shadow Treasure? To an extent. The game isn't hugely evolved by Hacksaw Gaming standards but neat tricks are able to be performed here in the right circumstances. The win and respin feature isn't wholly innovative, of course, having been put to good use in benchmark slots such as Nolimit City's Serial. Like Serial, Shadow Treasure's win system is a key to unlocking further features. However, instead of Enhancer Cells throwing things at the reels, here it is multipliers adding excitement to the ride.

Good then, that reel multipliers are available at all times, in all game modes, as is the chance of achieving Shadow Treasure's 12,000x max win. The base game makes things harder by requiring reel multipliers to be consecutively unlocked from the leftmost reel in order to get to the larger displayed values, and at x500, the larger values can be large indeed. The feature gets supercharged in the bonus round since any old unlocked reel multiplier can be used, and they combine values when more than one is unlocked. The game awards a surprisingly high number of free spins as well, given that it functions primarily through a respins feature. The reassuring number of free spins provides breathing space, but you know, this is a slot, so dead spins and other mathematical twists have been worked in to ensure Shadow Treasure is no hacked ATM machine.

Apparently, in South Africa, there can be different meanings attached to the phrases 'now', 'just now', and 'now now'. As well as the studio's interesting culturally referenced name, NowNow Gaming has put some decent touches into Shadow Treasure, so while it might be a somewhat second-tier release compared to Hacksaw Gaming's big 'uns, it's nevertheless a win and respin game with merits.