Toshi Ways Club

Toshi Ways Club: Slot Overview

On its road to becoming a major online slot player, software provider Hacksaw Gaming has dropped its fair share of cute, neatly packaged titles along the way. Judging by its first two slots, Stick 'Em and Om Nom, it would seem that creating adorable games runs deep in the developer's DNA. Another one of its unique early releases was the equally adorable Toshi Video Club, which reinvented what an Asian-themed slot could look like, paired with simple snack worthy features. Several years have passed, but the game has clearly stuck in the team's memory because it has revisited the past to produce Toshi Ways Club, a similarly looking slot that nevertheless plays very differently from the original.

A big part of the unique character of the original release was its minimalistic black, white, and orange colouration, and its gentle dipping of the toe in Japanese-inspired culture. By and large, Hacksaw Gaming has used the same approach when designing Toshi Ways Club. A recognisable handful of colours has been used, and the atmosphere is delightfully Japanese. When diving deeper into the theme, players find themselves on an elegant Tokyo street, where a secret club hosts the city's spirits. An underground video club, to be precise, which explains the fuzzy reception when the slot first loads. Fortunately, it clears up to display a screen that is just as harmonious as the original was.

Though it carries a faint echo of Megaways, Toshi Ways Club runs on the studio's freshly minted Hackways system. Here, a 6-reel grid hosts symbols that shift in size with every spin, creating up to 1,000,000 ways to win. Hitting a win activates the Flash Frames mechanic, capable of chaining multiple wins within a single spin - think cascades, but with its own twist. Bets range from $/€0.10 to $/€100 per spin, volatility sits at the high end, and the top RTP clocks in at 96.09%.

The pay table has 10-A playing card symbols, and five theme-related icons as the higher value set (Gundam, dragons, Nekos, etc.). Royals pay 0.5x the bet for a 6-of-a-kind winning way, increasing to 1x to 3x the bet when landing 6 matching high pays in a combination. Wilds appear on all reels, paying 3x for 6 OAK, while also substituting for all regular pay symbols.

Toshi Ways Club: Slot Features

On the feature menu, Toshi Ways Club has Flash Frames, Swap symbols, three bonus rounds - Retro Boost, Sucker Punch, and Tokyo Data Drift, as well as four feature buys.

Flash Frames

When a winning combination appears, the winning symbol positions are highlighted by Flash Frames. These frames stick to the grid, and all winning symbols within them reveal new symbols. If subsequent wins occur, new positions are highlighted, and the winning Flash Frames reveal new symbols. This repeats until no new win occurs.

Swap Symbols

When a Swap symbol lands at the same time as Flash Frames, the Swap symbol activates after wins have settled. When activated, the Swap symbol reveals 1 paying symbol, and all symbols with a Flash Frame are replaced by the revealed symbol. This includes the Swap symbol. New wins formed by Swap symbols do not reveal new symbols. Only 1 Swap symbol can land on the grid at once. After all replacements and wins have been awarded, the Flash Frames are removed for the next spin.

Retro Reboost Bonus Game

This bonus round and 10 free spins are activated by landing 3 FS scatters in the base game. It keeps the base game mechanics while increasing the chance of landing Swap symbols. In this bonus and the next, landing 2 or 3 FS scatters awards an extra +2 or +4 free spins, respectively.

Sucker Punch Bonus Game

Hitting 4 FS scatters in the base game triggers Sucker Punch and 10 free spins. This feature builds on Retro Reboost by introducing Slicing Swap symbols. These symbols activate when there are Flash Frames on the grid. When activated, the Slicing Swap symbol replaces all Flash Frames, including itself, with one paying symbol. It also cuts all the Flash Frames and itself into the smallest possible symbol size, creating more winning symbols. Only one Swap or Slicing Swap symbol may land at the same time.

Tokyo Data Drift - Hidden Epic Bonus

This feature and 10 free spins are triggered by landing 5 FS scatters in the base game. It has the same mechanics as Sucker Punch, with the added benefit that one Swap or Slicing Swap symbol is guaranteed on every free spin. FS scatters do not land in this bonus.

Feature Buy

The feature buy offers BonusHunt FeatureSpins at 3x the bet, making each spin 5 times more likely to trigger a bonus game, and Toshi FeatureSpins at 100x, which guarantees at least 1 win and 1 Swap symbol. The two buyable bonus rounds are Retro Reboot at 100x or Sucker Punch costing 200x the bet.

Toshi Ways Club: Slot Verdict

Hopefully, you weren't expecting Toshi Ways Club to simply repeat Toshi Video Club with one or two minor side adjustments, because it is a very different game beneath the skin. The colour palette has remained consistent with the past, which is a good thing, since optical restraint was a major factor in Toshi Video Club's distinct personality. There is more going on visually, such as extra detail, depth, and a bit more character than before. In part, this comes from the octopus motif found in the background and on the reels when Swap symbols land. Still, the music is familiar, as is the visual language, giving Toshi Ways Club a grown-up sibling feel as it delves deeper into the uber-hip Tokyo scene.

The gameplay has been totally changed, though Hackways does bear some resemblance to Big Time Gaming's Megaways. Here, we don't encounter a regular cascade mechanic running alongside it, though. Instead, winning positions reveal new symbols for another chance to win, which may mean linking with other previously non-winning symbols, expanding the highlighted area. This is important for when Swap symbols appear and fill all Flash Frames with the same type of paying symbol. At its crux, Toshi Ways Club is about connecting as many ways to win, and there can be many, with the chosen Swap symbol. The game didn't show its full capabilities until the Sucker Punch round was active, when the elusive Slicing Swap symbol was able to not only fill Flash Frames with a single symbol, but chop them down to their smallest size, increasing win ways.

Another thing the two games share is the same max win figure of 10,000x the bet, which might feel modest given that up to a million ways are possible. Still, Toshi Ways Club is what it is, a stylish and pleasurable return to the past that revives Hacksaw Gaming's distinctive Japanese aesthetic while introducing a completely reimagined set of features to keep things fresh.