Wicked Grin

Wicked Grin: Slot Overview

If you should always greet someone with a smile, then developer Hacksaw Gaming has kept that advice in mind when designing its online slot, Wicked Grin. This is a scatter pays game which relies on grinning symbols to trigger its more exciting moments, while fronted by an unusual chap named Boney Bill who spends his time with a smile stretching from ear to ear perpetually plastered on. Players who enter Bill's world could be grinning themselves if they find the expanding Coin and Multiplier system firing, in a slot designed using uncomplicated principles to bring a little old-school Hacksaw Gaming charm to a modern release.

Hopefully you're not someone who is prone to motion sickness or being hypnotised, because Wicked Grin's base game background consists of monochrome circles constantly on the move, creating a drifting through a darkened space like a tunnel effect. It actually might have been nice if it was possible to disable the animation because it did get a little hypnotically distracting. Hopefully, when the grid is in motion, and its symbols are where the bulk of the brighter colours are, it gets hectic enough to grab the attention away. The scene changes upon busting into the bonus rounds, where the background takes on a checkerboard effect. Next to the reels is Boney Bill, who does indeed possess a pretty wicked grin, while looking like a devious, hollow-eyed version of Mickey Mouse. Artistically, Wicked Grin follows the approach used in games like Pray for Six and Pray for Three, a little naughty, a little nice, though with an overall minimalist style that hearkens back to the studio's earlier days.

Wicked Grin is a scatter pays game, creating a winning combination when 6 or more matching symbols land anywhere on the 5x5 play area. The cascade mechanic removes winning symbols from the reels, dropping new and existing symbols downwards to refill the grid. Cascades repeat as long as a new win is created. Four RTP variants have been made; 96.27% is the highest, while the math model is medium volatile. A handful of feature buys are provided, as is a stake range of $/€0.10 to $/€100.

Classic symbols land on Wicked Grin's reels, such as clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades as the low pays, then grapes, watermelons, bells, cherries, and sevens as the high. A 6-7 OAK scatter win is worth 0.1x-0.5x the bet, while at the opposite end, a 17+ OAK hit pays 25x-100x the bet. There are no wild symbols to be found on Wicked Grin's reels at any time.

Wicked Grin: Slot Features

The features in Wicked Grin are its expanding Wicked Grin symbols, spreading scatters, Stash N Stack bonus, Coin Craze bonus, and a selection of buy options.

Expanding Wicked Grin Coins

When a Wicked Grin or Epic Wicked Grin symbol is on the bottom row, it expands after wins have been handled. When expanded, they transform all symbols on their reel into Coins worth 1x-500x or a Multiplier of x2-x20. Multipliers add a multiplier value to all Coins above it, and to Coins on the adjacent reels on rows above the Multiplier. If more than one Multiplier is revealed, they add their values to Coins one at a time. Multipliers do not appear on the top row. Expanded Epic Wicked Grin symbols trigger all types of Wicked Grin symbols on the grid to expand from the position they are in. Only one type of Wicked Grin can land per reel.

Spreading Scatter Symbols

When one or more scatter or super scatters are on the bottom row, each scatter expands across its entire reel. Each position the scatter or super scatter covers reveals a number of 1-3, awarding that many free spins. Up to 2 scatter and super scatters can be on the grid at once, though you cannot land both types simultaneously.

Stash N Stack Bonus

Landing at least 1 expanding scatter in the base game leads to 5-30 free spins in the Stack N Stack round. This bonus keeps the base game mechanics. In addition, above each reel is a Stash with a multiplier starting at x1. When Wicked Grin symbols expand, all Coin values on the reel are multiplied by the multiplier on the Stash. That Stash multiplier then increases by 1 for the next spin. Landing expanding scatters (or super expanding scatters in Coin Craze) awards 5-15 free spins. The total additional free spins awarded can be 5-30.

Coin Craze Bonus

Hitting at least 1 expanding super scatter in the base game leads to 5-30 free spins in the Coin Craze round. This feature also keeps the base game mechanics, plus it adds a Coin Collector above each reel starting at 1. When Wicked Grin symbols expand, all Coins on that reel are saved by the Coin Collector until the end of the bonus. When Multipliers are revealed, the Multiplier affects the Coin values and multiplies the saved value in the Coin Collector on that reel and on the adjacent reels. At the end of the bonus, all Coin Collector values are added together and awarded.

Feature Buys

Players have the option of using BonusHunt FeatureSpins for 3x to make each spin 5 times more likely to trigger a bonus round, or Grinny FeatureSpins for 50x to guarantee at least 1 type of Wicked Grin symbol lands. It is also possible to buy into the Stash N Stack round for 80x, or Coin Craze for 200x the bet.

Wicked Grin: Slot Verdict

Playing Wicked Grin was like taking a little trip back in time to Hacksaw Gaming's formative years. Back when it was a scrappy up-and-comer, taking on the big, bad slot world, with a dream of world domination and a head full of creative ideas buzzing around, just waiting to come pouring out. Wicked Grin might look like the monochrome slots mentioned above, but in motion, it brought back memories of a simpler time, games like Cash Compass or The Respinners to name just two. Back when the studio was popping out cute, charismatic games, built around a neat trick that wasn't trying to be daring or shocking, but just neatly playable. Hacksaw Gaming might not have reached the industry-dominating position it has now by only making neatly playable slots, but it's nice to know the studio still remembers its roots and is able to dig them up again in its newer releases.

The central trick in this game is its Wicked Grin and Epic Wicked Grin symbols. Simple they are, too; get one (or more) on the bottom row, and watch it spread Coins and Multipliers to the top of the reel. However, they didn't seem to show up in great numbers during the base game, though others may have better luck, of course. The scatter pays/cascade combo helps prevent that phase of play from turning into a tedious slog, but it could be rough going. Furthermore, if Wicked Coins don't land or drop their way to the bottom row, they're little better than a devious tease, as well. The Stash N Stack bonus was more generous with the expanding symbols, but it wasn't until Coin Craze that Wicked Grin really stepped things up with its Chaos Crew-ish style of play.

Wicked Grin is a slot with an interesting hook, if at times unforgiving, yet strong enough to be able to achieve its 10,000x win cap in all game modes. It may not have major long-term appeal, and it might be easy to drop if those Wicked Grin symbols are proving to be just too elusive. But there is potential as well, when it's doing its thing, and Wicked Grin feels like Hacksaw Gaming having a well-deserved break from Smokey Le Bandit to take a fond look at where it came from, showing that there is still life in the simple, character-driven approach which helped define its earlier releases.