Shaolin Master (Hacksaw Gaming) Slot Demo & Review

Game Overview

If there’s one thing you can be sure of, it’s that Hacksaw Gaming knows how to nail a slots presentation. Take the studio’s latest slot, Shaolin Master, as an example, where the graphics and animations are of video game quality. The Master and Student take centre stage on Shaolin Master, with the pair taking part in a rather painful-looking training session, with the poor student spending the entire slot session balancing on one leg. Furthermore, you almost feel guilty when winning combinations land, as he starts to wobble and fall. Anyway, enough of their shenanigans, let’s get into this review by starting with the basics. Shaolin Master is a 5×6 cluster pays slot with a 96.31% RTP and a 10,000x the stake maximum win.

As you spin the reels, cascades can create chain reaction wins, while three wild multiplier symbols can land to boost winning payouts by up to 9,999x. There’s also a couple of bonus games. The first is a free spins bonus with reel multipliers and special symbols that can boost those multipliers, and the second is a hold & win game with three re-spins that reset each time a special symbol lands.

The action on Shaolin Master takes place across a 5×6 grid matrix that holds 30 symbols. A cluster pays mechanic is in play, with winning combinations formed when five or more matching symbols land in clusters connected horizontally or vertically. Spinning the reels of Shaolin Master costs a minimum of €0.10 and a maximum of €100.00.

Cascades

Winning symbols are removed from the reels, with new symbols dropping in to replace them through the cascading reels mechanic. This can create additional wins from just one paid spin.

Chi Orb Wild Multiplier Symbols

Various Chi Orb Wild Multiplier Symbols can appear on the reels. If they contribute to a winning combination, their multiplier value is applied to the win. 

• Blue Chi Orbs: These land with a 1x multiplier value that increases 1x with each winning combination they help to create. 
• Red Chi Orbs: These land with a 1x multiplier value that increases 1x for each symbol involved in a winning combination it helped create. 
• Balance Chi Orbs: These can only appear as a result of a cascade. It lands with a multiplier value that is the multiplier of any other Orbs on the reels combined.

The Student Free Spins

You receive 10 or 12 free spins, respectively when 3 or 4 scatter symbols appear in the base game. Each reel has a multiplier value that starts at 1x and increases by 1x for each of its symbols are involved in winning combinations. 

Furthermore, there’s a couple of other symbols that can appear during the bonus: 

• Green Gem Multiplier Modifier Symbol: These hold multiplier values of between 2x and 10x.
• Green Chi Orb: These activate the multiplier of the reel they land on. Each activation rewards an additional 3 spins. When winning combinations are created, all activated reel multipliers are added together and will apply to the payouts.

The Master Bonus Game

Five scatter symbols anywhere in view triggers The Master Bonus Game. This time there are multipliers above the reel that increase when adding or multiplying symbols appear on the reels. 

• Block Symbols: Do nothing.

• Blue Gem Adding Modifiers: Can hold values of between 2x and 10x that are added to the value above the reels.

• Epic Blue Gem Adding Modifiers: Can hold values of between 2x and 10x that are added to the values above all reels

• Green Gem Multiplying Modifiers: Hold values of between 2x and 10x that multiply the value above their reels.

• Epic Gem Multiplying Modifiers: Hold values of between 2x and 10x that multiply the values above all reels. 

• Ice Blocks: These are replaced by a Multiplier Block holding the same value as the reel it lands. They fall to the bottom and remain on the reels until the end of the bonus. 

• Crusher Blocks: Crush the Multiplier Blocks on their reels but collect and hold their combined values.

Each time any symbol apart from regular block symbols land, your re-spins reset to three. The bonus ends once your re-spins run out. You receive the payouts of the Multiplier Blocks currently on the reels. 

Bonus Buy

• BonusHunt FeatureSpins: You can spin with 5x the chance to trigger a bonus for 3x the current spin bet.
• Enlightened FeatureSpins: Spins with a guaranteed Red Cho Orb cost 50x the stake. 
• The Student Bonus Game: You can purchase the bonus for 100x.
• The Master Bonus Game: You can purchase the bonus for 200x the stake.