Slot Wars: Dark Summoning vs. Candy Jar Clusters - ReelNews By GamblersArea
In the dynamic world of online slots, the battle for supremacy continues with two contenders stepping into the spotlight: Dark Summoning by Hacksaw Gaming and Candy Jar Clusters by Pragmatic Play. Get ready for a clash of themes, features, and potential winnings as these two slots go head-to-head in another episode of slot wars.
The battle is on!
Round 1: Winning Potential and RTP
Dark Summoning emerges with an aura of mystery, offering players a taste of highly volatile gameplay with a huge maximum win of 10,666x the bet! Played on a 5x6 grid with 24 paylines and cascading reels, this slot offers twists and turns on every spin.
With a bit lower volatility setting, Candy Jar Clusters has a larger grid composed of 7 reels and 7 rows with cluster pay mechanics. For a slot that looks so innocent with its candy-inspired visuals, this game is packing quite a massive winning potential of up to 10,000x the stake.
So close, but still not enough to be the winner of this round. Its RTP percentage of 96.08 is also lower than its rival’s of 96.36%, making the game by Hacksaw the first to win a round in this slot war.
Round 2: Bonus Features
Dark Summoning features begin with Wild Multipliers. The game has two types of Wilds - blue and red ones. They both substitute for regular symbols and they can land with a random multiplier of up to 100x.
Other special icons are the Order symbol that transforms itself and up to 9 symbols into Wilds and Unholy symbol that is collected in the corner of the grid and saved for the round when part of the winning combination. Collecting 3 Unholy symbols triggers the first bonus round.
That is a Trial by Hellfire bonus with 10 free spins during which all winning positions are marked with Hellfire. Whenever an Unholy symbol hits, it and all symbols in positions marked by Hellfire are replaced with Wilds, with or without multipliers.
However, if the three Unholy symbols land with the Order symbol, this triggers the Rise to Salvation bonus with 10 free spins. During this bonus, symbols drop and cascade upwards instead of downwards while the Lost Soul symbols appear as well.
This symbol stays on reels and moves upwards with other cascading symbols to fill gaps created by removed wins. It reaches the top row, Ascends and is removed from the grid. Lost Soul symbols come in two variants:
- Global Multiplier Lost Souls - When this symbol Ascends, it adds a value of up to 100x to the global multiplier that applies to all winning combinations.
- Cash Prize Lost Souls - Awards a cash prize (multiplied by the global multiplier) of 10 to 666x the bet when Ascends.
Candy Jar Clusters also has cascading reels with a cluster pays mechanism. Whenever a winning cluster is formed, there is a chance that a random multiplier of up to 100x will appear and be applied to both all wins from that spin and any subsequent winning tumbles.
The game features 3 variants of bonus symbols in the form of yellow, red and green candies. When these symbols drop, they are collected in the corresponding jars beside the reels - yellow in the Wild jar, red in the Free Spins jar and green in the Jackpots jar.
In this sugary slot, the bonus round with 10 free spins is triggered randomly when one of these candies is collected. This is when the real excitement awaits as free spins can start with 1, 2 or 3 game modifiers:
- Wild Modifier – At the beginning of the round, 6 to 12 Wilds land on the grid in a random position on each free spin. Hitting a new Golden Wild during the round adds +1 to the Wild multiplier, applied to all wins.
- Free Spins Modifier – Before the first bonus spin, 1 to 4 additional free spins are added to the count. Also, an Extra Free Spins symbol is introduced, awarding +1 free spin if it hits and is also collected on a meter. The collection of 5 of these symbols awards a Super Spin where only high-pay symbols are present alongside other available modifiers and random multipliers.
- Jackpot Modifier – When this modifier is active, players have the opportunity to hit one of five Jackpot symbols. Every collected 2 Mini, 3 Minor, 4 Major, 5 Maxi or 6 Grand symbols, awards 10x, 25x, 50x, 100x or 2,000x the bet respectively. If they are active, Wild multipliers and random multipliers apply to Jackpot wins.
Round 2 showcases a clash between dark magic and sugary delights on the bonus features field and both games have a lot to show for. While the bonus features are surprisingly strong in the candy-inspired slot, they aren’t a match to Hacksaw’s numerous features. Still, it was a very tight fight that Dark Summoning won mostly due to the quantity of its bonus features and special symbols.
Round 3: Visuals and Audio
Fans of Hacksaw’s titles know that the provider sometimes goes overboard when it comes to visuals in its releases with darker themes. Similar to Bloodthirst and Hand of Anubis, this slot follows the theme completely, creating an ominous atmosphere with rich-in-detail graphics and an eerie soundtrack.
Inspired by dark forces, demons and all things unholy, the game offers a much more original theme compared to its sweet rival that in contrast, aims to sweeten the gaming experience with vibrant colors and a cheerful design. It is the theme seen and used so many times before, so it isn’t quite authentic.
Round 3 unfolds as a clash between the dark and mysterious and the bright and delightful. One isn’t for the weakhearted due to creepy visuals, while the other might be too cute for some players. However, it is solely a personal preference.
And The Winner Is…
In this slot wars showdown, the winner is Dark Summoning by Hacksaw Gaming but narrowly. Candy Jar Clusters put up quite a fight, proving it is more than worthy of the player’s time.
The clash between dark and sweet in this episode of slot wars has created two compelling contenders, each with its unique charm. Whether you're drawn to the mystique of the dark arts or enticed by the sweetness of candy clusters, you won’t be wrong in whichever of these slots you choose to play.