Candy Wild Bonanza: Hold and Spin

Candy Wild Bonanza: Hold and Spin Overview

Despite no one asking for yet another candy-themed game, Stakelogic thought they would try to squeeze one more slot into the already overpopulated genre. This new game, called Candy Wild Bonanza: Hold and Spin, is yet another painfully saccharine slot designed to appeal to those in the audience with a penchant for sweets and big wins. Mechanically, gameplay takes place on a six-by-six grid, with payouts being registered via a scatter pays dynamic. The RTP is 95.73%, and the max win is an impressive 20,000x the stake.

The features for this game centre more or less exclusively on the hold and spin feature. This bonus is triggered when players land three or more scatter symbols on the reels at the same time. The feature then springs into action, providing three re-spins. The idea of this bonus is to try and fill the new grid with special symbols that payout big. The other feature in this game is the multiplier symbols bonus. These symbols land randomly throughout gameplay and help to boost the size of your win. Finally, there is also a bonus buy option; however, this is not available in the UK.

Theme and Symbols

The theme for this game conforms to the usual set of aesthetic tropes that candy games have. The game transports you to a magical land where everything from the clouds to the roads is made of confectionary. The theme feels like an American take on Willy Wonka's Chocolate factory. This escapist fantasy, when it was first devised, must have been a revolutionary idea and one that captivated audiences. Now, however, it just feels tired and repetitive and will shortly be in the territory of Ancient Egypt in terms of over the hill themes.

The background for this game is a candy adventure playground. To the left of the board is a stack of pancakes, topped with a doughnut and then some chocolate straws. There is a similarly sweet construction on the other side of the board too. Leading to these towers of sugar are two roads made from rainbow candy, along which a van full of gummy sweets is driving. If you were able to get diabetes from looking at too many sweet things, this screen would soon grant you a diagnosis. On the plus side, at least the detail of the graphics is high.
The playing board for this game is a biscuit full of sweets (the sweets being the symbols).

The symbols for this game are split into low-value, high-value and special symbols. The low-value symbols are the banana, green triangle, blue diamond and blue swirl sweets. The most valuable of these is the blue swirl which pays out at 4x the stake for the top combination. On the other hand, the more valuable symbols are the star, the heart, the lollipop, the twister, and the red gummy bear. The gummy bear is the most valuable, worth 25x the stake for the top combination. The only special in this game is the scatter - a Malteser covered in other candy.

Game Play

Candy Wild Bonanza: Hold and Spin is played on a 6-reel, 6-row scatters pays board. This means wins are registered by landing matching symbols anywhere on the reels.

The betting range for Candy Wild Bonanza: Hold and Spin is 20p to £20 per spin. To adjust their bet levels, players can toggle their stake up and down using the tool located at the bottom left-hand side of the screen.
Further information, including a short tutorial and a display of the paytable, can be found via the menu button in the right-hand corner of the screen. The spin and auto spin buttons are located in the centre of the screen.
Volatility for this slot is rated in the high range. The return to player percentage for Candy Wild Bonanza: Hold and Spin is 95.73%, which is below average. The biggest payout that players can win on one spin is 20,000x your stake.

Features

The first feature players need to be aware of here is the cascade feature. It is triggered every time that there is a win on the board. When this happens, all of the winning symbols are removed from the reels and replaced by a new set from above, giving players multiple chances of scoring from the same spin.

The second feature in this game is the Hold and Spin feature. This is triggered when three or more scatters land on the reels at the same time. The feature then begins with three re-spins. However, every time a special symbol lands, the re-spins are refreshed to three. The special symbols are explained below:
Prize symbols - reveals the value, which is a multiplier of the bet amount.
Multiplier symbols - reveal a multiplier worth up to x10 that multiplies each active symbol bar the Collector symbol.
Collector symbol - this adds the value of the other symbols, bar the Mini, Minor, and Major prize symbols. The top multiplier value is x10. The Mini prize symbols award 30x the bet, the Minor prize awards 100x the bet, and the Major prize awards 500x the bet. If the entire grid is covered, the Grand prize is awarded on top, which is 1000x the bet.
This game also has random multiplier symbols that come into play throughout the game in the region of 2x to 100x. These can be combined in strings to form even bigger multipliers.
Finally, this game has a bonus buy feature which allows you to purchase access to the Hold and Spin feature. However, it is not available in the UK.

Conclusion

You'll love this game if you are into Candy Crush style slots with cascading reels and scatter pays. Although there is no getting away from the feeling that this is a bit of a copycat slot, it is at least a pretty good one with a great top prize. The win potential isn't as good as it could be, though, considering the poor RTP and the very high volatility.