The Haunted Circus

Overview of The Haunted Circus

Hacksaw Gaming, a developer based in Malta, has rolled out another slot in order to expand their gaming portfolio. Originally starting out by creating online scratch cards, Hacksaw Gaming made the leap and began to produce charming slots, debuting with Stick ‘Em, a pleasing slot for the player. Since the Hacksaw has gone on to develop and produce some of the largest and best fixed jackpot slots in the gambling world to date.

Cubes, their last release, turned out to be a hit for the studio and saw them produce The Haunted Circus, with it’s main selling proposition being the huge fixed jackpot of €2.5 million. Not the largest available to the player, but it does offer some impressive wins which make it attractive to the hopeful players.

At first the haunting is difficult to detect, since the Haunted Circus is not a slot that makes you jump out of your skin. The creep for this slot is more subtly with little in the way of spooky stuff in the base game, aside from the eerily creepy music and the designed and animated symbols, such as eyeballs. The spook-level picks up in the bonus game when the slot shifts into a different gear. The overall presentation is beautiful, perhaps a little simple, but the unusual theme and sublime audio soon grow on you.

Betting range and RTP potential

The range for bets for this slot is good, starting at a mere 20 cents and increasing to an impressive €100 per spin. The base game sees the player winning in combinations from left to right, always starting on the first reel. Any row is fine, and therefore 1,024 ways are offered for the player to win across.

For a game boasting some impressive wins for the jackpots, the RTP clocks in at 94.83% which is low. Not outrageously low in comparison to some, but it is low. However this is a given due to the top prize on offer.
The volatility of the slot is in the medium to high range and Hacksaw themselves have rated the slot as 4 out of 5, along with a remarkably high hit frequency of 36.35%.

For a game boasting some impressive figures, let’s take a look at the more regular stats. Because this is a jackpot slot, brace yourself for an RTP clocking in at 94.83%. It’s low, but not outrageously so, given the top prize on offer. Volatility, meanwhile, is in the medium/high range, Hacksaw themselves rating it 4 out of 5, along with a remarkably high hit frequency of 36.35%.

Symbols and Design

The design of this slot, when viewed on a desktop, sees the player looking at a 5-reel, 4-row grid that is seen through a keyhole. What you can see looks like an old circus from the Victorian era. The classic kind where strongmen would wear leopard print tights and have twirling moustaches as they lift weights above their heads, or where acrobats would be thrown from rope to rope in the air, wearing stunningly designed costumes. If in doubt, think a spooky Greatest Showman.
The symbols that the player gets to play with is a mix of royals, which are A, K, Q, J, and 10. These are shown in a circus-style Wild West fonts which transform incredibly when created as part of a winning combination.

The four premiums follow, with a bearded lady, a green clown, a snake-charming woman and finally the classic strongman. Values are a little unorthodox with the range being 0.5x and 2.5x. Symbols values are low primarily due to the way that the wild works on the reels. The wild will change into a multiplier of x2, x3, x4 or x5 when activated as part of a winning combination. More than one multiplier can be activated at any given time and this will see the multipliers multiplying together, giving a maximum of 625 times the stake with multipliers.

Bonus Wheel and more

The circus vibe may be fun, but that happens outside the borders of the tent is the main attraction. Landing 3 or more of the scatters on the reels will see the gameplay taken into some spooky tree-covered area, where a bonus wheel will be provided.
The bonus wheels have 3 tiers, offering prizes of increasing value. Each of the tiers award the player with free spins, cash win multipliers or an arrow. Landing this arrow will send you to the next tier and if you managed to land on three arrows in a row, you will land the €2.5 million jackpot prize. This bonus game has odds of 1 in 93 to be triggered as you spin.

If you land a multiplier, a fixed win will be paid, and then play will move back to the main game. Hitting the free spin feature will see you return to the reels with a free spin mode. The Free Spin mode will add even more wild multipliers and an additional scatter symbols. Three scatter symbols will win 5 more free spins and can be retriggered up to 10 times, giving you 50 free spins. The odds of triggering the free spins feature in the bonus wheel is around 1 in 247.

Concluding Haunted Circus

From scratch cards to the largest fixed pay outs in the business, Hacksaw Gaming has improved incredibly. With this new slot, the Haunted Circus, they bring about the fixed jackpot of €2.5 million. This on its own is reason enough for any keep jackpot hunter to adventure into the tent of the Haunted Circus.

The Haunted Circus is a very conventional and non-quirky slot that Hacksaw Gaming has produced and, while it is not the most unique, it does give the player the potential for up to 10,000 times the stake when they play.