Dark Summoning Slot Review

06/01/2024 | Categories: Hacksaw Gaming Slots | Published by: Joe | Last updated: 08/01/2024

Hacksaw Gaming has continued its North American expansion in late 2023 by inking a deal with Caesars Digital in Ontario. That move came a month after the company got a New Jersey license. It also entered the Croatian market in the final weeks of 2023 through the Betsson Group and its Rizk brand. Hence, Hacksaw keeps growing, and we are sure it will expand as 2024 unfolds.

The world’s most famous developer of virtual scratch cards also kept a busy game release schedule in 2023, releasing loads of games, up to four per month. In November 2023, it set loose Blocks Dare2Win, Immortal Desirre, Xmas Drop, and Dark Summoning. The latter is a title that got loads of praise in the sector, but we did not get around to reviewing it when it came out. It hit exclusive casino lobbies on November 27th, 2023, and then it got wide distribution on December 7th. It is doing well, but not overly so. Still, the critical acclaim it got upon its release made us bookmark it and ensure we eventually review it for you. So, here is our scan of Hacksaw’s Dark Summoning.

Theme & Design

Horror slots have been a thing for years. Some of the more recent better ones we have liked are Relax Gaming’s Dead Man’s Trail and Play’n GO’s House of Doom. Nevertheless, the spinners that Dark Summoning most reminded us of are Darkness from Print Studios and Nolimit City’s Blood and Shadow. Naturally, we should also mention Bloodthirst and Hand of Anubis from Hacksaw.

Hacksaw has gone with a moody setting for this game, with a subtle atmospheric electro soundtrack that only seeks to set an eerie tone that complements the dark visuals that have a 2000s color comic book vibe. For some reason, we get some arcade-style audio effects mixed with a few fitting ones. Dark Summoning does not look bad. However, we would say that it is a bit flat. And uneventful in its presentation. In truth, we hoped to get more on the audio-visual side than what we got.

The symbols here drop inside a stone portal structure with the game logo embedded in the top stone. The portal or dark gateway is flanked by two demonic creatures, and under it, you will find the standard Hacksaw Gaming button panel, with the spin and bet adjuster buttons on the right side. The bonus buy option with the three-bar settings icon is on the left, below the skeleton monk.

Dark Summoning

Specs & Gameplay

The gaming entertainment in Dark Summoning happens on a 5×6 grid with twenty-four paylines. The maximum win of this game has gotten set at x10,666, won (in theory) once in every seven million spins. The variance here is high, coupled with a hit frequency of 29% and a betting range that begins at $0.10, ending at a game-high wager of $100. The RTP of Dark Summoning can vary depending on the selected site. The return-to-player percentage of this title can be as low as 88.28% or a Dark Summoning RTP high of 96.36%. The two in-between RTP settings available are 92.22% and 94.34%.

You must land three to five identical tokens on adjacent reels (left to right) in this cascading slot to get a prize. The low-pay A-10 royals produce wins of x1 for five-of-a-kind combos. The demonic image premiums can generate rewards from x2.5 to x10 for five matching tokens from the group showing up on the same spin. The letter w made up of bones is the substitution token here, and it pays x30 when wilds stop in view on the same spin.

Bonus Features

Dark Summoning is rich with bonus features. We start rattling these off with this slot’s cascade mechanism, which it calls super cascades. It triggers when a winning combination emerges. That leads to this feature illuminating and eliminating all symbols of the same type. When that occurs, new tokens descend, opening up another opportunity for novel winning combos.

Wild multipliers play a pivotal role in this game. There are two kinds here. Blue ones appear in the base game and Rise to Salvation mode, while red wilds appear in the Trial by Hellfire round. They each carry multipliers from x2 to x100. But remember that wilds will not feature multipliers in the Rise to Salvation mode.

Will of the Order is a feature that replaces the Order symbol and other tokens, up to nine with wilds, which can get adorned with multipliers.

The Unholy Summoning feature accumulates Unholy tokens following win combos. Upon reaching three symbols, an immediate collection occurs, regardless of further wins.

Now, we move on to the more complex modes. The Trial by Hellfire Bonus activates, giving ten free spins via the collection of three Unholy symbols. Inside the round, winning positions get marked with Hellfire and initiate a Fires of Hell sequence, which morphs Unholy tokens and marked positions into wilds. Again, the substitution symbols may feature multipliers. All Hellfire gets then removed, and the sequence can last until the next cascade.

For the Rise to Salvation Bonus, collecting three Unholy symbols alongside a present Order symbol grants ten on-the-house reel rotations. Here, symbols cascade upwards, not downwards. Lost Soul symbols get introduced, staying on the grid until the mode concludes or they ascend. Lost Souls move upwards to fill empty spots created, and when they arrive at the top row, they ascend (get removed).

Two Lost Soul symbols exist. Cash Prize ones and Global Multipliers that add x2 to x100 values to the global one. Cash Prize Lost Soul Ascends supplies prizes up to x666 that can be multiplied by the global multiplier. Lastly, if you go through three subsequent losing spins. From three to five pay tokens shall disappear.

All this sounds somewhat confusing, but it makes sense in context, and everything will hopefully be clear when you play the game. Oh, and you can buy your way into the Rise to Salvation mode for x250, and you can purchase entry into the Trial By Hellfire round for x130.

GOSU Verdict

Hacksaw’s Dark Summoning is one more piece of evidence that this provider likes to diversify its catalog with uncommon themes. It also solidifies the studio’s fascination with darker motifs. While we would have liked the presentation here to be somewhat more exciting, we can’t really complain regarding the gameplay side of things. The max win potential of x10,666 is terrific, and so are the many features you get. We would say that Dark Summoning does a good job of showcasing Hacksaw Gaming’s ambition and versatility in multiple departments. Thus, we say seek it out.