Aztec Twist Slot Review
Hacksaw Gaming are making a lot of moves lately, with impressive innovation among their relatively small portfolio of games.
Chaos Crew continues to be revered by many as a harsh yet compelling option for those searching for the big hit, and Cubes 2 continues to amaze with it’s unique gameplay and magnified potential compared to the original.
The gameplay for Aztec Twist is also unrecognisable from Chaos Crew and the similar Forest Fortune slot that came after it, with a new mechanic that Hacksaw Gaming call Twist Spins.
The Jungle is seemingly rich with potential, with wins of up to 6,800x available, so let’s put on those hiking boots to the test and venture into ancient territory for a chance at uncovering the mighty Golden Mask
Aztec Twist Theme
The theme and design for Aztec Twist isn’t exactly the weird and wonderful art style that we saw in games like Chaos Crew, but it conveys the theme and setting of the game well.
You’ll see dense forestry and vines in the background and you’ll hear the sound of various Wildlife.
Overall the theme isn’t bad by any means, but nothing entirely breath-taking. Your attention would be better placed by taking notice of the towering reels that Hacksaw Gaming have opted with in Aztec Twist.
Before we get on to talking about what these mysterious twisting reels does, let’s look to see what kind of betting options are available in Aztec Twist
Aztec Twist: Betting and Symbols
The betting options for Aztec Twist are pretty much in line with previous games by Hacksaw Gaming, with options as low as £/€0.20 per spin and as high as £/€100 per spin.
There’s plenty of choices for those who prefer an option in between these two extremes, and good incremental increases between stakes too.
In Aztec Twist, all of the high paying symbols hold equal value.
The high paying symbols are represented by the various Tiki Symbols. Low paying Symbols are simply represented by various different shapes, and once again these too hold the same value as one another.
A hierarchy of symbols doesn’t seem that prominent in some Hacksaw Gaming games, with Cubes 2 also putting all of its symbols as equal value.
There’s a Wild Symbol, which is represented by the hand symbol. This will substitute for all symbols except for the Scatter.
Aztec Twist: The Base Game and Features
Aztec Twist is situated upon a 5×8 grid, and it uses a Cluster Pays mechanic.
In order to form a win, you’ll need to match at least 5 symbols either horizontally or vertically.
The Symbol pay outs for the higher paying symbols are as follows:
- 5-6 – 0.9x
- 7-8 – 1.8x
- 9-10 – 3.6x
- 11-12 – 7.2x
- 13-14 – 18x
- 15-20 – 36x
- 21+ – 72x
Aztec Twist lives aptly up to its name by the slightly nauseating yet interesting way in which the reels spin. Instead of your conventional drop mechanic, the reels will instead Twist on each spin.
To help you in getting those clusters formed, Aztec Twist features a Respin Feature
Aztec Twist Respins
If you land a full row of the same symbol in the Base Game, then that row and any other row that forms part of the winning cluster will remain sticky.
The ramining rows will twist, and any matching symbols that land will be added to the winning cluster.
This continues as long as the cluster continues to grow, or until no new symbols contribute towards the cluster.
Every row that is full of the same symbol will also gain a random multiplier between 2 and 5. The multiplier will be multiplied by the win amount for that cluster.
The Aztec Twist Respins feature with winning clusters ever so slightly reminds you of the cluster mechanic in Cubes 2 in the way that these will stay and grow as more symbols land.
Aztec Twist Free Spins
In order to get the Aztec Twist Free Spins, you’ll need to land at least 3 Scatter Symbols which gives you 8 Free Spins.
When entering the feature, you’ll see two cylinders over the grid, and an extra space for the Golden Mask Symbol which may appear on each spin.
The mask is split into 9 sections, and in order to activate the power of the Mask you’ll need to land a full row on every reel.
If a row of the Mask is uncovered, then you’ll be awarded 2 extra Free Spins.
The left cylinder over the reels will also start spinning, which reveals a random multiplier between 1 and 8, which will be multiplied with the value displayed on the right of the reels.
This value is then multiplied with the current bet level and awarded as a Win.
The wheel then moves to the next tier.
The Tiers on the wheel are:
- 10x
- 20x
- 30x
- 40x
- 50x
- 100x
- 250x
- 500x
Once a value has been used on the wheel, it will not appear again.
Aztec Twist: Bonus Buy
Aztec Twist is a Bonus Buy Slot, so those outside of the UK will be able to take advantage of this and jump straight in to the action at the cost of 115x your stake.
Aztec Twist: Our Verdict
Aztec Twist may not hold the formidable 10,000x win that is possible in Chaos Crew, and it doesn’t have a mammoth £/€3,000,000 fixed win capability like Forest Fortune does, but it’s still another exciting and innovative prospect from Hacksaw Gaming.
Thus far, Hacksaw Gaming have proven that they don’t like to follow the trend when it comes to Slots, with not a Megaways instalment to be seen anywhere. Their relative youth when it comes to Slot games when weighed up against the promise they’ve shown so far indicates that we can expect more good things from Hacksaw Gaming going forward.
Aztec Twist has an RPT percentage of 96.36%, but this will change to 96.57% when utilising the Bonus Buy feature.
Aztec Twist is capable of some very decent wins, with a maximum potential of 6,800x.
Grid Slots are quite competitive, there’s still a few legendary titles that outperform Aztec Twist in many different areas. Despite this, Aztec Twist is by no means mediocre, and it’s something that Hacksaw Gaming can proudly showcase in their portfolio of growing games.
