Laced Slot Review
It’s 4:20 in the morning – the air feels heavy & everything is moving slower than usual…something’s about to happen. Welcome to Laced from Shady Lady – a place where minutes stretch, ashtrays overflow, & the line between real life and whatever comes next blurs into one.
This particular ‘dude’ has been welded to the sofa for so long that the cushions have moulded to his shape. The TV murmurs in the background, the bong bubbles, and somewhere in the deep smoke, the reels begin to spin.
Buds stack like an overgrown jungle of ‘weeds’, until a single spark sends everything up in flames, causing the room to explode with colour & haze. Not every bud burns the same…some sparkle harder than the rest, & when they do, the world begins to bend. Shapes warp and elephants start to fly, but there’s no telling if it’s real or if it’s the trip messing with your head.
Since their debut release, Devil’s Finger, Shady Lady has been creating serious waves in the iGaming industry, carving out a reputation for bold & daring themes that give Nolimit City releases genuine competition. While Devil’s Finger kept things fairly PG, it didn’t take long for Shady Lady to tear up the rulebook & double down on darker, heavier themes that most developers wouldn’t indulge.
Laced is stacked with chaotic energy, built around Burning & Laced Buds that add an extra layer of intrigue to gameplay, backed up by a regular Free Spins mode and a full-throttle Super Bonus. In true Shady Lady fashion, players can also dive into the madness through several Bonus Buy options, including the usual Loot Boxes, Highlight Reels, & all-important Boosters.
With a fixed RTP of 96.12% and a high (9/10) volatility score, this game offers a generous max win potential of 20,000x your bet. Get ready to sink into a smoky, neon-lit trip and see where the haze takes us…
Base Game & Features
Laced is a highly volatile 5-reel, 6-row video slot with up to 7,776 ways to win. Winning combinations occur when 3, 4, or 5 identical symbols land on adjacent reels, starting from reel 1.
The Pink Elephant is the highest-paying symbol, followed by the Wallet, Bong, Pizza, Burner Phone, and individual Packets. At the end of a spin, each winning combination awards a fixed payout between 0.1x and 2x your bet.
Burning Buds
With each spin in the base game, multiple cell positions are covered by Bud Blockers. When a Lighter symbol hits, it will trigger the Burning Bud Feature, where a random number of Bud symbols ignite & burn away.
Each burnt Bud position reveals the same Mystery symbol, creating the chance for blazing-hot wins. In addition, certain burnt Bud positions may also reveal another Lighter symbol, sparking a second burn that transforms more Bud positions into Mystery symbols.
Laced Buds
Unlike regular Burning Bud symbols, special Laced Buds can appear in Purple or Gold across the reels. When a Laced Bud triggers, it will summon a Flying Elephant to the reels, awarding the following Modifiers:
- Purple Buds: Trigger Purple Elephants that fly in with a random Multiplier of x1, x2, or x3
- Gold Buds: Trigger Golden Elephants that carry a random Multiplier of x1, x5, x10, or x100
Once all Bud symbols have been burnt, each awarded Elephant will soar in & land on random reel positions, bringing their Multipliers into play, and acting as Wilds on the reels.
Laced: Free Spins
Landing 3 Clock Scatters anywhere in the base game triggers the Free Spins Bonus, awarding 6 Free Spins. During this session, more Laced Buds appear in view, with an increased chance of landing Lighter symbols.
Super Free Spins
Alternatively, when 4 Clock Scatters hit in the base game, the Super Free Spins Bonus triggers, awarding 8 Super Free Spins. In this mode, Laced Buds are even more common on the reels, while Lighter symbols appear with fiery frequency, giving each spin supercharged potential.
Boosters & Bonus Buy
Players may purchase any of the following Boosters & Bonus Buy options:
- Bonus Boost: Increases your chance of triggering either Bonus mode by 236% for 1.5x your bet
- Big Bonus Boost: Significantly increases your chance of triggering either Bonus mode by 1,185% for 5x your bet
- Lighter Boost: Guarantees a single Lighter symbol per spin for 25x your bet
- Bonus: Instant access to the regular Free Spins mode for 74x your bet
- Super Bonus: Guaranteed entry into the Super Free Spins mode for 237x your bet
- Bronze, Silver, Gold Bonus: Trigger either Free Spins modes with a higher tier for 127x, 347x, and 1,596x your bet, respectively
- Highlight Reels: Purchase 3 top-paying results of 100, 300, or 500 spins for 79x, 204x, and 312x your bet, respectively
- Loot Boxes: Purchase, Rare, Epic, or Legendary Loot Boxes for 186x, 344x, and 571x your bet, respectively
Laced has a maximum win potential of 20,000x your bet. If a single session exceeds this, the player returns to the base game with the qualifying amount.
Our Honest Verdict
Now that the retail frenzy of Black Friday is finally behind us, Laced takes us on a special ‘psychedelic trip’, which instantly shifts the mood from chaos to calm. Laced leans fully into its unapologetically bold theme, driven by instinctive artwork and mellow soundscapes that tie in nicely with the game’s overall presentation.
Although the game boasts 7,776 ways to win across a 5×6 format, gameplay can feel pretty stubborn. Each spin reveals multiple Burning & Laced Buds on the reels, which frequently choke off the number of ways to win per spin. Even when a Lighter symbol does finally hit, it may only burn away a single Bud.
While Burning Buds focus on unlocking additional win routes & improving connectivity, it is Purple & Gold Laced Buds that offer the most potential, offering Multipliers worth up to x100 on any winning combination involving Purple or Gold Elephants.
The Free Spins mode is where the game raises its volatility, boosting the hit rate of Laced Buds on the reels & the Lighter symbols that activate them, allowing Purple and Gold Elephants to enter gameplay with ease.
However, in Super Free Spins, Laced Buds become the more dominant ‘Bud’ on the reels, reducing the influence of standard Burning Buds & amplifying the potential over the standard Free Spins mode.
All in all, Laced is another bold & daring addition to Shady Lady’s portfolio, blending its high volatility atmosphere & feature-rich gameplay with a promising 20,000x max win potential, which puts a serious crown on the experience.
*The images found in this slot review are currently from Demo Play. On average, our reviews are written prior to the initial release date and before the game is available for real play.
