Wicked Grin Slot Review
A skeleton in red shorts and white gloves stands at the edge of the reels, one finger raised, eye sockets glowing red over a checkerboard floor that fades into the corners. Wicked Grin looks like a scratched 1930s animation cel, and it’s built around one uncompromising idea: nothing on the five reels matters until something reaches the bottom row.
That’s the whole design, and Hacksaw Gaming commits to it. The fruit tumbles are just the waiting room; when a grinning skull parks itself on the bottom row, it takes over an entire reel and turns it into Coins or a Multiplier. It makes for one of the more readable Hacksaw coin games, because its two bonuses build value in genuinely different ways rather than offering the same round twice.
It runs at 96.27% RTP with medium volatility, on a 5×5 grid where wins need six or more matching symbols anywhere, and the ceiling is 10,000x your bet. Stakes run from 0.10 to 100 per spin.
It sits in familiar company. Fans of Le Vampire and Le Granny will recognise the wait for special symbols to transform parts of the grid, and there’s a family resemblance to 3 Magic Piggy Banks Hold & Win in how central Coin values are to everything, though this is no traditional Hold & Win.
The bottom row decides whether a spin matters. Everything else follows from that.
Base Game & Features
Wins pay as scatter-style clusters: six or more matching symbols anywhere on the 5×5 grid. After every win the winning symbols are removed and new ones drop in, and the tumbles keep going until no new wins form.
The fruit symbols keep the visuals deliberately simple, which matters once a Grin expansion fills the screen with Coins and Multipliers. The base game has quiet patches. Tumbles give small spins a chance to run on, but the spin only really matters when a Wicked Grin or Epic Wicked Grin symbol lands on the bottom row.
Once one does, that reel is about to change completely.
Expanding Wicked Grin Coins
Any Grin symbol parked on the bottom row waits until wins have been settled, then takes over its reel, converting everything on it into Coins or a Multiplier. The Epic version is the chain reaction: once it stretches out, every other Grin on the grid follows suit and stretches out too.
One symbol on the right row can rebuild half the screen. That second stage is what the whole game hangs on.
Coin Values
All Coins pay as a multiple of your bet, and the tiers are wide apart at the top:
- Bronze Coins: 1x, 2x, 3x, 4x
- Silver Coins: 5x, 6x, 7x, 8x, 9x
- Gold Coins: 10x, 20x, 30x, 40x, 50x
- Diamond Coins: 100x, 150x, 250x, 500x
- Multipliers: x2, x3, x4, x5, x10, x20
The Multiplier rule takes a moment to learn. Rather than boosting the whole screen, a Multiplier’s value is added to the Coins stacked above it plus qualifying Coins on neighbouring reels. Multipliers can’t appear on the top row.
After a few activations the positioning makes sense, though a first-time player will briefly wonder why some Coins are affected and others aren’t.
Spreading FS Symbols
Free spins are earned through scatter symbols that also live on the bottom row. When at least one FS or Super FS symbol lands there, each one expands across its entire reel after wins are awarded, and every covered position carries a number of free spins worth 1, 2 or 3. Add them all up and that’s your spin count.
There are limits on how often this happens: no more than two FS or Super FS symbols share the grid, and the two types never mix.
Wicked Grin Bonus Features & Free Spins
There are two separate bonus games, and they play differently enough that choosing between them is a real decision. Both activate with 5-30 free spins and both keep the base game mechanics running underneath.
Both can extend themselves, too. A fresh expanding scatter mid-round is worth another 5 to 15 spins per symbol, capped at 30 on top of the original award.
Stash N Stack
One expanding FS scatter in the base game opens this round. Above each reel sits a Stash holding a Multiplier that starts at x1. Whenever a Wicked Grin symbol expands, all Coin values on that reel are multiplied by the Stash Multiplier, and the Stash then increases by 1 for the next free spin.
Watching specific reels become more valuable spin by spin gives the round a visible sense of progression.
Coin Craze
The Super FS scatter opens Coin Craze instead. Above each reel sits a Coin Collector starting at 1, and every time a Wicked Grin symbol expands, all Coin values on that reel are banked into the Collector and held there until the bonus ends.
Multipliers affect the stored values, multiplying the saved amount on that reel and adjacent reels. At the end, all Collector values are added together and multiplied by your bet. Nothing pays until the final spin resolves, which makes Coin Craze the more suspenseful of the two rounds.
A well-positioned Multiplier landing late can change the whole result, and the moment a stored total jumps without anything being paid is where the feature does its best work.
Bonus Buy & FeatureSpins
The buy menu offers four FeatureSpins options, each running its own RTP and guaranteeing certain features per spin:
- BonusHunt FeatureSpins: 3x stake, RTP 94.41%, each spin 5x more likely to trigger a bonus
- Grinny FeatureSpins: 50x stake, RTP 94.38%, guarantees a Wicked Grin symbol but FS symbols can’t land
- Stash N Stack: 80x stake, RTP 94.24%
- Coin Craze: 200x stake, RTP 94.24%
Grinny is the odd one. Because FS symbols are switched off in that mode, it isn’t a bonus route at all; you’re paying 50x per spin to chase the expansion mechanics directly, which is fun briefly and not something to leave running.
Of the direct buys, Stash N Stack at 80x is the easier one to justify, while Coin Craze at 200x is a big ask for the more exciting round.
Our Honest Verdict
Like its grinning mascot, Wicked Grin spends most of its time standing still, waiting for one well-placed symbol to set everything off. The reason to pick it over other Hacksaw coin games is that you can always see what’s happening: every Coin, every Stash, every Collector is visible on the grid, and nothing important happens off-screen.
The strength is the two bonus rounds, which build value in opposite directions and so actually feel like a choice. The weakness is everything between them. The base game leans so hard on bottom-row symbols that a dry stretch gives you nothing but fruit tumbles, and the 10,000x ceiling stays a distant number rather than a live target.
Play it if you like compact 5×5 coin games and bonuses that build over several spins, especially at the 80x Stash N Stack price. Skip it if delayed payouts frustrate you. This is a well-built, patient game: strong for its audience, middling for everyone else.
Wicked Grin FAQs
-
What is the RTP of Wicked Grin?
The default RTP is 96.27%. The Bonus Buy FeatureSpins modes each run their own RTP: 94.41% for BonusHunt, 94.38% for Grinny, and 94.24% for both Stash N Stack and Coin Craze. -
How do the expanding Wicked Grin symbols work?
When a Wicked Grin or Epic Wicked Grin symbol lands on the bottom row, it expands after all wins are handled, transforming every symbol on that reel into Coins or a Multiplier. Expanded Epic Wicked Grin symbols also trigger any other Wicked Grin symbols on the grid to expand from their positions. -
How do you trigger free spins in Wicked Grin?
Land at least one FS or Super FS scatter symbol on the bottom row. Each symbol expands across its entire reel, and every covered position shows a value of 1, 2 or 3 free spins. The total awarded is the sum of all numbers covered. A maximum of two FS or Super FS symbols can appear on the grid at once, and the two types can’t appear together. -
What is the difference between Stash N Stack and Coin Craze?
Stash N Stack multiplies Coin values on a reel by that reel’s Stash Multiplier, which then increases by 1 for the next free spin, so payouts land as you go. Coin Craze banks all Coin values into per-reel Collectors and pays everything in one sum at the end of the bonus, with Multipliers able to boost the stored amounts. -
Can the bonus games retrigger?
Yes. Landing another expanding FS or Super FS symbol during a bonus awards at least 5 and up to 15 extra free spins per symbol, up to a total of 30 additional spins. -
How do Multipliers work on the Coins?
A revealed Multiplier adds its value to all Coins above it and to Coins on adjacent reels on rows above it. It doesn’t multiply the whole screen, and Multipliers can’t appear on the top row. -
How much do the Wicked Grin bonus buys cost?
BonusHunt FeatureSpins cost 3x your stake, Grinny FeatureSpins cost 50x, Stash N Stack costs 80x and Coin Craze costs 200x. Note that FS symbols can’t land during Grinny FeatureSpins, so that mode is about chasing expansions rather than triggering a bonus. -
What is the maximum win in Wicked Grin?
The maximum win is 10,000x your bet. Stakes run from 0.10 to 100 per spin, and the game is rated medium volatility.
