Hacksaw Gaming’s The Respinners is a slot machine game based on a rock concert. Pocketz games are made with portability and a wide variety of players in mind. Designs are simple but endearing, making use of straightforward but ingenious layouts that leave you with no room for confusion. Despite their simplicity, these slots aren’t completely devoid of extras. A Crowd Goes Wild feature and Respins, which can trigger additional free spins, up the ante this time.
Realizing you’re playing a Pocketz slot machine takes about 2.7 ns. There is a distinct style to each, but they all still look like they belong together. The five reels and 1,024 ways to win grid takes up most of the screen in portrait mode on a mobile device, while the band rocks out along the top. The smaller reel set, surrounded by rigging and a cheering crowd, is revealed when the device is flipped into landscape mode.
Because this time slot centers on a band, how would you describe the sound of the band’s music? OK, it gets better than I expected. The song builds from a modest beginning, but fans of certain bass-heavy hits from the ’80s and ’90s will enjoy it immensely. The music has a mood reminiscent of the Pixies; it drifts along lazily most of the time, only picking up speed when success begins to accrue. Likewise, the transition to the minor chord is worth your time. As with the rest of the game, the soundtrack is excessively simplistic, but as befits Pocketz, it serves its purpose.
The game may be enjoyed from 20 pence up to $100 or €100 per spin on any device, not just mobile ones, despite its mobile-centric focus. Meanwhile, the return-to-player percentage (RTP) is a very respectable 96.4%, which is exceptionally high for a service of this size and scope. Although wins are common and can trigger bonus features in The Respinners, the value of the symbols is kept low to mitigate any negative impact this may have.
Various band members and musical notes are represented. Quavers, double beam notes, crotchets, semiquavers, and triple beam notes make up the low register of the piano. Payouts for three to five of a kind are uniformly between 0.05x and 0.15x. The symbols for the band’s higher-paid members come next: Wild Mike, the lead singer; the guitarist; the drummer; the guitarist-keyboardist; and the guitar. You can win between 1 and 4 times your wager if you get 5 of a kind. The wild card completes this set by standing in for any other icon. The fact that it’s rarely used is really the only thing worth mentioning about it.
Featuring the Respinners
Options while Respinners happen frequently, after every victory, to be exact. Usually, they don’t do much, but sometimes they go all the way and initiate free spins. At this concert, performance is essential. The Crowd Goes Wild bonus is a main game feature that appears at random. When this feature is activated, up to 12 additional wild symbols will be added to the reels.
Once a win has occurred with high pay band member symbols, respins will begin. If you want to keep tabs on your progress, just look for the highlighted muso above the reels. If a new combination of band members is successful, you will receive an additional respin. Repeat until no additional pairs of bandmates appear, or until all four lights are on. This triggers a bonus round of 12 free games.
There is a win multiplier associated with each member of the band during free spins. Each band member’s multiplier is applied when you land a combo, and then multiplied by +4 to determine your final score.
Results from the Respinners
Respinners is unquestionably another high-quality Pocketz slot, so it seems like Hacksaw Gaming has found a winning formula. What’s more, it serves the intended mobile audience well and works well for a wide variety of players. The Respinners is, once more, the type of game played in the crouching position of a commuter on the way to work, during breaks at work, and on the way home. It looks cheery, it has personality, playability and that recognizable Hacksaw charm. For the icing on top, potential is solid at 5,150 times the stake. Though with the way features operate, you could have a greater chance of reuniting the old high school band and winning a Grammy.
As well as the highlights there are certain irritants and difficulties that can turn players off. Let’s address the symbol values which are low, like really low. Unless you are hitting the lead singer a lot, it can feel like a whole lot of nothing is making its way to your pocket. Counterbalancing that is the number of respins you get. They don’t often lead to the full band under lights and triggered free spins, but they are frequent enough to keep hopes alive.
Funnily enough during testing, the bonus game was triggered after around 10 spins which turned into a double-edged sword. Good because it didn’t take long to get a feel for all aspects of the game, bad since The Respinners can get repetitive after you’ve seen what it’s capable of. Because everything is so light, if the game doesn’t get a hook in early, it is easy to dismiss as too lightweight.
On the other hand, for a quirky, light-hearted punt it’s hard to beat the Pocketz series. They don’t linger in your consciousness for long after you’ve finished playing, but they are slots you slip in or slip out of effortlessly. In that regard, The Respinners is as good as any other in the range, plus its soundtrack might inspire you to dust off some old LPs for a nostalgic trip down memory lane.