Free slot: Stack Em

How Stack'EM works

In the middle of a forest there is a little yellow man with a bright smile, recognisable by his black hat and white shoes. This little man is accompanied by a little rat and the two living beings seem to be looking for the lost treasure in the middle of these trees surrounded by mountains. It is with this particular universe with its ever so sublime decorations that the slot machine supplier has decided to release its new slot Stack'EM.

When you go to this slot, you will immediately recognize that you are on a slot from Hacksaw Gaming. Decorations, music, themes, but especially the way of playing, the slot machines of this group are easily recognizable. A 6x5 starting grid, i.e. 5 vertical columns for 6 horizontal columns, awaits you on this slot.

The connections work in an adjacent manner and as soon as a connection is made, it moves on to the next round. Unlike other slot machines where connections are cascaded, Stack'EM works in a very classic way.

A feature in the basic game is available as well as bonus games which we will come back to in a few lines.

During your pay games, a feature can be triggered on every spin. As soon as a connection occurs, all symbols that connect will remain on the slot machine and those that do not connect will disappear. Multipliers will appear at the bottom of your starting grid. The multiplier that is displayed will vary depending on the number of symbols in a column.

Thus, as you can see in the following screen, the columns with x2 multiplier have two symbols while the one with x1 multiplier has only 1 symbol.

The multipliers increase each time the same symbol connects. The round only ends when no more connections are available.

This feature in the base game is the only one that works in cascades, meaning that all symbols that don't connect disappear from the slot to make new symbols appear.

The different symbols of Stack'EM

Stack'EM is a slot machine with many different symbols. Firstly, there is the wild symbol which connects with all the other symbols in the slot. Each time it connects, the wild symbol takes the value of the symbol in question.

Then you have 6 premium symbols. These are called premium symbols because they appear less often on the slot machine, but pay more consistently. They are represented by: a snake on a red and yellow background and a white thumb.

The starting bet in the following screen is €1.

The other four premium symbols are represented by :

• The letter T ;

• A plant leaf;

• A dead bird with a knife in its body on a blue background;

• A human skull on an orange background.

The starting stake is also €1.

Then there are 4 non-premium symbols. These are so called because they appear more often on the starting grid, but pay less, as you can see in the following screen where the starting stake is also €1.

These symbols are represented by letters of the alphabet: A, G, E and R.

The different connections of Stack'EM

Stack'EM is a slot machine that works with adjacent or touch connections. This means that for a connection to occur, the same symbol must touch each other at least 5 times vertically and/or horizontally.

For those who do not understand the principle of these connections, the following screen will explain perfectly how they work.

The top grid represents a valid connection where at least 5 symbols touch, while the bottom grid shows an invalid connection.

The more a symbol is present on your starting grid and touches other similar symbols, the bigger your final win will be.

How the Stack'EM bonus works

Stack'EM is a slot machine with a bonus feature. To trigger it, you need to get at least three times the "FS" symbol with a little rat on it. When this symbol appears three times in one spin, the slot machine will award you 5 free spins.

Forget the basic game, the bonus games work in a completely different way. Each time a connection is made, the multiplier on top is increased according to the number of symbols it connects.

For example, you start all your free spins with a x1 multiplier. On the first spin, 10 symbols connect. At the end of your spin, the slot machine will collect these 10 connections and add them to the multiplier to raise it to x11. On a non-paying spin, the multiplier stays the same.

What makes this bonus very volatile is the 'x' symbol that can appear on any spin. So, as soon as the 'x' symbol is part of a connection, then it multiplies the connection win by the multiplier on top of the slot machine.

In the following screen, the symbols that connect to each other will be multiplied by x38.

It is important to note that if a connection occurs, but the 'x' symbol is not part of the connection, then you only win the connection without being entitled to the multiplier.

During the free games, a "? "symbol may also appear on any spin. This symbol is very important, as it gives you several different features. So, as soon as it appears, this symbol can potentially give you :

• Between 2 and 5 free spins in addition;

• Add +1, +2, +5, +10, +25 or +50 to your multiplier;

• Multiply your multiplier by x2, x3, x4 or x5.

Our opinion on Stack'EM

With a simple, yet very clean design, an engaging soundtrack and an original concept, Stack'EM is a beautiful creation from Hacksaw Gaming. During the base game, this slot can pay you a lot of money thanks to the feature. But it is the free games that make this slot extremely volatile. Indeed, when playing Stack'EM, you can win up to 10,000 times your initial bet. If you don't want to farm the bonus, you can buy it for 129 times your original bet.

However, Stack'EM is a slot machine that contains a big black marker: its RTP (theoretical return to players). Indeed, the latter is only 92%, which ranks this slot machine far below the average of other slots on the market.

Although the concept of this slot is original and its volatility is extreme, its low RTP compared to the winning potential makes it much less interesting.