Blademaster: Slot Overview

Blademaster comes from Hacksaw Gaming buds Backseat Gaming; a new provider with four games under its belt at the time of writing. This particular title focuses on combat with a fantasy flavour and boasts features such as the Blademaster, free spins with a global multiplier as well as a bonus buy option.

A fantasy, stabby, swords 'n axes type slot is what Backseat Gaming has created for Blademaster to populate. The base game is a mountain village scene where huts are built from lashed-together bits of wood with horns about the place. Orcs appear to be the main inhabitants around here, and there don't seem to be any humans attacking or being attacked by them, surprisingly. Blademaster has a Warhammer/World of Warcraft vibe going on that gamblers who are also into fantasy gaming may appreciate. Or anyone thrilled by the prospect of trying an orc slot.

Backseat Gaming does like their 5x5 reel and row combinations, which Blademaster possesses, crossed by 19 paylines. Winning combinations are made when matching symbols land left to right from the leftmost side of the grid. Behind the scenes lies a medium volatile math model (rated 3 out of 5), producing a default RTP of 96.29%. Players may stake 10 c to $/€100 on each spin, and there is a buy bonus should anyone want to skip the base game.

For pay symbols, Blademaster has 10 through Ace card ranks made to look like metal on wood as the low pays, and 4 orcish character symbols as the high pays. When landing winning combinations of 5 matching royals, the payout will be 1 times the bet, no matter the symbol type or 10 to 15 times the bet for the high pay symbols. Wilds pay more at 20 times the bet for a 5 OAK hit and a present on all reels, able to substitute for any regular pay symbol.

Blademaster: Slot Features

In this arena, Blademaster arms itself with the Blademaster feature, free spins with a global multiplier, and a buy feature.

Blademaster

The Blademaster feature can occur at random in the base game and in free spins. When triggered, 2 to 5 wild multipliers appear on the reel – 1 per reel at the most. In the base game, the multiplier values can be x2, x3, x4, x5, or x10. If the Blademaster triggers in free spins, the sum of the wild multipliers is equal to the total of the Global Multiplier. Wild multipliers multiply any winning combinations they are part of. Should a winning combination have more than one wild multiplier in it, the values are multiplied by each other then applied to the win.

Free Spins

Players win 10, 12, or 14 free spins when 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols land at the same time in the base game. Landing blue flags during the round boosts the Global Multiplier by +2, +3, +4, +5, or +10. The Global Multiplier starts at x2 and can be increased up to a maximum of x50. Each free spin has a wild multiplier equal to the Global Multiplier appearing on one random reel unless the Blademaster feature triggers. When the Blademaster feature is activated, the Global Multiplier is split into 2 to 5 wild multipliers – their combined value is equal to the Global Multiplier. Hitting 3 scatter symbols in the round awards +5 extra free spins.

Buy Bonus

Players may buy access to the free spins round for the cost of 100 times the bet. When buying free spins, the RTP is slightly higher at 96.3%.

Blademaster: Slot Verdict

One cool thing about Backseat Gaming so far is that the studio has proven willing to swing from theme to theme without showing a major preference nor clinging to tried-and-true cliches. From Sleepy Grandpa to the snakes of Lord Venom, and now fantasy orcs. No subject matter appears to be off the table, for now at least, which is an appreciable trait. The same doesn't quite go for the features and gameplay to the same extent. Whilst Backseat Gaming has striven to offer different gameplay experiences, the features they've come up with so far haven't been the most exciting in the grand scheme of things. Not writing them off or anything, but Blademaster is another one that struggles to stand out of the towering shade Hacksaw Gaming casts over it.

The base game, for one, could wallow in a repetitive drag. The Blademaster feature is technically available in the main game, but it was rare, at least, it was in the review, so maybe incorporating FeatureSpins the way Hacksaw Gaming slots often do might have lifted the enjoyment levels. The free spins hit frequency might have made for intriguing reading as well because hitting them naturally might take significant amounts of time. In saying that, the Blademaster feature could rip the board apart, as attested by a near 1,000x hit, which exploded out of nowhere in the base game. Blademaster's 13,000x the bet max win looked more doable after that occurred.

Reviewing Blademaster was an up-and-down ride which started positively, stalled in the middle, but ended on an ok note. There is drama here, and kudos to Backseat Gaming for being curious when it came to theme selection, yet it is also a game with possibly significant wait times before any sort of frenzied slashing occurs.