Break Bones: Slot Overview

As the game says, 'Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.' It's a brave mantra to repeat when copping verbal abuse, yet really, words can hurt a lot, and in some ways, the damage they do can bite deeper and last longer than a bruise or a broken bone. Anyhoo, let's put that behind us for now and take a look at Break Bones, an online slot from developer Hacksaw Gaming. Break Bones is a toned-down job compared to what we are used to seeing from the studio, played on a 3x3 game grid while equipping itself with Wild Multipliers, Global Multipliers, Echo Spins, free spins, and a bonus buy option.

Break Bones is like a reunion slot with a bunch of recognisable bits from previous games. One is the neon 90's house party look, with skulls, which brought to mind earlier work like Chaos Crew, for example. Break Bones has the same sort of brash, don't give a fig, in-your-face attitude. Hacksaw Gaming is good at this, and it works pretty much just as well on the smaller 3x3 format. The background is made up of a fairly simple graffiti-coated wall, and while it's not as visually arresting as something like Hand of Anubis, Break Bones has a different purpose and focus than one of Hacksaw Gaming's flagship releases. It gets the job done, prompting a hit or two on the spin button to see what will take place on the grid.

Before doing so, picking bets is in order where the options range from 10 p/c to $/€100 per spin. While lowering the grid size, the makers have reduced the volatility as well, not drastically, though the 3 out of 5, medium rating is lower than it often is from this team. The RTP comes in four forms, with the highest being 96.22% when playing in the regular non-bonus buy way. At this level, the game carries a hit rate of 38.97%, where only three-of-a-kind wins are possible.

For symbols, 8 regular pays land throughout, alongside a couple of extras – a wild, a Wild Multiplier, a scatter, and an EchoSpins symbol. Starting with the pays, J-A royals are the lower value group, while the higher value symbols are four skulls in various poses and colours. Three-of-a-kind wins pay 0.1-0.2x the bet for the royals, rising to 0.5-4x the bet for three skulls. Wilds are the bones arranged into a 'W' shape; they're able to substitute for any regular pay symbol.

Break Bones: Slot Features

Break Bones offers an interesting selection of features, most seen before but put to good use on the smaller game panel. Making up the extras are Wild Multipliers & Global Multiplier, EchoSpins, and the Bonus Game.

Wild Multipliers & Global Multiplier

When wilds hit, there is a chance they land as a Wild Multiplier with a multiplier value of x2, x3, x4, x5, x10, x25, x50, or x100. When at least one Wild Multiplier lands with at least one winning line, the multiplier values are added to a Global Multiplier. This Global Multiplier is applied to all wins on the current spin.

EchoSpins

EchoSpins are triggered when the Skeleton Hand symbol lands in view. It randomly awards 1 to 5 EchoSpins. EchoSpins are a replay of the triggering spin; any Wild Multipliers that hit during EchoSpins have their values repeatedly added to the Global Multiplier. When EchoSpins end, the Global Multiplier is reset.

Bonus Game

Hitting 3 bonus symbols awards 10 free spins. In free spins, there is a better chance of landing Skeleton Hands to trigger EchoSpins, and there is a better chance of winning more EchoSpins compared to the base game.

Where the bonus buy button is present, players have the option of buying free spins rather than triggering them naturally. The cost for doing so is 80x the stake, and the RTP increases to 96.34%.

Break Bones: Slot Verdict

Break Bonus is another instalment in Hacksaw Gaming's 3x3 Spins series, which follows on from Fruit Duel. Like Fruit Duel, it is a sort of mish-mash of components brought in from other larger games, then put through a juicer and squeezed onto a reduced playing area. Where Fruit Duel mixed Hacksaw Gaming's interest in fruit with gameplay from slots like Gladiator Legends and Warrior Ways, Break Bones gets its inspiration from entirely different sources.

Visually, Break Bones has that sort of juxtaposition of grey urban concrete and bright colours the studio likes to draw on. They do it well, too, and this method of ocular delivery fits the rebellious attitude these games tend to come with. That punky, skull, 80s vintage skater vibe, like a bunch of Santa Cruz, Powel Peralta, Vision Skateboard stickers plastered all over the back window of a beat-up station wagon. The approach works as effectively in Break Bones as it has anywhere else, and it's kind of interesting that no one has so far really 'borrowed' the look. For now, it's Hacksaw Gaming's baby.

On the gaming side of things, Break Bones is like the little brother, sister, or cousin, to the thought-provoking slot Itero with EchoSpins taking the center stage, preferably with multipliers. However, reducing the grid size has, in some ways, reduced EchoSpins' overall effectiveness, yet they can still be fun when they are repeating wins from the past while boosting them with an increasing Global Multiplier. Winning potential isn't as impressive as Hacksaw Gaming slots tend to offer, this one topping the scales at 3,333x the bet. Good for superstitious players who like the number three, we guess.

There is a sense Hacksaw Gaming achieved everything it set out to achieve with Break Bones. It's like a recap of earlier works, rolled together and compressed to fit onto a 3-reel gaming panel. Again, Break Bones was unlikely to be intended as a showpiece game, but for a pacey, simplified version of the EchoSpins with a Global Multiplier concept which is arguably easier to dip in and out of than Itero, with a whole lot of skulls, it's worth a look.