Dork Unit: Slot Overview

Remember when being a nerd was a bad thing, then it became kind of cool, then certain tech gurus ruined the situation for some, then, wait, did being a nerd come back into being cool again? Not sure; it's hard to keep up with public perceptions. Anyway, perhaps Dork Unit from Hacksaw Gaming will help us make up our minds. Dork Unit is a bright, colourful online slot bursting with wild multiplier Gift Boxes, Gift Bonanzas, and a Dork Spins bonus round with full reel wild multipliers.

After wading through several heavy as it gets slots from Hacksaw such as Hands of Anubis and Itero, loading up Dork Unit was like tripping over at the supermarket and landing face-first into a pick 'n' mix candy bin. Dork Unit isn't a candy-themed game, but it's got the same boldly colourful, chunky presentation going on. The music suits the goofy angle, too, helping make Dork Unit come across as some sort of 1970s kid's TV show. Not quite Sesame Street, but something like that.

Dork Unit is played utilizing a 5-reel, 4-row game grid, with 16 paylines threading their way across the panel. A little lower than usual, Dork Unit's volatility has been rated as medium (3 out of 5), and its math model produces a maximum RTP when playing in the default mode of 96.24%. Be aware that lower return models can be found. Stake selection ranges from 10 p/c to $/€100 per spin, and the game is available on all device types.

From a symbol perspective, Dork Unit is almost a fruit slot. The low pays are made up of 10-A card rank tokens, while the high pays are cherries, lemons, carrots, apples, and strawberries. Hitting a five of a kind pays 1-2x the bet for five of the low pays and 4-10x the stake for five high pays. Wilds come next.

Dork Unit: Slot Features

The three dorks of the tale are named Tiny Timmy, Hefty Hector, and Long Lenny. You won't see too much of them until Dork Spins are triggered or bought. Other attractions to scope out in Dork Unit are multiplier wild Gift Box symbols and a Gift Bonanza feature.

Gift Boxes

Gift Boxes are wild multiplier symbols that land on any reel in the base game in three forms. Standard Gift Boxes have values of x2, x3, or x4, Rare Gift Boxes have values of x5, x10, x15, or x20, while Epic Gift Boxes carry x25, x50, x75, x100, x150, or x200. Gift Boxes substitute for any pay symbol and, when used in a win, increase the value by their multiplier. If more than one Gift Box is part of a win, then the values are added together before being applied to the winning amount. Full lines of Gift Boxes are worth 10x the bet.

Gift Bonanza

Landing 3 Gift Boxes on the same spin triggers the Gift Bonanza feature. Triggering Gift Boxes turn sticky, and 3 spins are awarded. New Gift Boxes reset the spins back to 3 and also turn sticky. Wins are paid out on each spin, and the feature ends when all of the spins have been used.

Dork Spins

A clown named Lenny is the free spins scatter symbol, and landing 3 of him awards 10 free Dork Spins. In the bonus round, if Lenny lands on reels 2, 3, or 4, he turns it into a wild Dork Reel for the rest of the feature. Dork Reels are stacked wilds which also have a multiplier, depending on which Dork lands on them. Tiny Timmy has x2, 3, or x4, Hefty Hector has x5, x10, x15, or x20, whereas Long Lenny has x25, x50, x75, x100, x150, or x200. Dorks randomly land in Dork Reels on each spin. Multipliers are added together before being used when there is more than one active Dork Reel.

Buy Bonus

Press the Buy Bonus button to enter bonus mode. Here players may choose from three different ways to play Dork Unit. One is Featurespins which cost 3x the bet to guarantee a Gift Box lands on a spin (RTP 96.41%). Buying the Gift Bonanza costs 100x the bet (RTP 96.38%), or Dork Spins can be bought for 200x the bet (RTP 96.35%).

Dork Unit: Slot Verdict

If you like vibrant games, then Dork Unit's piecing palette shouldn't have trouble drawing your eye in. Its reels might look fruity, but it avoids being anything like a regular fruit slot due to the three quirky characters, the oddly curious stage location, and the singular quality of the graphics. The music is a toe-tapping tune that bops away nicely, too. All in all, Dork Unit creates a somewhat reserved yet jolly atmosphere in which to try your luck.

Turning the focus to the gaming side of things, Dork Unit's base game can be a pretty dry one, saved to an extent by the playful audio-visuals. Gift Boxes are there, though the action did lag a bit, making the Buy Bonus button appealing. If there's one thing Hacksaw Gaming knows, it's multipliers, although this time they haven't done anything particularly innovative with them. There are no mental streak respin rounds à la Chaos Crew, Hop'n'Pop splitting/progressive multipliers, or any Gladiator Legends style battling going on. No, Dork Unit is simpler than those, yet wild Dork Reels can turn the heat up when the going's good. Getting two of them on reels 2 and 3 could lead to some juicy consecutive wins, for example. Or, go one better by getting all three Dork Reels, and you could be on your way to hitting the game's top prize of 10,000x the bet. It doesn't feel like that total would be achieved in an explosively exponential manner, but rather the old-fashioned way of lining up pay symbols with the boosting power of wild multiplier reels.

Dork Unit was surprisingly bashful for a Hacksaw Gaming slot. There is a charming innocence about it, and this is Hacksaw, after all, so multipliers can provide magic moments. Yet, it did feel a little like a palette cleanser of a game, a mental refresh, before the studio gets stuck back into creating something dark, heavy, and foreboding to spook players.