Itero: Slot Overview

To borrow from Nietzsche, here's a question: if you were offered the chance to live your life again and again, in exactly the same way, down to the smallest detail, for eternity, would it be a blessing or a curse? According to one interpretation, those who answer yes, have embraced their lives, the good, the bad, the ugly, and owned it. Or, as the German philosopher said, 'how well disposed would you have to become to yourself and to life to crave nothing more fervently than this ultimate eternal confirmation and seal?' Developer Hacksaw Gaming may well have been grappling with this concept, or something similar, when they designed Itero, a game that lets players repeat an aspect of the past with a new mechanic called EchoSpins – available in the base game and in two bonus rounds.

Itero, a Latin word meaning 'to repeat', certainly puts on philosophical airs when it loads. The game uses a similarly dark palette to Hand of Anubis but has a very different mood to the other's heavy Egyptian afterlife vibe. Itero is more introspective and takes place in a grey/black classical setting, with a flowing piano-led soundtrack which would be perfect for a montage clip of modern life images. With a classical Roman focus, statues appear as symbols on its 5x4 game grid, with splashes of bright neon colour sprinkled throughout, breaking up what might have been an overly dour atmosphere without it.

Now, for some numbers, starting with RTP, which is configurable, and has a maximum value of 96.18%, when playing in regular mode. If bonus buys are available for you, then the figure will change as you will see further below. As per usual with Hacksaw volatility is high, with the studio rating it 5 out of 5, meaning sessions which dip and dive as wildly as any other.

Playable from 10 p/c to $/€100 per spin, the game comes with hit rate of 29.38%, whilst wins occur when matching symbols land left to right from the rightmost side on any of the 20 paylines. Roman fonted 10-A symbols are used as the low pays, worth 1-2x the bet for five of a kind, whereas five busts are used as the highs, worth 4-10x the stake for a line of five. Three-headed dog wilds land in any reel to substitute the normal pays and are worth 10x the bet if five wilds land along a payline.

Itero: Slot Features

Itero sees the introduction of a new respin mechanic from Hacksaw called EchoSpins. This triggers in the base game or in either bonus game, called Wrath of Jupiter and Gift from the Gods.

EchoSpins

EchoSpins are a form of respin where the original triggering spin is repeated. When a Hand of Jupiter symbol hits at the same time as at least one winning payline, EchoSpins are awarded. The Hand of Jupiter symbol reveals a number from 1 to 8, equating to the number of won EchoSpins. There is an important addition: 2 types of Multiplier symbols also land on the reels. These are Additive Multipliers of x2, x3, x4, x5, or x10, and Multiplicative Multipliers of x2 or x3. If EchoSpins trigger with multiplier symbols in view, they are collected by a global win multiplier which is applied to the total line wins. The collection is repeated on each EchoSpin, too. For example, if 2 EchoSpins are won, with an x2 and x5 Additive Multiplier in view, the win on the first respin is multiplied by x7, then on the second respin by x14. Multipliers are only applied to wins during EchoSpins.

Wrath of Jupiter

This bonus is awarded when exactly 3 scatter symbols are in view. During the feature, there is a higher chance of hitting Hand of Jupiter symbols, with a better chance for more EchoSpins and greater multipliers. The win multiplier resets at the end of an EchoSpins sequence.

Gift from the Gods

In this bonus, awarded when 4 scatter symbols hit, any multiplier symbol that lands is saved by the total win multiplier. The next time EchoSpins are triggered, the accumulated multiplier applies to the repeat wins. After an EchoSpins sequence ends, the win multiplier resets.

Buy Bonus

Players with access to the Buy Bonus button can buy the highly volatile Wrath of Jupiter for 129x the bet (RTP 96.2%) or 200x the bet for the very highly volatile Gift from the Gods (RTP 96.25%).

Itero: Slot Verdict

From its name to the focus on cultural icons of a classical era, Itero is a very unique experience. Some games go for a visceral gut-punch approach, whereas Itero stirs something intellectual as well. It has an unusually highbrow element, provoking ideas most slots don't, while also capable of producing white knuckle moments. You have to hand it to Hacksaw; again, they are doing stuff no one else is. It's amazing when you think of their journey from earlier releases like Om Nom, a fun handheld game about junk food, to Itero, a Latin titled slot that explores the mysteries of time in a philosophical setting. The creativity the studio displays, their curiosity to explore a broad range of themes is breathtaking, and an ideal antidote for an industry flooded with a fair share of unimaginative mediocrity.

What's equally impressive is that Hacksaw is just as good as pushing out new gaming concepts, and EchoSpins is another intriguing one - similar in spirit to 4ThePLayer's 10x Rewind, though different in practice. Like a lot of things Hacksaw does, EchoSpins are definitely volatile. One of the first times we encountered the mechanic, it coughed up like four solidly multiplied respins. Not too shabby an introduction to the concept. They vary widely, though, from repeat 0.1x wins with no multiplier to bigly stacked multipliers. Relating it back to Nietzsche's question, excellent EchoSpins you want to repeat, low-value ones, meh. There is something highly satisfying about winning a handful of EchoSpins with a couple of multiplier symbols in view, knowing that each win from then on is just going to get better and better. EchoSpins didn't tend to be very common in the base game, so bonus buys may be a temptation. We did experience a Gift from the Gods bonus round that built a multiplier from start to end but dropped no Hand of Jupiter symbols to use it, so tread carefully. When put to good use, however, Itero can crank out wins worth up to 10,000 times the base bet.

Itero is not a beer and pretzels slot you fire up to feel cheerful. It's got more depth than that and might take a bit of effort from the player to extract full enjoyment. Like riddling out a philosophical conundrum, if you can work through a virtual 'dark night of the soul' and emerge victorious, Itero can be a hugely thrilling game, entertaining in its unique way.