Dorks of the Deep

Dorks of the Deep Review

With “dorks of the deep state” being exposed in record numbers across US departments these days, Hacksaw’s quirky Dorks of the Deep game is a perfect escape from the turmoil in today’s polarized political landscape. This charming, cartoon-style release plays out on a 5x4 grid placed in temple ruins at the bottom of the sea, flanked by a white-beared Sea King holding his trident while standing firm on his octopus legs.

The Sea King looks like a mix of Poseidon and Santa Claus, while also serving as the top-tier pay symbol. He’s followed by a mermaid character, cute sea turtles, wild-eyed sharks, and goofy blowfish in the paytable line-up. You win by landing 3 to 5 matching symbols across up to 14 paylines starting from the leftmost reel, with the premium symbols awarding 4x to 20x your stake for 5 of a kind. The low-value royal symbols, encapsulated in bubbles, pay 1.6x to 3x your stake for the same.

Dorks of the Deep Slot - Reels Screen

Wild symbols take center stage in Dorks of the Deep slot, with a regular Wild symbol substituting for pay symbols while also paying the same as the Sea King if 5 wilds appear on a payline. However, it’s the Treasure Chest Wilds that steal the show, expanding to cover full reels while also revealing a multiplier of up to x200 per wild. These are additive wilds, by the way, meaning that massive multiplier boosts are possible in all stages of the game.

With an above-average top-tier RTP of 96.2 %, a decent hit rate of 35 %, and medium volatility, Dorks of the Deep is a more forgiving experience than most Hacksaw slots. It’s not without teeth, however, and you can look forward to 3 bonus round tiers, each with progressively better upgrades to the expanding wilds feature. So, set your bet level between €0.1 and €100 per spin, choose between 2 turbo mode options, and see how deep you can go in your hunt for that 10,000x win cap.

Dorks of the Deep Features

You’ll benefit from both regular and expanding multiplier wilds in Dorks of the Deep Hacksaw, and the expanding wilds feature is improved with each bonus round tier. Let’s dive in to take a closer look at how it all works!

Expanding Wild Reels

Treasure Chest symbols expand into a full-reel Wild symbol, but only if this means a win is created. The full-reel Wild displays 1 of 3 characters, each awarding a random multiplier from the following ranges:

• Octopus - awards a random wild multiplier between x2 and x9.
• Mermaid - awards a random wild multiplier of x10, x15, or x20
• Ocean King - awards a random wild multiplier of x25, x50, x100, or x200.

The multiplier boost applies to all wins the expanding wild partakes in. If more than one expanding wild partakes in the same win, the multiplier values are added together before being applied. Expanding wilds, like regular wilds, substitute for any pay symbol to help complete wins.

Deep Blue Free Spins

The Deep Blue Bonus Round triggers when you land 3 FS scatters in view, awarding 10 free spins. Treasure Chest symbols always expand to become Full Reel Wilds during the bonus, remaining sticky for 0 to 3 spins as indicated by the lives tally displayed on the wild. The expanded Wild multiplier varies randomly with each new free spin, with all 3 characters available to be drawn.

The Last Chance feature triggers if you have at least one expanded Wild Reel with lives left on the final free spin. This awards extra respins of the remaining reels until no more Wild Reels are present, meaning new Wild Reels can land to prolong the feature. You can also win +2 and +4 extra free spins by landing 2 or 3 FS scatters.

Down Under Free Spins

The Down Under Bonus Round triggers from 4 FS scatters on the same base game spin, awarding 10 free spins. This bonus plays out similarly to the Deep Blue feature, with the added benefit that Wild Reels cannot downgrade to lower character tiers than the one initially revealed when sticky for more than one free spin.

Hidden Treasure Free Spins

You need to land 5 FS scatters in the base game to trigger the Hidden Treasure Bonus Round, also awarding 10 free spins. It plays out like the Down Under feature, but with at least 2 Wild Reels guaranteed for the duration of the feature.

Dorks of the Deep Bonus Buy (not UK)

The Bonus Buy menu offers both ante bet and bonus buy options for eligible players, and here’s an overview:

• BonusHunt FeatureSpins - pay 3x your stake to boost your bonus round chances by 5 times.
• Bubbly FeatureSpins - pay 60x your stake for a spin with 2+ guaranteed Treasure Chests (that may or may not expand into wilds depending on if a win is created).
• Deep Blue Bonus Round - pay 100x your stake to get this bonus round.
• Down Under Bonus Round - is yours for the price of 200x your stake.

Theme & Graphics

Dorks of the Deep is a fitting title for this game, clearly developed by the team Hacksaw has dedicated to quirky, lighthearted slot releases. The soundtrack is simple but charming, and both the sea creatures and humanoid characters are, well, dorky. An octopus and the Sea King character are flanking the reels, the latter with a funny “I heart mom” tattoo on his chest like a proper sailor. With schools of fish swimming by in the background and bubbles rising towards the surface, Dorks of the Deep’s cartoonish water world presentation is both lively and engaging.

Pros and Cons of Dorks of the Deep

Our Verdict

Hacksaw has their quirky side and their dark side, and Dorks of the Deep is more lighthearted also when it comes to volatility. Scoring 3 out of 5, this medium volatile game is not necessarily as innocent as it looks. You are still dealing with a Hacksaw release after all, but it’s not as brutal as many of their darker games. The base game is simple enough, with the main focus being on landing expanding wilds via the treasure chest symbol.

Expanding wilds with random multipliers is hardly groundbreaking in any way. However, with additive multipliers of up to x200, massive wins are possible in all stages. In my experience, the base game is not as potent as many of the more volatile Hacksaw releases. Instead, you get regular smaller to decent top up wins to keep you going toward the next bonus round, which is to be expected from a medium volatile game.

One thing that’s been bothering me for a while is the lack of transparency when it comes to bonus round hit rates. Hacksaw is offering the BonusHunt FeatureSpins ante bet option in most of their games, so it would be a good idea to also disclose the organic bonus round hit rate (and preferably for each bonus tier). That being said, the lower-tier feature seems to trigger regularly in Dorks of the Deep slot, but it’s a bit strange that the top-tier Hidden Treasure Bonus is not available in the bonus buy menu.

The bonus round ups the ante with semi-sticky wild reels, and full-reel multiplier wilds can wreak havoc to the tune of 10,000x your stake. The Last Chance feature will sometimes come in handy, but don’t expect to see this feature all that often. Not being able to upgrade to the next bonus round tier within each bonus is a bit of a disappointment, to be honest, but hardly a deal breaker. Overall, Dorks of the Deep delivers quirky and charming gameplay with the potential for solid wins despite mid-level volatility.