Shadow Treasure

Shadow Treasure Review

Hacksaw Gaming has a new partner in their ranks, and their collaboration has already produced an interesting new slot. NowNow Gaming was founded in Cape Town, South Africa, in early 2024, and Shadow Treasure slot is their first Hacksaw-powered release. The ambient soundscape enhances the feeling of depth and space within the spooky cave temple, accompanied by an eerie swooshing sound as you spin the reels.

Two watchful gargoyle statues flank the 5x4 grid, with mysterious portal mirrors on the pillars they’re perched on. The redhead explorer hunts for treasures across 14 paylines, and landing 3 to 5 matching symbols from left to right equals a win. The unnamed female adventurer is the top-paying symbol, followed by her backpack, compass, map, and some low-value gems. The premiums pay 2x to 5x your stake for 5-of-a-kind wins, while substituting Wilds pay 10x for the same.

Shadow Treasure Slot - Reels Screen

Shadow Treasure offers a standard Hacksaw engine betting range from €0.1 to €100 per spin, allowing you to play with stakes that suit your style. The game boasts a top-tier RTP of 96.29 %, which is above the industry average. However, be aware that there's also a lower RTP version available at 94.30 %. NowNow Gaming rates the volatility of this slot as 4 out of 5, so expect some swings in your balance as you hunt for those hidden treasures.

Whenever you land a winning combination, the winning symbols are held in place, and the reels respin with no extra cost. This continues indefinitely as long as you keep adding to the win, and to top it off, you can unlock random win multipliers by filling reels with winning symbols. Only the highest multiplier applies in the base game, increasing from left to right, while reel multipliers up to x500 unlock independently in the bonus round. This is how you’re most likely to close in on the generous 12,000x max win.

Shadow Treasure Features

You get plenty of streak respins in all stages of Shadow Treasure NowNow Gaming, with random reel multiplier action to boot. Let’s explore how it all works!

Stack, Spin, Win!

All winning symbols become sticky as the remaining positions respin, and the process repeats as long as you improve the initial win and/or land new winning combos. Payouts are summed up and awarded as the streak respins feature ends, and the respins are not paid spins.

Reel Multipliers

Each reel displays a random multiplier between x2 and x500 per spin, with the multiplier values increasing towards the rightmost reel. To benefit from this multiplier system, you’ll need to fill at least one reel with winning symbols. If more than one reel multiplier is unlocked, only the highest multiplier will boost your total win. The reel multipliers are unlocked from left towards the right, regardless of which reels are filled with winning symbols.

Shadow Treasure Free Spins

You need to collect 4 scatter symbols in the meter above the grid to trigger the Bonus Round, which grants you 15 free spins. You get +5 additional free spins on top of that per additional triggering scatter, with the maximum being 45 free spins. The bonus round plays out like the base game, with sticky winning symbol streak respins, but the reel multiplier system is different.

Unlike in the base game, each reel multiplier is unlocked by filling the specific reel with winning symbols. Also, all unlocked multipliers are added together to boost your total win from each streak respins sequence. The multipliers still increase in value from left towards the right though, while displaying random values per free spin. It’s also worth noting that the reel multipliers become locked again per new free spin.

Shadow Treasure Slot - Free Spins

Shadow Treasure Bonus Buy (not UK)

Eligible players can purchase the bonus round for 100x the stake via the Bonus Buy menu. This triggers the bonus round with the minimum of 4 scatters, awarding 15 free spins with no possibility to win additional spins.

Pros and Cons of Shadow Treasure

Our Verdict

At first, I wasn't sure what to make of the name NowNow Gaming. It can easily sound like "No-No Gaming" in your head, which I initially thought was a bit off-putting. However, the more I pondered it, the more I realized its brilliance. Not only does it spell "Won-Won" backward, but it also reflects their stated South African ethos of living in the moment, with an added 'forbidden fruit' twist. It's catchy, it sticks, and so does their Hacksaw-powered debut release, Shadow Treasure. One thing that could have stuck a bit better is the redheaded explorer herself. Giving her a name and a proper backstory would have elevated the experience. Who knows, maybe this will turn into a whole series. A brief intro with a bit of narrative goes a long way in creating a memorable slot character. But that's a minor quibble. Overall, Shadow Treasure game is a well-crafted first effort, clearly demonstrating that NowNow Gaming knows what they're doing.

There's a lot to like about Shadow Treasure slot. The well-crafted visuals and soundscape perfectly capture the explorer theme, and the streak respins keep the base game engaging. Adding multipliers to the mix was a smart move, even if filling those reels with winning symbols can be tricky. The bonus round takes the excitement up a notch with its enhanced multiplier system. However, unlocking those reel multipliers can still be tough, and I had my share of frustrating bonus rounds with meager returns.

However, when those respins and multipliers conspire in your favor, things can escalate quickly. With a max win of 12,000x your stake, we have no complaints about the potential. NowNow has struck a nice balance between the tried and true respin locking win mechanic and their innovative reel multiplier system. For a debut release, this is a definite thumbs-up from me. They've given Backseat Gaming and Bullshark Games some serious competition, and I'm excited to see what they come up with next.