Sugar Teddy

Sugar Teddy Review

Playson is the latest provider to jump onto the sweet tooth bandwagon, trailing Pragmatic Play’s popular Sweet Bonanza 1000 with an eerily similar release called Sugar Teddy x1000. The candy world is not as developed in this game, though. The pink backdrop places the focus squarely on the game area and the wobbly gummy bear flanking the reels. More about him later, as he plays an important role in this game.

First, let’s cover the basics of the Sugar Teddy slot, and then we’ll get to all the good stuff. The game plays out on a 6x5 grid with a Pay Anywhere win system. In practice, this means that you win as long as at least 8 matching symbols appear anywhere on the grid. The symbols consist of various candy items, with the premium symbols standing out with their square frame of the same color as the candy depicted. These pay 10x to 50x your stake for 12+ in view, while the lower-value candy symbols award 1x to 5x your stake for the same.

Sugar Teddy Slot - Reels Screen

Unlike many scatter pay slots, you’ll actually benefit from a Wild symbol in Sugar Teddy. This W-shaped candy symbol substitutes for any regular paying symbol to help complete or improve wins. Winning symbols are removed and replaced via the Collapsing mechanic, allowing for indefinite winning streaks per round in all stages of the game. Multiplier symbols of up to x1,000 accumulate their value in the base game, boosting the total collapsing sequence win.

The bonus and super bonus rounds can trigger organically via scatter symbols, or you can get help from the Sugar Teddy character who collects all scatters. This can randomly trigger either of the bonus rounds, depending on whether you landed scatters or the super scatter. Either way, the multiplier builds without resetting in both features, with lower-level multiplier symbols eliminated in the super bonus. The RTP, volatility, and hit rate are not disclosed at this time, but the Sugar Teddy max win is 20,000x your stake.

Sugar Teddy Features

We will cover all the features in more detail below, and we would like to remind you that the Sugar Teddy free play demo is available at the top of the page. You can sample the features as much as you want, either before or after reading about them here. Let’s jump in!

Collapsing Symbols

Winning symbols are removed and replaced thanks to the Collapsing Symbols mechanic, sometimes called Cascading Symbols, Cascading Reels, or Cascading Wins. Either way, a new batch of symbols drops down to fill the empty positions after all non-winning symbols have dropped to the lowest possible position. The process repeats as long as you keep winning, allowing for indefinite winning streaks per round.

Multiplier Symbols

In the base game and during the regular bonus round, you can land multiplier symbols with the following values: x2, x3, x4, x5, x6, x8, x10, x12, x15, x20, x25, x30, x50, x100, x250, x500, and x1,000. However, in the super bonus round, the multiplier symbols range from x10 to x1,000 since the lowest multipliers are eliminated.

In the base game, the values of the multiplier symbols are added together to boost the total win at the end of the collapsing symbols sequence. In the bonus and super bonus rounds, multiplier symbols landing in a winning round are added to the Total Multiplier at the end of the collapsing symbols sequence. The Total Multiplier does not reset between rounds like in the base game, and it boosts all wins where at least one multiplier symbol appears.

Free Spins Bonus Round

Landing at least 4 scatter symbols on the same base game spin or in the same collapsing symbols sequence triggers the Bonus Round. More specifically, you win 15, 20, or 25 free spins when you land 4, 5, or 6 scatter symbols in the same round. Landing 3+ scatter symbols in the same free spins round awards +5 additional free spins. The bonus round plays out like the base game except for the non-resetting Total Multiplier described above.

Super Free Spins Bonus Round

You need at least 3 scatters plus a super scatter in the same base game round to trigger the Super Bonus Round. You get 15, 20, or 25 super free spins from 4, 5, or 6 triggering scatters, including the super scatter, and 3+ scatters in the same super free spins round awards +5 additional super free spins. The only difference from the regular bonus round is that the multiplier symbols start at x10, as the lower multipliers have been removed.

Sugar Teddy Slot - Free Spins

Sugar Teddy Feature

Scatters that land in the base game are collected by the Sugar Teddy character to the left of the reels. This may trigger the Sugar Teddy Feature, where enough additional scatters or super scatters are added to trigger either the bonus round or the super bonus round. Teddy’s color changes from blue to green to red, indicating progress towards triggering the feature.

When scatters land on reels 1 to 5 in the base game, Teddy can add enough additional scatters to trigger the bonus round with 15, 20, or 25 free spins. If you land a super scatter on reel 6, Teddy may add enough additional scatter symbols to trigger the super bonus round with 15, 20, or 25 super free spins. In addition, the Sugar Teddy Feature can add random multiplier symbols spread across the grid.

Sugar Teddy Bonus Buy (not UK)

Eligible players can purchase the bonus and super bonus rounds via the Bonus Buy menu. Simply hit the Bonus button above the Sugar Teddy character, and choose which feature you want to purchase. The price of the regular bonus round is 100x your stake, while the super bonus round costs 500x your stake. Both features trigger from a random amount of scatters, awarding 15, 20, or 25 free spins, respectively. You can also pay 50% extra per spin to activate the Extra Bet, which increases your bonus and super bonus chances by an unspecified amount.

Theme & Graphics

Sugar Teddy is a sweets-themed slot game set against a soft, radiating purple backdrop. The 6-reel grid is encased in a golden, candy-cane-bordered frame, with Teddy himself featuring on the left-hand side. He’s a gelatinous blue gummy bear with a friendly demeanor, holding a gold coin plucked from the treasure beneath him. The bubblegum soundtrack adds to the easy-going and lighthearted atmosphere, and the reels are filled with various candy items of different colors.

Sugar Teddy Free Play

If you want to take this game for a spin after reading about all the features, we have the Sugar Teddy demo available for free at the top of this review page. This is your chance to test the features for yourself, purchase the bonus and super bonus rounds as many times as you like, and find a bet level that works for your bankroll. You will get a sense of the ebb and flow of this game, which is important since the volatility is not disclosed. When you’re done with your Sugar Teddy free play session, casinos carrying this title await below the demo.

Pros and Cons of Sugar Teddy

Our Verdict

Sugar Teddy x1000 is the full title of this game, meaning Playson is not exactly shy about the fact that they have basically created a blatant Sweet Bonanza 1000 rip-off. There is no point in trying to hide the source of inspiration anyway, as Pragmatic’s original game is too popular and well-known for that to succeed. They might as well be in-your-face about it, in other words, hoping the base game multiplier symbols will be enough to reel in some players.

That being said, Playson hasn’t tried to make a bigger and bolder version with this release. It seems a bit more geared towards casual gaming than the volatile Sweet Bonanza 1000. It’s hard to tell, though, since the volatility of Sugar Teddy is not revealed, but at least that was my experience from playing hundreds of rounds. Cascading win sequences abound but seldom deliver anything too significant in the base game.

It’s enough to keep you going, though, like a trail of sugary crumbs that eventually leads to the bonus rounds. Other than the additive multipliers being available to boost wins also in the base game, Sugar Teddy offers both a regular and a super bonus round. While a super bonus round is also available via the bonus buy feature in Sweet Bonanza 1000, it cannot be triggered organically. This is a smart inclusion from Playson, which should appeal to players from regions where the bonus buy feature is not available (like the UK).

The Sugar Teddy progression feature is also a clever way this game sticks out from the source of inspiration, encouraging loyalty with a bonus or super bonus round trigger. The pace of the game is overall satisfying, and I found the mid-level turbo option to work best for this game. All in all, Sugar Teddy is an unapologetic copycat release that cleverly covers some ground that Sweet Bonanza 1000 missed. The grid is a tad smaller, as is the max win, but the organic super bonus and progression system more than compensate for these minor shortcomings.