Toxic Waste

Toxic Waste (Jinx Gaming) Review

Most have heard about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but in Jinx Gaming’s third slot release, Toxic Waste, you get to meet what could be their grumpy uncle. Tetsu the Turtle turns into a martial artist of different kinds in the 3 bonus rounds, and he’s made the dark bowels of a city his home. The retro vibe is going strong in this game, and Tetsu is an old-school dude who loves to eat pizza and play video games on his Game Boy-like device. If you look closely, you can see that one of his favorite games is Jinx’ own zombie-themed debut slot Dead Headz.

Toxic Waste plays out on an 8x8 grid with a Cluster Pays winning system, meaning you win when symbols connect vertically and/or horizontally anywhere in view. Winning requires a cluster of at least 8 matching symbols, with the paytable capping its max rewards at 22 symbols, even if a larger cluster lands on the grid. The already mentioned “video game” is the lowest-paying symbol, followed by an old-school cassette tape, a remote control, soda cans, an old TV, a radio, a Game Boy-like device, and a pizza. The 4 lower-value symbols all pay 5x your stake for 22+ in a cluster, while the 4 higher-value symbols pay 10x your stake for the same.

Toxic Waste Slot - Reels Screen

Winning symbols are removed and replaced thanks to the cascades mechanic, allowing winning streaks to stretch indefinitely per round in all game stages. All positions with removed symbols are upgraded with x2 multipliers, and these double for each subsequent win they are part of. However, only the largest multiplier is applied to the win for each cluster, which is worth noting. Wild symbols can appear anywhere and on any cascade, substituting for pay symbols to help complete or improve winning clusters. You also get a 3x3-sized position multiplier upgrade per spin, randomly placed on the grid.

This 3x3 position multiplier is known as "Chemical Spill," and it also appears in all 3 bonus round tiers. The first bonus round tier makes the doubling position multipliers persistent for the duration of the feature, while the second tier preloads position multipliers via a hold & win pre-bonus. The third tier starts the bonus round with all positions upgraded with an x2 multiplier. All 3 features can be purchased via the bonus buy feature, if allowed in your region. Toxic Waste is a high volatility (4/5) slot game, featuring RTP settings of 96.34% or 94.22%, a hit frequency of 35.3%, a bet range of £0.10 to £100, and a max win of 10,000x your stake.

Toxic Waste Features

Before we give you a more comprehensive overview of all the features, we would like to take this opportunity to remind you that the Toxic Waste free play demo is available at the top of this page. Head up there after finishing the review and sample the features for yourself. Let’s get started!

Cascades

The Cascades mechanic kicks in whenever you land at least one cluster win on the grid, removing all winning symbols. The gaps are then filled by a new batch of symbols after the remaining symbols have dropped to their lowest possible position. This process repeats as long as you keep forming new winning clusters, allowing for indefinite winning streaks in all game stages.

Chemical Spill & Multiplier Spaces

All winning clusters removed via the Cascades mechanic get an x2 multiplier added to the empty positions. The value of multiplier positions is doubled for each subsequent winning cluster removal above them, up to a maximum of x2,048. However, only the highest multiplier touching a winning cluster will boost the win, not all of them. At the start of each spin, a 3x3-sized Chemical Spill is added randomly to the grid, adding x2 multipliers to the affected positions.

Biohazard Bonus

Toxic Waste Slot - Biohazard Bonus Screen

The Biohazard Bonus Round triggers when you land 3 scatter symbols anywhere in view on the same spin or within the same cascading sequence. You start with 8 free spins, and landing 3+ scatters in any of the 3 bonus rounds awards 4 additional free spins. In all 3 bonus rounds, multiplier positions are not removed between spins like they are in the base game. Also, you get a chemical spill of 3x3 multiplier positions per spin in all 3 bonus rounds, just like in the base game.

Radioactive Bonus

You need 4 scatters in view to trigger the Radioactive Bonus Round, and this feature starts with a pre-bonus hold & win round to build multiplier positions. You get 3 respins in the counter, and only blanks or x2 position multipliers land. Each time you land a new multiplier, the respins counter resets to 3 again. The feature goes on until you either fill all positions with x2 multipliers or land 3 consecutive spins with only blanks. The bonus round then starts with the accumulated multiplier positions carried over, and you get 8 free spins.

Contamination Bonus

The Contamination Bonus Round triggers when you land 5 scatters in the same base game round, awarding 8 free spins. The feature plays out like the Radioactive Bonus Round, but without the hold & win pre-bonus. The reason being that you don’t need it since the grid is already full of x2 multiplier positions as the Contamination Bonus Round starts.

Bonus Buy (not UK)

The Bonus Buy menu is available in certain regions, and it allows eligible players to purchase the Biohazard bonus round for 100x the stake, the Radioactive bonus round for 200x the stake, and the Contamination bonus round for 300x the stake. A triggering spin follows each purchase, and it’s possible to land more scatters than the guaranteed minimum.

Theme & Graphics

Toxic Waste has a strong retro vibe with its monochromatic color scheme and dark, comic book-style visuals. You get to meet an angry turtle that lives in the sewers, and he dresses up as a karate master, a ninja, or a samurai, depending on the bonus round tier. The only time you see him smile is when the bonus round triggers or when you land a larger win. The radioactive green game logo pops against the dark backdrop, and so does the turtle himself and the glowing green symbols on the steel-framed grid. Speaking of, the symbols underscore the retro vibe, with a display of old-school TVs, cassette tapes, Game Boys, and radios.

Toxic Waste Free Play

If you’ve come this far, you already know the features of this game on paper. However, we encourage you to test the free Toxic Waste demo also, as this will give you first-hand knowledge of how the game and the features play out. You can head up to the top of the page after reading our verdict below, then tell us what you think in the comments field, if you wish. You can purchase all 3 bonus rounds to see which one you like best, and when your Toxic Waste free play session is over, casinos confirmed to carry this title await below the demo game.

Pros and Cons of Toxic Waste

Our Verdict

Toxic Waste is only Jinx Gaming’s third release, and they already come across as a veteran developer in many ways. Of course, it helps being backed by a studio as experienced as Hacksaw, utilizing their OpenRGS platform to allow their creativity to unfold. A lot of new developers talk the talk about “being different,” but from what we’ve seen thus far, Jinx Gaming is also walking the walk. Toxic Waste is actually their most conventional game to date and more akin to something partner Hacksaw themselves could’ve come up with.

The retro vibe and monochromatic visuals allow the toxicity of the green color to really shine, and the turtle character himself embodies the thematic toxicity with his chronic anger. He might not be the most charming game mascot ever, but he is admittedly kind of cute when dressed up as a warrior in the bonus rounds. Overall, the gritty presentation is well-crafted, with an industrial soundtrack that fits the bill and symbols that evoke a sense of nostalgia in those who grew up in the 90s. A grid saturated in neon sludge behind glowing green symbols is hardly eye candy, but there’s no denying that this grime plays right into the game’s theme.

The pace is excellent with the turbo maxed out, and the multiplier positions can build to deliver solid payouts also in the base game. Of course, this doesn’t happen all that often, and cascading wins that double multiplier positions is hardly a new innovation. However, Jinx Gaming has made the feature their own with the unique execution, and I also like that you can go as high as x2,048. The downside is that only the highest multiplier touching a winning cluster is applied, rather than summing them up or multiplying them together.

The true highlight of Toxic Waste, however, is found in the game’s tiered bonus structure. By offering 3 distinct flavors of free spins, Jinx Gaming ensures that the feature triggers never feel repetitive, something partner Hacksaw also excels at. I like the hold & win pre-bonus feature, as it builds anticipation towards the bonus. However, it would’ve been even more fun if the multiplier positions were allowed to double already at that stage. Either way, once the multiplier positions don’t reset between spins, things can escalate to the tune of 10,000x your stake. Toxic Waste is a solid third release, but we hope Jinx Gaming dares to keep being experimental too.