Sand And Ashes

Sand and Ashes: Slot Overview

Ancient Egypt has hooked a lot of casino game makers over the years, including innovative studio Hacksaw Gaming, which has released the likes of Temple of Torment, Cursed Crypt, Hand of Anubis and more. While the studio has done things like, Le Pharaoh, for example, few do Egyptian slot horror as well as Hacksaw Gaming, which is one way of describing today's release, Sand and Ashes. When the wind is blowing up dust in this game, be on the lookout for wild multiplier symbols sticking to the grid through respins and certain free spins, while Sandstorms and Firestorms increase their values and reposition them in potential blizzards of sand.

A lot of ancient Egyptian slots have a colourful cartoon faux land-based look, but Sand and Ashes is not one of them. It looks like it's been made by the division of Hacksaw Gaming that creates its serious, slightly scary games, which are designed to spook rather than charm players. A glowing red-eyed mummy-type character takes up one side of the screen, as if emerging from a sandstorm that mysteriously descended on the Giza landscape. This is no shambling mummy either, but one capable of swiftly tracking down tomb robbers to enact ancient curses on them. In all game phases, the atmosphere is moody, oppressive, a little dangerous, a bit like being caught in an actual sandstorm while running from hand outstretched mummies.

A bird-adorned 5x5 gaming grid is where Sand and Ashes' action takes place, supplying 19 paylines for evaluating winning combinations. Players are able to stake a minimum of $/€0.10 up to a maximum of $/€100 per spin, where the most preferable RTP is 96.27% in this medium volatile slot.

On the pay symbol hierarchy, Jack to Ace are the low pays, awarding 1x the bet for a 5-of-a-kind winning combination. Higher paying symbols include Sobek, Anubis, Horus, and a pharaoh, worth 5x to 10x the stake for a 5 OAK hit. Wilds have the same payout value as the highest symbol if five of them create a win.

Sand and Ashes: Slot Features

One of Sand and Ashes' most important symbols is its Wild Scarab Multipliers, which can lead to respins, Firestorms, and Sandstorms. There are also two bonus rounds and four feature buys.

Wild Scarab Multipliers and Respins

The Wild Scarab Multiplier substitutes for all paying symbols, and it lands with a multiplier of x2 to x200. After wins have been evaluated, the landed Wild Scarab Multipliers trigger a respin, where they remain in the same positions while other symbols spin in. If new Wild Scarab Multipliers land on a respin, a new respin triggers until there are no new Wild Scarab Multipliers or no more available positions. Payline wins are awarded at the end of each respin.

• Firestorms: During a respin, there is a chance that a Firestorm triggers before new symbols land, adding x1 to x100 to all Wild Scarab Multipliers. Multiplier values are capped at x999.
• Sandstorms: A Sandstorm may also trigger during a respin before new symbols land. It nudges all Wild Scarab Multipliers one reel to the left. However, they cannot nudge if they are on the leftmost reel or another Wild Scarab Multiplier is blocking them. Firestorms and Sandstorms cannot activate during the same respin.

Desert Fury

Players win 8 free spins in the Desert Fury round by landing 3 scatters in the base game. It uses the base game mechanics, plus there is an increased chance of landing Wild Scarab Multipliers. In both bonus features, landing 2 or 3 scatters awards an extra 2 or 4 spins, respectively.

Storming Sphinx

Landing 4 scatters in the base game triggers Storming Sphinx's 10 free spins. During this feature, respins do not occur when Wild Scarab Multipliers land. Instead, Firestorms or Sandstorms can trigger on each free spin. In addition, all Wild Scarab Multipliers that land remain on the grid till the end of the bonus.

Feature Buys

Activating BonusHunt FeatureSpins makes each spin 5 times more likely to trigger a bonus game for 3x the stake, or Pharaoh Frenzy FeatureSpins cost 50x to guarantee at least two Wild Scarab Multipliers land. Players may buy Desert Fury for 100x or Storming Sphinx for 200x the bet.

Sand and Ashes: Slot Verdict

Hacksaw Gaming continues to showcase its versatility, effortlessly leaping from cute pocket-sized adventures to dark, high-intensity thrillers. No second guesses for what sort of game Sand and Ashes might be. This is atmospheric Egyptian gaming where human beings are literal dust in the wind in the face of powerful deities that roam the land doing what they will. Shunning the bright, cartoonish aesthetic often seen in Egyptian-themed games, Sand and Ashes takes on a gritty, horror-ish-inspired presentation to give it an identity. This time, it's a mummy-type character and sandstorms, which not only give Sand and Ashes an appealing appearance but have also inspired (or been inspired by) much of the accompanying gameplay.

First off, we've got Wild Scarab Multipliers, which, on their own, with multiplier values of up to x200, are useful additions. This time, they are not expanding wilds, but their effects are expansive nonetheless, and when coupled with respins, they may land in significant numbers across the reels. Then there are Sandstorm and Firestorm effects, able to increase values or push symbols closer to the left side of the grid, where they're more likely to connect with winning lines. This combination of features is able to blow plenty of heat into the base game and Desert Fury bonus round, plus the 10,000x win cap is achievable in all phases of play. Respins might be absent from the Storming Sphinx round, but persistent wild multipliers have proven their explosivity in the past and have the capabilities of doing so here.

Once again, Hacksaw Gaming has made the ancient past feel agonisingly alive in a heavier-than-usual Egyptian-themed slot. Further life is injected by features which are, on one hand, tried and true, on the other, boosted by useful increasing and moving effects. Players who have enjoyed what Hacksaw Gaming has done with the theme before should be enticed by Sand and Ashes, as should gamblers who get a kick out of a sticky wild multiplier brand of action.