Evil Eyes Slot Review

The game is inspired by the 'Evil Eye' an ominous phenomenon defined as 'a supernatural belief in a curse brought about by a malevolent glare, usually inspired by envy.' As you begin to play, the first person you notice looking sinister is the main character. His laser-like piercing blue eyes embody the nature of the evil eye and his subtle animations make him loom and float in a haunting way. And thus. you have been caught in The Shade's stare! Dare you spin the reels to discover more?

Set amid a deserted cemetery dotted with twisted tombstones and a ghostly mist, the game's environment screams terror. Here, however, the conventional horror-slot genre parallels stop. Throughout the game, blue dominates and evokes the spooky blue hue most associated with 'The Evil Eye'.

With lots of blood splattering across the screen, Red takes the front stage throughout The Graveyard bonus round, creating a wonderfully macabre contrast. The sound effects in this slot are detailed and haunting, and be warned; they start as soon as the game loads (I may or may not have jumped out of my seat). Luckily these can be quickly switched off, or kept on for the full terrifying experience. 

On the reels, familiar horror symbols like ravens and wolves also ensure their terrible presence is felt. Interestingly, there is no wild symbol used in this game, but there is a free spins scatter. The full paytable for the slot is as follows:

• The Shade: Awards 1, 2, and 4x the total bet for 3, 4, or 5 on a payline, respectively.
• Spider: Awards 0.5, 1, and 1.5x the total bet for 3, 4, or 5 on a payline, respectively.
• Wolf: Awards 0.5, 1, and 1.5x the total bet for 3, 4, or 5 on a payline, respectively.
• Raven: Awards 0.3, 0.5, and 0.8x the total bet for 3, 4, or 5 on a payline, respectively.
• Skeleton: Awards 0.3, 0.5, and 0.8x the total bet for 3, 4, or 5 on a payline, respectively.
• Grey Smudged Symbols: Look like bones, a skull, a heart, a butterfly and a hand and award 0.1, 0.3, and 0.50x the total bet for 3, 4, or 5 on a payline, respectively.
• FS Scatter: Looks like the words ‘FS’ in glowing font and is used to trigger the free spins bonus round.

Hacksaw Gaming are well known not just for pushing the envelope when it comes to theme, but also innovating and experimenting with unique combinations of bonus features. Let’s see what is on offer in the Evil Eyes slot:

The Evil Eye and Evil Spread

The Evil Eye operates similarly to a wild symbol, which is why Hacksaw chose to omit the classic symbol in this game. When the Evil Eye symbol settles beneath a winning symbol, it sets off the Evil Spread mechanism. The Evil Eye shows all the symbols connected to the win and then turns to face either right or down, which is the direction the win will travel transforming all symbols on its path into the same winning symbol. Should the spread pass the Evil Eye itself, the Evil Eye is likewise replaced with the winning symbol. The Evil Eye symbol can only appear on reel 3. There can only be one Evil Eye on the grid at any given time.

Wicked Night Feature

This is feature is triggered by landing three of the free spins scatters during the base game within a single spin. On the special reels only blanks, Evil Eye symbols, and multiplier symbols show. Every Evil Eye gathers all multipliers in the direction it looks (up, down, left, or right) adding their values to the reel multiplier above the grid. 

Should an Evil Eye cross another Evil Eye, a unique multiplier with values ranging from 1x to 100x to add to the current multiple and 2x to 10x for multiplying the current multiplier by is revealed and applies to all reel multipliers. Every Evil Eye landed resets the life count and the feature finishes when no lives are left. At the end of the round, all the reel multiplies are totalled and paid out to the player.

Wicked Epic Drop

Any base game spin can randomly trigger this feature. Once activated the game moves to the Wicked Night bonus for a single spin, guaranteeing minimum 3 Evil Eye symbols and 4 multipliers to land. Though no lives are engaged in this version, at least one multiplier will be gathered. The game reverts to base play at the end of the spin.

Graveyard Free Spins

While three scatters will activate the Wicked Night feature, four scatters will take the players to Graveyard Free Spins. Players will receive ten free spins. Low-paying symbolsthat are part of a win and spread by the Evil Spread mechanism are permanently removed from the reels during this round. Two more scatters will award two more free spins while three scatter symbols will award another four free spins.

I am a big fan of what Hacksaw Gaming is doing in the online slots world so I may be a little biased here, but I think the Evil Eyes slot is a breath of fresh air. Indie and dark horror themes have become much more popular in recent years and the Evil Eyes slot perfectly scratches that itch for fans of these genre. The game design is phenomenal and the soundtrack is immersive, with my only concern being the similarity between the lower-paying symbols. The bonus features perfectly fuse the traditional with the unique, and the Evil Eye feature in particular is a stroke of genius in my book. Better still, the default RTP of 96.24%, a hit rate of 29.24%, and top prize of 12,500x the total stake are all very competitive when compared to other recent releases.

While the theme of this slot will not be for everyone, if you are looking for a slot that jangles your nerves in all the right ways I think Evil Eyes is your wish come true. I rate the Evil Eye slot at an intimidating 9/10.

Rating: 9.0