Ronin Stackways: Slot Overview

The definition of the word 'ronin' provided by Google is 'a wandering samurai who had no lord or master'. However, in modern Japan, the word 'ronin' can be used to describe 'a salaryman who is unemployed or a secondary school graduate who has not yet been admitted to university.' (Wikipedia) As you might have guessed, Ronin Stackways from developer Hacksaw Gaming refers to the former definition of the word rather than the latter and is a follow-up to the original Stackways slot Mayan Stackways.

Where Mayan Stackways was a little bit omnious, Ronin Stackways is a sumptuous-looking representation of feudal Japan populated with animals rather than humans. Hacksaw Gaming can really craft an attractive scene when it wants to, and clearly, it did when the team designed Ronin Stackways. It takes place at sunup or sundown in a purple, pink-lit valley of waterfalls, traditional buildings, an impressive statue, and chirping birds. It really is a harmonious scene, conducive for meditating, martial arts, or online gambling. To do so, pick a stake of 10 p/c to £/€100 and make sure your blade is sharp.

Set within an ornately decorated wooden structure is Ronin Stackways' 5x4 gaming grid. In its default state, the grid provides 1,024 ways to win. However, should max Stackways symbols land on each reel, it is possible to have up to 100,000 ways active. Statistically, Ronin Stackways is quite a different animal from Mayan Stackways. A lot of things have been dialled back a notch or two, such as volatility which here is rated as 2 out of 5, putting in the low/medium bracket, winning potential is down, and the features have been slimmed down, too. Default RTP is up, though, that's nice, now coming in at 96.35%, with four other values depending on which bonus option is activated.

Katakana style 10 to A card ranks start the paytable off, bearing values of 0.7 times the bet when landing a winning way with five of them on it. Then there's a panda, a bear, a fox, a tiger, and a monkey as the five premium symbols. Hitting a 5 high pay symbol way awards 2 to 4 times the bet. Interestingly, Ronin Stackways does not have a wild symbol, which leaves Stackways symbols and FS symbols to go over.

Ronin Stackways: Slot Features

Stackways symbols appear on all reels, and there are two forms of them – Normal Stackways and Revealing Stackways. When a Normal Stackways symbol hits, it may fill the reel with 2, 3, or 4 symbols. When a Revealing Stackways symbol hits, it may fill the reel with 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 symbols. The symbol that is stacked is determined by which symbol would grant the longest winning combination, based on the symbols on the reels when the Stackways symbol triggers. If more than one winning combination of equal length would be created, the symbol is randomly chosen. Note that stacking only occurs if the result would create a win.

Stack Spins

Landing 3 FS symbols in the base game awards 10 free Stack Spins. In Stack Spins, there is a greater chance of landing Stackways symbols. Also, landing 2 FS symbols awards +2 free spins, or landing 3 FS symbols awards +4 free spins.

Super Stack Spins

In the base game, should 4 FS symbols hit, then 10 Super Stack Spins are awarded. In this feature, there is a higher chance of landing Stackways symbols, and only Revealing Stackways symbols will appear. As before, landing 2 FS symbols awards +2 free spins, or landing 3 FS symbols awards +4 free spins.

Bonus Buy

From the feature buy menu, players can activate these options:

  • BonusHunt FeatureSpins – 3x the bet where each spin is 5 times more likely to trigger bonus rounds. Highly volatile with a default RTP of 96.29%.
  • Stackways FeatureSpins – 40x the bet where each spin guarantees at least 2 Stackways symbols land. Very highly volatile, with a default RTP of 96.25%.
  • Stack Spins – 100x the bet to activate the Stack Spins bonus feature. Medium volatile with a default RTP of 96.27%
  • Super Stack Spins – 200x the bet to activate the Super Stack Spins bonus feature. Medium volatile with a default RTP of 96.34%.

Ronin Stackways: Slot Verdict

Looping back to the intro paragraph for a bit, it might be kind of cool to see a game based around the modern Japanese definition of the word 'ronin', wandering the streets of Tokyo, getting up to whatever mischief an unemployed salaryman does to pass the time before their next job begins. After playing games like Vending Machine and Toshi Video Club, Hacksaw Gaming is ideally positioned to make such a slot. Maybe another time. For now, it's Ronin Stackways, which, when you add up each one of the components, provides quite a different experience to Mayan Stackways, all things considered.

Both slots largely revolve around Stackways symbols, fair enough, but from there, the two games diverge. Ronin Stackways is arguably the more 'user-friendly' version, as it were, with its less volatile math model and a lower max win of 5,000x the bet. It's also less complex, lacking the extra coin symbol bonus round found in Mayan Stackways. In other words, hopefully, you like Stackways symbols because that's about all Ronin Stackways has to offer, mechanically speaking.

Moving past mechanics, Ronin Stackways is a gorgeously presented game that is very easy on the eyes. The quality of the graphics is so high that the artwork does an excellent job of helping fill any of the gaps caused by the slimmed-down feature set. Mayan Stackways was a fuller, more tightly wound, bigger game, but there is room for Ronin Stackways, too, as it seems like it would be a better suit for players who'd prefer a less volatile, less complex version of a Stackways slot, set in a highly absorbing environment.