Slot Wars - Fear the Dark VS Cursed Seas

Recently Hacksaw Gaming has released two very interesting slots - Fear The Dark and Cursed Seas. While thematically and visually quite different, is that the case with their other features as well? Let’s find out in the new episode of slot wars with these slots as opponents. 

Start the battle!

The pirate-themed slot is played on a 5x4 grid matrix with 26 fixed paylines. Players can plunder some great wins in this game as the winning potential rises all the way up to 12,500x the bet. This is one of Hacksaw Gaming’s slots with high volatility, ranked 5 out of 5. 

On the other hand, the slot inspired by things that lurk in the has a bit larger playground of 6 reels and 6 reels with cluster pay mechanics. However, this doesn’t mean it offers a bigger maximum reward. 

Quite the opposite, here the max win is 5,000x the bet. The volatility level is medium, ranked 3 out of 5 by the provider. 

Not even RTP can help Fear The Dark win this round, as its percentage is almost equal to its rival’s. It comes with an RTP of 96.25% while Cursed Sea has an RTP of 96.22% which is an insignificant difference. 

The bonus features of Fear The Dark follow the theme of the slot completely, starting with the Full Moon modifier. It is well known that the full moon is connected to many mysterious things and that’s why the Moon Man Scatter plays a huge role in this game. 

Whenever this Scatter lands it activates 2 to 5 symbol multipliers, which appear on top of the grid. Multipliers have random values from 2x to 100x and each multiplier of up to 100x is linked to a high-paying symbol. Active multipliers are applied to all respective symbol wins.

Alone in the Dark bonus round is triggered when 3 or 4 FS Scatters land together, awarding 10 or 15 free spins respectively. The chance of landing Moon Man Scatters is much higher during this feature. 

When the last Alone in Dark free spin ends, the bonus round shifts to Darkness Spins mode that upon entering or resetting awards 2 additional free spins. Before each of these spins, the grid shrinks first to 4x4 and then to 2x2 size. If the Full moon is activated in the Darkness Spin, the grid grows back to its normal 6x6 size. 

Cursed Seas sails on strong bonus rounds, the first of them being Cursed Chests. Landing a Cursed Chest symbol creates a Cursed Area from its position to the top of the reel, but only if such an area would include one or more winning combinations. 

The opened Cursed Chest reveals a random multiplier of up to 200x, applied to the Cursed Area on the reel it has landed. All winning lines in the Cursed Area are multiplied by the random multiplier value, but if more than one multiplier apples, the multiplier values are first added together.

All Cursed Multipliers from Cursed Chests are added to a Total Multiplier, which affects all Cursed Areas. All are multiplied by the Total Multiplier. Landing 2, 3, or 4 lanterns retriggers the round with an additional 2, 4, or 6 free spins, respectively.

Three Lantern Scatters in view trigger the Sunken Treasure bonus game with 10 free spins. To make things more thrilling, Cursed Chests always land open to create a Cursed Area that remains in place until the feature ends. 

All multipliers from chests are added to a total multiplier. The total multiplier multiplies all winning lines going through Cursed Areas.

Dead Men Tell No Tales bonus round with 3 free spins is triggered when 4 Lantern Scatters appear simultaneously on reels. During this feature, only Skull or Kraken symbols can land.

A multiplier that starts at 1x value is placed above each reel. Any Cursed Skull symbol that hits reveals a random multiplier of up to 500x that is added to the multiplier above its reel, while it also creates a Cursed Area from its position to the top of the reel. If a new Cursed Skull lands below it, the Cursed Area grows.

The Tormented Skull can also make an appearance in this part of the game, revealing a multiplier of 2x to 25x, which multiplies the multiplier above its reel where it has landed. Kraken symbols land with random values varying from 1x to 500x that are also added to the multipliers above all reels.

Both slots offer a Buy Bonus option with several variants. These are two great games bonus-wise, where multipliers are flying left and right. 

However, bonus features are a bit more complex in the Cursed Seas and potentially a bit more rewarding. This is why this release wins this round as well. 

When it comes to visual representation, these slots couldn’t be different. Hacksaw Gaming has quite a recognizable aesthetic and its slots are usually either on the cute, funny side or very dark.

Fear The Dark maybe has a menacing title and theme, but it is everything but. The design of symbols and overall visuals are more comical than threatening, resembling the provider’s RIP City slot. The amazing contrast between the black-and-white background and bright colorful symbols makes this quite a nice-looking game.

However, this can’t be said for Cursed Seas. While the theme has been honored to the teeth, the game’s design isn’t quite impressive. Contrary to Fear The Dark animated background, here you have a still, gloomy image of the ship sailing through big waves.

 It has a dark vibe, but visually can’t hold a candle to the provider’s slots Rotten or Bloodthirst which have a similar atmosphere. All in all, Fear The Dark takes this round as it is more appealing to the eye. 

Even though Fear The Dark slot took the win in the previous round, its rival is the winner of this episode of slot wars. While visuals are important, players tend to care more about the winning potential and bonus rounds, and these features are much stronger in the Cursed Seas slot.