Slot Wars: Demonic Dolls vs Wicked Grin

In one corner stands Demonic Dolls, Hacksaw Gaming’s cartoon take on voodoo, packed with pins, stitched-up toys and cursed trinkets. Its snake-shaped Wild Rattle symbols carry multipliers, merge into bigger Wilds and trigger respins across a cluster-paying grid.

In the other grin, Wicked Grin, fronted by Boney Bill, a hollow-eyed mascot with a permanent ear-to-ear smile. Its expanding symbols turn entire reels into Coins and Multipliers, feeding two very different free spins rounds.

Same studio, release dates just days apart and the same top prize make for a proper family feud in this edition of slot wars. Let’s ring the bell.

On paper, these two are about as evenly matched as slots get, so the numbers deserve a close look.

Demonic Dolls runs on a 5x5 grid and uses a Cluster Pays system. A win lands whenever 5 or more matching symbols connect, with no lines to track.

Those base values are modest by design, since the Wild multipliers do the heavy lifting. The RTP is 96.26%, comfortably above the industry average.

Volatility is rated medium, keeping things firmly in familiar Hacksaw territory. The max win is 10,000x the stake, and reaching it relies on Wild Rattle multipliers building up during free spins.

Wicked Grin also plays out on a 5x5 grid, but it swaps clusters for a Scatter Pays system. Any 6 or more matching symbols landing anywhere on the grid form a win.

Every win sets off a cascade, clearing the paying symbols so fresh ones can drop in. The sequence keeps rolling for as long as new wins form.

The RTP is 96.27%, just a hundredth of a percentage point ahead of its rival. Volatility is again rated medium, so the maths model balances regular base game action with bigger feature-driven hits.

At the top end, Wicked Grin offers a max win of 10,000x the bet. That ceiling stays the same across the base game, both free spins rounds and every bonus buy.

With identical max wins and matching volatility, a hair of RTP isn’t enough to separate them. Round 1 ends in a tie.

With the stats locked level, the bonus features have to do the talking.

Demonic Dolls is built around the Wild Rattle, a snake-shaped Wild with an additive multiplier of 2x to 100x. When several join the same win, their values are added together first.

When two Wild Rattles of the same size land in one win, a respin sequence starts and they merge into a 2x2 Colossal Wild Rattle carrying the combined multiplier. During respins, every Wild Rattle sticks and shuffles to a new spot, with a win paid on each spin.

Two 2x2 Colossals meeting in the same win fuse into a 3x3 Colossal Wild Rattle that covers a large slice of the grid. That merging engine runs in the base game as well as in free spins.

Three free spins modes each award 10 free spins, with All Dolled Up (3 Scatters) raising the Wild Rattle frequency and Bad Omens (4 Scatters) adding one guaranteed Wild Rattle worth at least 2x per spin. The hidden Playtime is Over round (5 Scatters) guarantees two per spin, and more Wilds mean more merges.

Wicked Grin relies on the Expanding Wicked Grin symbol instead, which stretches up its reel from the bottom row and turns each position into a Coin worth 1x to 500x the bet or a Multiplier of 2x to 20x. Multipliers boost Coins above them and on neighbouring reels in higher rows, while the Epic Wicked Grin makes every other Grin on the grid expand too.

Expanding Scatters reveal 1 to 3 free spins per position, and since regular and super Scatters never land together, the type decides the bonus. Both rounds award 5 to 30 free spins, plus 5 to 15 extra from further Scatters.

Stash N Stack adds a Stash multiplier above each reel, starting at 1x and rising by 1 each time it boosts that reel’s Coins. In the premium Coin Craze round, Coin Collectors bank every expansion’s Coins, with Multipliers boosting the saved totals before payout.

Both games offer four bonus buys, including a 3x BonusHunt option and a 50x guaranteed-symbol spin. Demonic Dolls keeps its top round off the menu, capping buys at Bad Omens for 250x the stake, while Wicked Grin sells Coin Craze outright for 200x the bet.

Wicked Grin’s two rounds feel genuinely distinct, but Demonic Dolls’ respin engine adds escalation even in the base game. With three tiered free spins modes on top, Demonic Dolls takes Round 2.

Both slots dress horror up as cartoon mischief, but they take very different routes to get there.

Demonic Dolls opts for a cursed voodoo toys theme, set in a cluttered attic lit by fairy lights, with boxes and discarded toys framing the grid. Two dolls flank the reels, a horned sheep-like figure with button eyes and a patched teddy bear, both somewhere between unsettling and endearing.

They grow more menacing with each bonus tier, swapping soft attic colours for a fiery red glow once free spins ignite. Voodoo pins, stitched bows and the snake-rattle Wild keep everything on theme, while the art direction stays light despite the demonic framing.

Wicked Grin leans into a sinister cartoon mascot theme, built around the hollow-eyed Boney Bill. Its abstract backdrop, a monochrome tunnel of moving circles, is striking but can get distracting, and there’s no way to switch it off.

Colour comes mostly from the symbols, and bonus rounds switch to a checkerboard backdrop. The playful-but-naughty tone recalls Pray for Six, while the stripped-back style harks back to Hacksaw’s earlier releases.

Wicked Grin’s minimalist style has charm, but Demonic Dolls’ detailed attic and evolving mascots give it more depth. Demonic Dolls edges Round 3.

 

With matching max wins of 10,000x the bet, the tie-break comes down to bonus features, and that’s where Demonic Dolls pulls clear. Its merging Wild Rattles, chained respins and three-tier free spins progression simply give it more ways to build towards the top prize.

Wicked Grin is still a charming, character-led throwback for fans of Hacksaw’s classic style. But when the final bell rings, it’s Demonic Dolls walking away with the crown.