Slot Wars - Bloodthirst VS Club Tropicana

Hacksaw Gaming has a new slot with a terrifying theme and visuals but high winning potential and strong bonus features. On the other hand, Pragmatic Play’s latest release is a relaxing slot that takes place in a nightclub on a tropical island. 

Since it also comes with thrilling gameplay, you know what is next - facing them one against the other in a new episode of slot wars. Will gruesome monsters of the night devour everyone in the club or colorful cocktails will turn out poisonous to them? 

Let’s start the battle and find out!

Played on a 5x4 grid with 10 paylines, Bloodthirst slot boosts a massive winning potential of up to 10,000x the bet! It is accompanied by high volatility, ranked 4 out of 5. Players can join the real money mode from €0.10 per spin. 

Club Tropicana has an even higher level of volatility. The slot has the same grid configuration of 5 reels and 4 rows as its rival but offers 12 paylines. However, it comes with much lower potential as its maximum prize is 4,000x the stake. 

The return to player percentages is almost equal as the tropical party has an RTP of 96.08%, while the Bloodthirst game comes with an RTP of 96.19%. Hacksaw’s game is a winner of this round due to its much higher winning potential. 

The bonus features of Bloodthirst are simple yet clever and potentially quite rewarding. The first thing you might notice is that when four matching monster symbols land in one spin, they merge and create a Monster Reel. This special reel then pays an extra award of up to 20x the bet, depending on the type of monster symbol that created it. 

However, if five of the same kind of Monster Reel appear at the same time, they instead transform into a Monster Takeover which covers all five reels. When this happens, Monster Reels don’t pay their rewards and no line wins are awarded. Instead, players get a mega prize from 100x to an incredible 2,500x the current bet, depending on the type of monster symbols.

Whenever 3 Scatters appear together on reels, the Blood Thirst bonus feature with 10 free spins is activated. The gameplay doesn’t differ much from the base game, but the chances of triggering Monster Reels are much higher. 

If 4 Scatters land at the same time, they will activate Immortals bonus round with also 10 free spins. Here things get really interesting as at the start of the round, one high-pay symbol is randomly chosen as the feature's main symbol. 

The selected main symbol is the only one that can expand into Monster Reels during this bonus feature. Every time the chosen symbol expands, its reel is marked and at the end of all remaining free spins, Monster Reels expands on all marked reels.

Hitting the Upgrade Scatter upgrades the chosen high pay symbol to the next one up on the paytable while also upgrading any marked reels. The newly upgraded symbol takes over as the main symbol until the feature runs its course or the new Upgrade Scatter appears. 

Three colorful cocktails represent a Scatter in Club Tropicana and when at least 3 land together on reels, the bonus round with up to 20 free spins is activated. However, if only two Scatters hit in the base game, there's a chance a hook randomly appears to pull the third Scatter on the grid. 

During free spins, Wilds are added to the grid to both substitute for any paying symbol to complete winning lines as well as to collect values of Money symbols in the view. Wilds are also collected when they hit. 

An extra 10 free spins with a multiplier is awarded for every fourth Wild collected. The first retrigger has a 2x multiplier, the second a 3x multiplier and the final third comes with a 10x multiplier. 

To make things even more interesting, when 1 or 2 Wilds are on reels at the end of a free spin, Money symbols can be placed in random positions. Moreover, reels can be randomly pushed up at the end of a spin to reveal a Wild and Money symbols.

Both features have the Buy Bonus option, but the one in Hacksaw’s game offers three bonus modes you can purchase compared to Pragmatic’s one with 1 variant. Bloodthirst has more bonus features that are also more polished, so it takes the win in this battle as well. 

When it comes to theme selection, slots by Hacksaw Gaming either have some cute and lighthearted basis or some terrifying story from worst nightmares. This slot revolves around supernatural creatures of the night lurking in shadows with sharp fangs and even sharper claws. 

The theme is honored completely as the symbols are terrifying. This is not a representation of the vampires and werewolves usually seen in slots. Instead, they look like creatures from the scariest horror movies so the aesthetics of this gruesome-looking game isn’t suitable for all types of players. 

On the other hand, Pragmatic’s release developed in collaboration with Reel Kingdom has an appeal many will like. While officially isn’t declared as such, it seems like the sequel of the Big Bass Bonanza series where fishermen took the deserved vacation on some tropical island.

It has a chill and relaxed vibe with likable symbols like cocktails, fruits, floaties and money. 

While it is obvious that a lot of effort was put into creating Bloodthirst, the provider did a little too well of a job making it scary and gruesome. On the other hand, Club Tropicana can suit the visual preferences of a much larger group of players, which makes it a winner of this round.

With much higher winning potential, stronger and more numerous bonus features, Bloodthirst slot by Hacksaw Gaming is the absolute winner of this episode of slot wars. However, since its terrifying visuals might be overwhelming from time to time, taking a break by playing few spins in relaxing Club Tropicana can be a perfect combination.