If you've been checking in on Hacksaw Gaming regularly, you'll know that they've been firing out releases this year and each one is more different than the last. Just in the past few weeks we've seen Drop ‘Em, with an antique Disney style artwork, Le Bandit, which takes us to the vintage streets of Paris, and Densho – which offers a tranquil atmosphere with watercolour stylings.
All this to say, Hacksaw Gaming are proving more than ever that they aren't one trick ponies when it comes to audiovisuals, and today they're back to show us this once more, as they revisit one of the more unique releases in their catalogue for a sequel.
Back in 2020, the team introduced us to Cranky Cat and Sketchy Skull in what would become one of their most popular releases and arguably one of their most volatile – Chaos Crew. Now, we're saying hello to these two characters again as we gear up to gamble in style, in Chaos Crew 2.
With RTP options up to 96.27% (96.35% Feature Buy), this highly (5/5) volatile release can produce wins up to 20,000x bet.
Style remains the same in Chaos Crew 2, as we find ourselves in a graffiti covered alley – although this time around we're alongside Cranky Cat and Sketchy Skull, each accompanied by their own choice of weapon and some spray paint to add to the graffiti we see.
Like its predecessor, Chaos Crew gives way for all of our attention to go to the vibrant display on the reels – a haphazard array of symbols and stickers that we couldn't make sense of even if we tried. Everything is accompanied by a pounding soundtrack that is familiar to the original, but fresh with a new twist.
Chaos Crew 2 Base Features
Taking place across 5 reels, wins are formed on Chaos Crew 2 by matching at least 3 symbols on adjacent reels, beginning with the leftmost reel, across 1 of 19 fixed win lines. Symbols available begin with non premiums, with a variety of motifs, awarding wins between 0.10 and 2x bet for matches between 3 and 5 of a kind.
At the premium end we have a variety of objects, including diamonds, pyramids, dice and tongues. Land 3 of a kind of any premium to see wins between 0.50 and 2x bet, increasing to values between 5 and 10x bet for 5 of a kind matches.
Finally, Cranky Cat symbols act as Wilds and substitute for all symbols except any of the Bonus! Scatter symbols, and award wins of 20x bet for 5 of a kind matches.
Much like its predecessor, all of the action in Chaos Crew 2 comes in the form of the Bonus feature – although this time around we have multiple features to look out for. Nonetheless, there are still a couple of features to look out for in the base game.
A Very Cranky Cat
As we said above, Cranky Cat symbols act as a Wilds and substitute for all other symbols except Bonus! Scatter symbols. When they land in view, Cranky Cat symbols will also reveal a multiplier value. This value will then be applied to all winning combinations the Cranky Cat symbol is part of.
More than one Cranky Cat symbol can land on the reels at once, and if two or more are part of the same winning combination their multiplier values will be multiplied together before being applied.
Each Cranky Cat symbol can have one of the following multipliers – x2, x3, x4, x5, x10 or x20.
A Drop of Epic Proportions
Next up is the Epic Drop feature, which can be activated randomly at the start of any spin in the base game.
When the Epic Drop feature has been activated, the game will morph into the Bonus feature for one spin only, with a minimum of 5 multiplier symbols from the Bonus feature guaranteed to drop and award their values.
On the next spin the game will revert back to the base game, unless you were lucky enough to trigger a second Epic Drop, which again is done randomly.
Chaos Crew 2 Bonus
Land 3 Bonus! Scatter symbols to activate the Bonus feature, with 3 lives (or 3 spins) awarded. In the Bonus feature the game will transform and only non paying symbols or multiplier symbols can land.
Above each reel is a reel multiplier which starts at 1x. By landing different kinds of multiplier symbols these reel values will be progressively increased. Each time a multiplier symbol lands, lives/spins will refill back to 3.
Once all lives/spins have been used, the Bonus will end. At this point, all reel values are added together, multiplied by your base bet and awarded as the total prize for the feature.
Land 4 Bonus! Scatter symbols to activate the Super Bonus feature. The Super Bonus feature works in the same way as the regular Bonus, except that the first spin is guaranteed to land a minimum of 7 multiplier symbols.
There are two main kinds of multiplier symbols that can land – Sketchy Skull symbols and Cranky Cat symbols, however there are multiple different types of each of these.
Sketchy Skulls
- Sketchy Skull – adds its displayed value to the value of the reel it has landed on once.
- Sticky Sketchy Skull – sticks in place for the duration of the feature and adds its displayed value to the value of the reel it has landed on for every subsequent spin.
- Epic Sketchy Skull – adds its displayed value to the value of all reels once.
- Epic Sticky Sketchy Skull – sticks in place for the duration of the feature and adds its displayed value to the value of all reels for every subsequent spin.
Each Sketchy Skull symbol can have one of the following multipliers – 1x, 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, 10x, 15x, 20x, 25x, 50x or 100x.
Cranky Cats
- Cranky Cat – multiplies the value of the reel it has landed on by its own value once.
- Sticky Cranky Cat – sticks in place for the duration of the feature and multiplies the value of the reel it has landed on by its own value for every subsequent spin.
- Epic Cranky Cat – multiplies the value of every reel by its own value.
- Epic Sticky Cranky Cat – sticks in place for the duration of the feature and multiplies the value of every reel by its own value for every subsequent spin.
Each Cranky Cat symbol can have one of the following multipliers – x2, x3, x4, x5, x10 or x20.
Best of Bonus
When 3 or 4 Bonus! Scatter symbols land at the same time as a Best of Bonus Scatter symbol the Best of Bonus feature or Best of Super Bonus feature is triggered respectively.
Players will be awarded 3 separate Bonus or Super Bonus features in a row to play through in full. At the end of each feature, the result is stored in a scoreboard to the left of the reels.
At the end of the third and final feature, the highest score from the scoreboard is multiplied by your base bet and awarded as the total prize, whilst the other two are discarded.
Buy Bonus
Players in appropriate regions can take advantage of the following Buy Bonus options.
- Bonus Hunt FeatureSpins (10x more likely to trigger a bonus) – 5x bet (96.22% RTP)
- Epic Drop FeatureSpins (1 Epic Drop spin with at least 15 multipliers guaranteed) – 200x bet (96.35% RTP)
- Bonus – 100x bet (96.34% RTP)
- Best of Bonus – 200x bet (96.29% RTP)
- Super Bonus – 250x bet (96.30% RTP)
- Best of Super Bonus – 500x bet (96.35% RTP)
The volatility for Epic DropFeatureSpins, Best of Bonus and Best of Super Bonus is high, whilst the volatility for Bonus and Super is very high, and the volatility for Bonus Hunt FeatureSpins is extreme.
The RTP values above are based upon the 96.27% RTP setting.
The maximum win available in Chaos Crew 2 is 20,000x bet. If the sum of a single game round exceeds this, the game round will end and 20,000x bet will be awarded.
First Impression
Everyone loves a sequel, especially to a release as popular as Chaos Crew. We love to see what's coming next, what's going to be improved or upgraded, and just how much we can win this time around. In Chaos Crew 2, Hacksaw Gaming have tackled the idea of a sequel in just the right way, and the improvements are obvious – double the winning potential, and a host of new features that might just help to knock the original off its pedestal.
One of the main features that seeks to do this is the new Best of Bonus, where players can play through 3 features in a row and keep the highest reward. Not only is this just one of the more original ideas we've seen in a while, but it also helps to extend the feature – one of the most common complaints about Chaos Crew was that, if you're going to get a bad bonus, it was very much blink and you miss it.
The Best of Bonus solves this problem, elongating the playing experience even if it is going to be a bad one. Alongside this the Epic Drop in the base game helps give us a taste of the bonus, and Cranky Cats are back once more to improve winning combinations – particularly with multiple multipliers multiplying together. When the right combinations land, wins are possible up to 20,000x bet – available in every part of this release.
Finally, maths is highly (5/5) volatile and RTP options are available up to 96.27% (96.35% feature buy), so as always it's worth checking this. It's simple really – if you liked Chaos Crew, you'll love what Chaos Crew 2 has to offer.
*The screenshots taken of games reviewed on this site are taken from Demo Play, as reviews are often written before games are released for real play.
