Cloud Princess

Cluster pays, scatter pays, slurpy pays, tumbles…2024 really has been the year of non-traditional reel ways, hasn’t it.

I have to say, I’ve blooming loved it!

What gives game providers more of a chance to express their own ideas and imaginative creations than to go against the grain a little, every so often.

This year has brought with it a huge upturn in new, previously unseen, previously unimaginable game mechanics, many of which have been made possible by venturing away from the typical 5×3 tradition.

And speaking of “against the grain”, does anyone do that better than pioneering provider Hacksaw Gaming?

Recent success with Octo Attack, SixSixSix and Twisted Lab would tell you not!

Cloud Princess Base Game

On today’s mechanics menu, we have a rather nice helping of Scatter Pays being served up by the name of Cloud Princess.

Now, of course, you can’t talk about scatter pays without instantly thinking about obvious Pragmatic hits like Sweet Bonanza and Gates Of Olympus, of which some might say laid down the pathways for scatter pays of today.

Plenty have taken that multiplying concept and run with it in recent years, each trying to add their own stamp with added features and bonuses; a recent example being 7×7 Zeus by 4ThePlayer, which we liked very much here.

Hacksaw, themself, are no strangers to scatter pays…who could forget the explosive Joker Bombs back in 2021!?

Well here we are with another rendition as Cloud Princess boasts a 6×5 game grid, offering medium volatility game play and a dreamy 10,000x bet max win potential.

The RTP sits well too at 96.24% (lower versions are available) along with a wide range of betting options to suit every player.

Now I do have to give a huge thumbs up to Hacksaw for the sounds and visuals within Cloud Princess.

Opening up the game screen instantly sweeps the player into an immersive dream-like land, full of clouds, decorative pillars and anime vibes; the soft, hypnotic chorus playing out only compliments more.

I guess, whilst we are being swept away we should drift into the game and check out its features before release on 3rd October 2024…

Land 8 or More Matching Symbols Anywhere in View to Form Wins

Cloud Princess Base Features

Win spins are achieved by landing at least 8 matching symbols anywhere within the 6×5 game grid.

There are 10 regular paying symbols to look out for consisting of 5 low-paying gems paying up to 50x for scatters of 19 or more symbols and 5 high-paying symbols paying between 200x to 400x for 19 scatters or more.

With every winning combination, all winning symbols involved shall be removed from the grid, allowing for new symbols to cascade into their positions.

Wins are Collected in the Total Win Bar Above the Grid During Each Spin

Multiplier Symbols

Cloud Princess includes 3 different Multiplier Symbols during game play.

Multiplier symbols activate at the end of any spin so long as there has been at least one winning combination during the game round.

Should more than one Multiplier symbol be present, the multiplier values shall be added together before multiplying against the total win amount.

• Normal Multiplier Symbol – this symbol holds a visible, random multiplier value between 2x and 4x that increases by +1 with every winning cascade.
• Super Multiplier Symbol – this symbol holds a “question mark” upon landing.  When activated, its potential value can be between 5x to 20x and this value will increase by +2 with every winning cascade.
• Epic Multiplier Symbol – this symbol will land with an initial value between 5x and 100x.  With every winning cascade, this value shall double.

Land Multiplier Symbols to Multiply the Value in the Total Win Bar at the End of Cascades

Cloud Princess Bonus

Landing 3 scatter symbols shall trigger the Cloud Surge bonus, awarding 10 initial free spins.

This bonus plays out much like the base game, each spin accumulating the total win and any landed Multiplier symbols multiplying the total spin value.

Landing 2 scatters on the same free spin shall award 2 extra free spins with 3 scatters awarding 4 extra.

Cloud Princess Cloud Surge Bonus Feature

Divine Boost

Landing 4 scatter symbols shall trigger the Divine Boost bonus, awarding 10 initial free spins.

During this feature, every winning combination involving a Multiplier symbol shall see the multiplier value collected and stored in the Divine Multiplier portal.

This stored value shall increase with each following winning spin that involves a multiplier.

Upon achieving a win spin with a Multiplier symbol, the multiplier value shall first be added to the Divine Multiplier portal before the new total multiplier value is multiplied against the game round total.

The Divine Multiplier portal remains inactive should a win spin be achieved with no Multiplier symbol.

The Divine Multiplier portal also remains inactive should a Multiplier symbol land but no win occurs.

Landing 2 scatters on the same free spin shall award 2 extra free spins with 3 scatters awarding 4 extra.

Land 2 or More FS Scatter Symbols During Either Bonus Feature to Trigger Additional Spins

Bonus Buy and FeatureSpins

Hacksaw have given 4 Bonus Buy and FeatureSpin options with Cloud Princess:

• BonusHunt FeatureSpins – at the cost of 3x bet per spin, each spin is 5 times more likely to trigger a bonus game
• Heavenly FeatureSpins – at the cost of 50x bet, each spin guarantees at least one win alongside one Multiplier symbol
• Cloud Surge – at the cost of 100x bet
• Divine Boost – at the cost of 200x bet

The maximum win available in Cloud Princess is 10,000x bet. If the sum of a single game round exceeds this, the game round will end and 10,000x bet will be awarded.

Cloud Princess Divine Boost Bonus Feature

First Impression

An in-form Hacksaw Gaming sees the provider hit the heights of slot game originality.

There are times, however, where new releases take on a very similar shape to releases gone by; Tai The Toad and Magic Piggy or Ze Zeus and Le Bandit being prime examples.

Some might argue that Cloud Princess falls into this similar category, resembling previous titles such as Joker Bombs or Bouncy Bombs, albeit with an all-over face lift.

Of course, multipliers and scatter pays slots have always gone hand in hand, it’s nothing new, but Hacksaw have definitely made an effort to try and show some level of progression with the use of building multipliers with every winning cascade.

The higher the level of Multiplier symbol, the more valuable the increase becomes, giving more incentive to try and land those Super and Epic Multipliers.

Progression is progression and there will be players who deem it enough to warrant a new release and obviously those that call it same old, same old.

However you look at it, one thing cannot be denied about Cloud Princess and that is the stunning graphics and visuals.

The game truly has a feel-good vibe to it from the off, be it the pastel colour pallet used, the dream-like theming or the use of anime style.

When the soundtrack is added to the mix, the game somehow draws you in, personally speaking at least, and that is something that does not come easily.

It is hard for any provider to show complete originality when inspiration for a game is taken from arguably one of the best games of its kind, Gates of Olympus or Sweet Bonanza in this case.

The good news is that those two titles are starting to get on a bit now and so many more features and game mechanics have come along in their time so, similar as releases may be, it’s always great to see providers attempt to put their own mark on a classic.

I feel Hacksaw has done enough to achieve that with Cloud Princess, which becomes a great compliment to their ever-growing scatter pays catalogue.

It will be very interesting to see, going forward, how much more development can be tweaked into this style of game…progression is still there to be made, it just may take a few more heads in the clouds to get there…

*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.