Dark Summoning: Slot Overview

Best steel yourself, players, because developer Hacksaw Gaming seems to have been craving something sinister when it created the devilish online slot Dark Summoning. It’s also a fun contrast considering the last Hacksaw Gaming slot we covered was Xmas Drop; before that came the blood-splattered vampire title Immortal Desire, and earlier still the cartoonish bear adventure Eye of the Panda. The studio clearly has no problem bouncing from bright to bleak and back again whenever inspiration hits. If you’re after a darker vibe, that works out well, as Dark Summoning sits in the same neighborhood as Print Studios’ Darkness—so consider yourself warned.

Dark Summoning is one of those Hacksaw Gaming releases, similar to RIP City, where characters stand beside the reels as you play. Here, the figure on the left resembles a cult-like spin on the skeletal character from Mayan Stackways, while the presence on the right looks like a stone demon (or something close to it). What really stands out is the game’s fine detail, with animations and smart visual flourishes thickening the hellish mood. The one thing that feels off is the little bleeping sound effect on wins—an unmistakable Hacksaw Gaming staple, but one that clashes with Dark Summoning’s tone and slightly breaks the atmosphere.

Set within an ominous rock structure, Dark Summoning’s play area features 5 reels, 6 rows of symbols, and 24 paylines. The studio rates the math model’s volatility has been rated 4 out of 5, placing it in the medium-high bracket, while the RTP sits at 96.36%—with lower versions also available. Stakes run from 10 c to $/€100 per spin, and there are three options available once you open the feature buy menu.

Wins are formed by 3 to 5-of-a-kind, starting from the leftmost reel. Symbols include 10 to A card ranks, plus bloody scissors, a fly, a crow, a pyramid, and a goat face as the premium icons. A 5-of-a-kind line of low pays returns 1 times the bet. For high pays, a 5-of-a-kind pays 2.5 to 10 times the bet. With wilds appearing on all reels, they can complete 5 wild symbol lines worth 30 times the bet, and they can also substitute for any paying symbol.

Dark Summoning: Slot Features

Dark Summoning doesn’t stop at a standard cascade feature; it uses a super cascade system, alongside wild multipliers, Will of the Order, Unholy Summoning, two bonus rounds – Trial by Hellfire and Rise to Salvation, and a buy bonus option.

Super Cascade

Whenever a winning combination lands, every symbol involved is highlighted and removed from the grid once the payout is awarded. Fresh symbols then drop in to replace the removed symbols, giving you another opportunity to connect a win.

Wild Multipliers

Wilds come in two variants: blue wilds and red wilds. Blue wilds can show up in the base game and during the Rise to Salvation feature. The red wild appears in the Trial by Hellfire bonus. Functionally, they behave the same. When wilds land, they can carry a multiplier value of x2 to x100, although multipliers are not possible on wilds in the Rise to Salvation bonus. If multiple multipliers contribute to a single win, their values are added together before the total is applied.

Will of the Order

When an Order symbol appears, it replaces itself and 1 to 9 other symbols with wild symbols. These wilds may or may not have multipliers. If multiple Order symbols land simultaneously, Will of the Order activates once for each Order symbol.

Unholy Summoning

If an Unholy symbol lands alongside at least one winning combination, it is collected into the corner of the grid and retained for that round. If 3 Unholy symbols land together, they are immediately collected even if no winning combinations are present.

Trial by Hellfire Bonus

Gathering 3 Unholy symbols during a base game round awards 10 free spins in this bonus. In the feature, all winning positions are marked with Hellfire. When an Unholy symbol lands, it activates the Fires of Hell sequence. As the sequence begins, the Unholy symbol and every symbol sitting in Hellfire-marked positions are replaced with wilds, which may or may not have multipliers. After that, all Hellfire is cleared. The Fires of Hell sequence lasts until the next cascade. While Fires of Hell is active, any new wins do not create additional Hellfire.

Rise to Salvation Bonus

Collecting 3 Unholy symbols in the same base game round and an Order symbol is present at the moment the third Unholy symbol is collected awards 10 free spins in the Rise to Salvation bonus. In this mode, symbols drop and cascade upwards rather than falling down. Lost Soul symbols are introduced here and are persistent, remaining on the reels until they Ascend or the feature ends. Lost Souls shift upward with other cascading symbols to fill spaces created by removed winning symbols. Once a Lost Soul reaches the top row, it Ascends and is removed.

There are two types of Lost Soul symbols – Global Multiplier Lost Souls and Cash Prize Lost Souls. When a Global Multiplier Lost Soul Ascends, it adds x2 to x100 to the global multiplier. That global multiplier affects all winning combinations. When the Cash Prize Lost Soul Ascends, it awards a cash prize of 10 to 666 times the bet. Cash prizes are also multiplied by the global multiplier. If 3 non-winning spins happen consecutively, then on the third spin 3 to 5 random low or high pay symbols are removed from the grid.

Buy Bonus

Inside the feature buy menu, players can choose from these three play options:

• BonusHunt FeatureSpins – 3x the bet where each spin is 5 times more likely to trigger a bonus game. Very highly volatile with an RTP of 96.33%.
• Trial By Hellfire – 130x the bet for 10 free spins in this feature. Very highly volatile with an RTP of 96.36%.
• Rise To Salvation – 250x the bet for 10 free spins in this feature. Highly volatile with an RTP of 96.42%.

Dark Summoning: Slot Verdict

If titles like Bloodthirst, Rotten, or Hand of Anubis still didn’t convince you that Hacksaw Gaming enjoys exploring darker themes, Dark Summoning should settle that question. The amusing part is that every time the studio launches something this grim, its cute, woodland-style releases also pop into mind—think Fruit Duel, Double Rainbow, or Dork Unit—as a genuinely strange counterpoint. Do all these games really come from the same team? Maybe a tour of Hacksaw Gaming HQ would reveal one side stocked with a candy floss machine, a lineup of adorable Gonks, and a fruit bowl, while the other side is covered in esoteric scribbles, the lights barely function, and robed staff shuffle around with faces hidden under deep hoods, clutching grimoires and radiating unsettling eldritch energy.

There’s no mystery which side of the office Dark Summoning came from. The good news is that the gameplay within Dark Summoning is almost as inventive as its presentation. The Rise to Salvation round stands out in particular, with its upward movement and Ascending concept neatly reflected in the unusual but satisfying mechanic where symbols cascade and drop upwards instead of the usual downward flow. That feature delivered the most enjoyable moments in testing, including Ascending cash prizes that were boosted by the win multiplier. Still, the game information makes it clear that Dark Summoning’s max win of 10,666x the bet can occur not only in the Rise to Salvation feature, but also in the Trial by Hellfire Bonus and even in the base game.

Even if it isn’t as aggressively irreverent as some of Nolimit City’s theme selections, Dark Summoning is a bold release and underlines how Hacksaw Gaming is one of the more magpie-minded slot creators when it comes to choosing themes—then packing them with exciting mechanics.