Fawkes: Slot Overview

In 1605, long before anyone could vent about politics on X or circulate AI-made hit pieces, Guy Fawkes was caught standing guard over explosives intended to detonate beneath London’s House of Lords. The event later became the basis for Guy Fawkes Night, marked on November 5 across the UK and in several former British Empire nations. It’s also the inspiration for the online slot Fawkes from software developer Wicked Games. As you spin through wild-linked Execution Modifiers and free spins, it’s hard not to wonder: is the night really about celebrating the Gunpowder Plot’s failure, or is it a not-so-subtle message from those in charge that whatever the common folk are plotting, they’ll be found and stopped?

It was almost impossible not to think of Peter & Sons when Fawkes first appeared. The logo, the overall visual approach, and the general vibe all feel very familiar. Whether P&S were involved isn’t obvious, but even if they weren’t, the similarities are noticeable—though no one owns this kind of aesthetic. The whole game is framed like a stage performance: players are the audience, the curtains part, and the story plays out in front of them. From the historical intro to the puppet-like wilds and wooden set pieces, it’s a polished presentation, and easily one of Wicked Games’ best-told slots so far.

Running on a 4,096 ways to win system, Fawkes uses a 6×4 matrix. The twist is that symbols can be split, which can push the game to up to 5,159,700 ways to win. The math model is medium volatile, and the RTP is set at 96.23%. With ante bets and bonus buys available, the standard wager range sits at $/€0.20 to $/€400 per spin.

The paytable is led by 10-A card ranks, paying 0.5x to 1x the bet for 6 OAK, while keys, swords, lanterns, and the two character symbols make up the premium group, returning 1.25x to 2.5x the bet for 6-of-a-kind wins. Wilds can land on reels 2 to 6 and substitute for everything except Gunpowder Barrels. They are 1×4 sized symbols and may appear either fully or only partly in view.

Fawkes: Slot Features

Fawkes revolves around a Gunpowder Cache reel that can unlock different Execution Modifiers and multiple free spins rounds, alongside ante bets and feature buys.

Gunpowder Cache

The Gunpowder Cache is a reel that spins from right to left beneath the main reels, showing only empty spaces or Gunpowder Barrels. In the base game, when Gunpowder Barrels and wilds are visible together, they award Execution Modifiers or free spins. Execution modifiers affect only the main reels.

• Hanged – 1 or 4 Gunpowder Barrels with wilds award this feature. Any partially visible wild moves to cover the entire reel.
• Drawn – 2 or 5 Gunpowder Barrels with wilds trigger this feature. Any position covered by a wild is split into 2 wild symbols, increasing the number of ways.
• Quartered – 3 or 6 Gunpower Barrels with wilds triggers this. Any position covered by a wild is randomly replicated onto an adjacent reel. Any overlapping wilds are multiplied up to x3. The multiplier represents the symbol count, increasing the number of ways.

Free Spins

Landing 4 or more Gunpowder Barrels in the Gunpowder Cache grants 11 free spins. Players may choose between Hanged or Drawn free spins. In both modes, their matching modifier activates whenever a wild lands on the main reels. Hitting 5 Gunpowder Barrels awards 8 Quartered free spins, with the Quartered modifier triggering when a wild lands, while 6 Gunpowder Barrels award 5 High Treason free spins, applying all three modifiers whenever wilds land on the main reels. During free spins, Gunpowder Barrels that show beneath the leftmost reel reveal 1-5 extra free spins. Gunpowder Barrels that appear beneath reels 2-6 reveal wilds, which count as an extra symbol on the main reel directly above.

Ante Bet & Feature Buy

Set at 2x the stake, the Ante Bet boosts the chance of triggering free spins by more than three times, while the 10x option also triples the bonus odds and guarantees an Execution Modifier on every spin. Players can purchase the Hanged or Drawn Bonus for 75x the bet, pay 150x for the Quartered Bonus, or spend 600x for the High Treason Bonus. Two lucky draws are also available to buy – 165x for the Buy Chance Bonus, or 240x for the Buy Chance Big Boom Bonus.

Fawkes: Slot Verdict

In terms of narrative and presentation, Fawkes delivers a strong through-line from beginning to end. It opens with a short historical recap—complete with a touch of poetry—before the curtains pull back and the “stage” is set. As noted earlier, the art direction isn’t the most distinctive style Wicked Games could have chosen, yet the execution, visuals, and animations support the theatre-show framing in a genuinely fun way, and the overall look is consistently appealing. Fireworks do pop up in slots now and then (Fireworks Megaways, for instance), but Guy Fawkes is rarely used as a theme, so Wicked Games deserves credit for leaning into a less common cultural event for one of its releases.

Even better, the gameplay on the reels holds up. The Gunpowder Cache and its Gunpowder Barrels provide several worthwhile Execution Modifiers in the base game, helping keep things lively. With thousands of ways to win, full-reel wilds, splitting wilds, and multiplier modifiers can, in theory, create some strong outcomes. The free spins rounds are also a highlight: first because the standard trigger lets players choose between two options, and second because the potential steps up when the bonus is activated by 5 or 6 barrels. High Treason is the mode you want, since it effectively unleashes everything the game can throw at the grid—and it can be bought too, if waiting around for six barrels feels like a chore.

Given how much explosive potential Fawkes packs, a 20,000x win cap doesn’t feel out of place. Setting aside the sense that Fawkes could have come from a different studio, it’s still a solid slot and one of the more memorable releases under the Wicked Games name, with its night-at-the-theatre vibe elevating a theme that isn’t used all that often in slots.