✅ Play Sugar Craze Bonanza at
| Title | Sugar Craze Bonanza (Sugar Fair) |
| Developer | Hammertime |
| Drums | 5 |
| Lines | 4 |
| RTP | 96.10% | 94.01% | 92.01% | 86.71% |
| Maximum winnings | 10,000x |
| Volatility | High |
| Release Date | March 30, 2023. |
Sugar Craze Bonanza: gaming machine review
Sugar Craze Bonanza is a candy-themed online slot from Hammertime Studios, a partner of Games Global. Hammertime is a project of software producer Stormcraft Studios, and Sugar Craze Bonanza links these two studios, as it is a clone of the previous game, the Thunderstruck Stormchaser slot. Candy is a far cry from Norse Gods, but under the hood these two games have similar stats as well as features like spinning reels, multiplier symbols, sugar storms, free spins with a win multiplier and a second level bonus round where sugar storms are guaranteed.
The Norse gods and candy may exist in different worlds, but they have at least one thing in common. Both of these themes are quite common in online slots, and for Sugar Craze Bonanza, Hammertime sticks to the visual design usually associated with this genre. This means a candy-floral/cloudy realm filled with lollipops and hard candies throughout the game grid. All we can say about Sugar Craze Bonanza’s presentation is that it’s fun and bright, and it ticks almost everything you’d expect to find in a game of this nature.
Putting aside the toothy phrases for now, we move on to the facts and figures that underlie Sugar Craze Bonanza. First of all, it’s the returns to the player, which are provided by the game’s highly variable mathematical model. Four settings have been developed, ranging from a maximum of 96.1% to 86.71%, depending on the market. Sweethearts wishing to start the game can choose wagers from 20 p/c up to £/€25 per spin, and whether you prefer to bet on mobile, desktop or tablet, all devices are provided for this purpose.
Sugar Craze Bonanza is played on 5 reels with 4 symbols on each, providing 1024 ways to win. The symbols fall out on the grid as stacks of dice, forming a win when the matched tiles end up on adjacent reels, starting with reel #1. On a single unmodified five, the winnings pay out from 1 to 1.25 times the bet if it consists of card ranks, or from 1.5 to 4 times the bet if five candy-like squares are drawn. Watch out for the wild logo, which is present on all five strips of the reels. Wilds can replace all paying symbols in Sugar Craze Bonanza or by themselves bring winnings worth up to 10x the bet per win of five pieces.
Sugar Craze Bonanza: Features of the slot
When winning combinations appear in Sugar Craze Bonanza they trigger the Rolling Reels feature. This mechanics removes the corresponding symbols from the reels, and other symbols are dropped in the vacated places. Rolling Reels continue to rotate until a new winning track appears.
Multiplier symbols
On all reels of the base game and free spins there are also multiplier symbols. These symbols have values x2-x10, x15 or x20. The sum of all multiplier symbols in sight is applied to the total winnings at the end of the spin.
Sugar Storm
Sugar Storms can be randomly triggered in the base game. When they are activated, free spins are awarded with a guaranteed Sugar Storm, which makes up to five reels completely «wild».
Free spins
A roll of 3, 4 or 5 scatter symbols triggers the free spins round and pays a reward of 1x, 5x or 25x of the bet respectively. The round begins with a spin of the Free Spins Wheel, which determines the number of free spins and the initial multiplier.
- Three scatters give 7-12 free spins with a starting multiplier from x1 to x6.
- 4 scatter gives 10-15 free spins with a starting multiplier from x3 to x9.
- 5 scatters bring 15-25 free spins with a starting multiplier of x5 to x12.
A random number of Sugarstorm tokens are also awarded at the beginning of the free spins. Landing multiplier symbols add their values to the total win multiplier, which is then applied to the winnings. The total winnings multiplier is only applied to the winnings if a multiplier symbol appears on the screen. Multiplier symbols can randomly appear on the screen during the game and 3 or more scatters will trigger an additional +5 free spins.
Sugar Storm tokens are also dropped at random. Collecting 12, 14 or 16 of them will give you 1, 2 or 3 special free spins when the regular series of free spins ends. In each of these special free spins, a sugar storm is guaranteed. Finally, where possible, players can buy entry to the free spins round for 50 times the bet.
Sugar Craze Bonanza: Slot Verdict
The original Thunderstruck Stormchaser slot paid an exciting tribute to Thor and his lightning abilities, while possessing a well-crafted set of exciting features. One might wonder how much of its success was due to the fact that it stood on the shoulders of Thunderstruck, a franchise that has been around since the early days of online slots. The good news is that the game engine works just as well in the candy environment as it does in the Norse belief system, and all the thrills of the previous game carry over to this one.
Of course, players’ level of entertainment may depend on whether they prefer references to the teeth-grinding theme or to the towering Norse gods. Those who belong to the first group will have no trouble finding fun at Sugar Craze Bonanza. Hammertime has managed to convey the bright, sweet atmosphere that these games are known for, though one could argue that there’s as much novelty in the pleasing presentation as there is in the redesigned feature set. As far as features go, they’re just as potentially exciting here as before, from the additional Sugarstorm, which ties into the Thunderstruck lineup as a whole, to the free spins with their ability to increase the win multiplier. Candy-related slots have a strong tradition of introducing multipliers: Sweet Bonanza, Sugar Rush, Milkshakes, and so on, and they work great in Sugar Craze Bonanza, increasing winnings up to 10,000 times the bet.
Like the real pick ‘n mix IRL game, sweet-taste gamblers are spoiled for choice; in fact, it gets a little overwhelming. The good news is that there are great alternatives for players who enjoy this style of play, and Hammertime has made another fun addition to the list of options.
