Overview
Prepare to delve into the enigmatic world of Shadow Society by Red Tiger, a High Volatility slot promising a staggering 10,000x max win. This unique game challenges you to unravel its secrets across 03-May reels and 03-May rows, dynamically shifting from a compact 3x3 setup with 9 ways to win, expanding to a sprawling 5x5 grid with Sep-25 paylines in play. Its visual design, featuring partially-masked figures and a mysterious ripped parchment backdrop complemented by a breathy 80s synth soundtrack, perfectly captures its clandestine theme. A compelling progress bar mechanic, unlocking high-value symbols and additional grid space, transforms gameplay into an evolving quest, making it ideal for players seeking deep engagement and the thrill of discovery.
Gameplay & Features
The first thing to get to grips with is Shadow Society'sprogress bar & progress symbol. Each time the1x2 progress symbol hits, playersmove one step along the progress bar. After5 stepshave been completed on the bar areward is unlocked. The bar has8 rewards in totalto be unlocked:
Reward 1– unlocks the purple character symbol. Reward 2– unlocks an extra reel. Reward 3– unlocks the green character symbol. Reward 4– unlocks an extra row. Reward 5– unlocks the red character symbol. Reward 6– unlocks an additional reel. Reward 7– unlocks the golden character symbol. Reward 8– unlocks an extra row.
• Free Spins
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At all reel sizes, the free spins scatter appears on the far-left, middle, and far-right reels. Landing3 scatter symbolsawards10 free spins. Progress on the progress bar can be made during free spins, and+5 additional free spinscan be won in the feature if 3 scatters land. The free spins bonus round also comes with awin multiplierstarting at x1. Each time a win occurs, the multiplierincreases by +1up to amaximum of x15. The win multiplier is removed when the bonus round ends
Final Thoughts
In someone else's hands, a slot about secret societies could have been a riot of tongue-in-cheek satire or a deadly serious dissection of the way the world may be run. Red Tiger, however, has played it safe by marrying an interesting topic to their typical set of goto style of artwork. That's not to disparage it. Few do intriguing semi-mystical visuals as consistently as Red Tiger.
Another thing the studio likes to do every so often is to make these progressive slots that require time and patience to get the game off of, or in some cases, back to, a level of baseline. Usually, the progression involves unlocking features like in10,001 Nights Megaways; here, it unlocks symbols and features. Doing things this way adds a certain quest element, but you can understand why some players prefer to start a session at least at ground level rather than in an underground space without windows, having to claw their way out of the basement to catch a glimpse of sunlight. Okay, Shadow Society isn't as dire as that in the beginning, yet still, this method won't be for all tastes, and it might be interesting to know if and how there is any effect on the return to player value.
There is a sneaky suspicion that if certain users are okay with having to unlock features, they probably aren't too fussed about slight variations in the RTP. And to be fair, it didn't take too long to unlock a few levels along the trail. When everything's unlocked, however, then what? There are free spins with the rising multiplier, yet once you've unlocked everything, seen the free spins (or not), the quest is complete, and Shadow Society is in danger of dropping in desirability. Potential might not be a major motivator either, maxing out at1957.7x the bet.
All up, Shadow Society was an okay game. It wouldn't have hurt if Red Tiger had done something more daring with the secret society idea, and the progression element won't appeal to everyone. It's hard to pin down the target audience, but there are clearly enough players out there lapping up these progressive-style games for Red Tiger to keep firing them out.
