Rune Beasts! Sharp Peaks review
Peter & Sons
Hacksaw partner Jinx Gaming has been experimenting with some unusual ideas lately, and Rune Beasts! Sharp Peaks is a good example of a studio willing to venture beyond the usual slot formulas. It's a high-volatility counterpart to Rune Beasts! Deep Trenches, retaining the Pokémon-inspired creature battles, elemental runes and expanding VS symbols while increasing the maximum payout to 12,500x the bet. The two games share so much DNA that anyone familiar with Deep Trenches will immediately recognise the setup, although the more aggressive mathematical profile makes Sharp Peaks the more appealing of the pair.
The setting shifts from the tropical coastline of Deep Trenches to the mountainous regions of Asterra, where strange creatures inhabit green pastures beneath towering peaks. It's a colourful, anime-inspired world populated by elemental beasts, including the electric rabbit Bunnit. The creatures have their own animations and health meters, while the soundtrack and battle effects help establish the feeling of a lightweight monster-collecting adventure. The Pokémon influence is impossible to miss, but Jinx has at least made an effort to translate that inspiration into actual gameplay.
The action takes place on a 7x7 grid, where clusters of seven or more matching elemental runes produce wins and disappear through Cascades. There are seven elemental types, including Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Earth, Air and Special, with regular cluster payouts ranging from 0.10x to 5x the bet. Stakes range from 0.10 to 75, the default RTP is 96.31%, and volatility is high. Much like its predecessor, ordinary symbol payouts aren't particularly exciting on their own, making the additional mechanics responsible for most of the game's appeal.
The most distinctive of these is the VS symbol. Landing one causes it to expand into a 3x3 area, revealing two elemental beasts that battle for control of the position. The winning creature transforms the entire area into matching runes carrying its multiplier, with connected symbols outside the area also contributing to the payout. It's an entertaining little spectacle, although the actual battle is essentially a visual representation of a randomly determined outcome. The novelty comes from seeing how the resulting cluster interacts with the surrounding symbols rather than the fight itself.
Elemental weaknesses provide another layer to the gameplay, with matching rune clusters damaging creatures and potentially revealing multipliers when they are defeated. The system adds some welcome variety to the usual Cascading format, even if the extra rules can make the game feel more complicated than it needs to be. There's also the question of how much these elaborate mechanics actually contribute to the entertainment once their initial novelty wears off.
Three bonus modes continue the monster-battling concept. Beast Master, triggered by 3 Scatters, introduces an elemental opponent whose health persists between spins. Defeating beasts contributes multipliers to a persistent meter, increasing the value of subsequent wins. Four Scatters activate Mythical Beast, where the opponent is the Mythical Sky Serpent. Its attacks can add multipliers to a meter that activates on certain spins, while defeating the creature makes the accumulated multiplier persistent for the remainder of the feature. Both bonuses develop the combat mechanics in ways that make sense within the game's theme.
The third option, Mystery Pack, is a rather different affair. Triggered by 5 Scatters, it awards six collectible cards containing cash prizes, ranging from ordinary Common cards to valuable Holo Rare and Secret Rare varieties. The latter can award the full 12,500x maximum. It's a fun idea in principle, especially given the monster-collecting inspiration, but opening six cards is a relatively brief experience compared with the battles. There isn't much interaction beyond revealing the prizes, and the outcome can feel heavily dependent on whether one particularly valuable card appears.
Bonus Buys are available for Beast Master at 100x the bet, Mythical Beast at 150x and Mystery Pack at 200x. Alternatively, BonusHunt FeatureSpins cost 3x for an increased chance of triggering a bonus, while VS FeatureSpins cost 50x and guarantee a VS symbol.
What is appreciated the most about Sharp Peaks is its experimental character. Jinx Gaming has taken a collection of ideas that wouldn't necessarily seem compatible with a traditional slot and attempted to make them work together. Some elements are more successful than others, and the monster battles can occasionally feel like elaborate dressing for relatively straightforward multiplier mechanics. The Mystery Pack is another example of a promising concept that doesn't quite develop into something particularly substantial.
Compared with Deep Trenches, the higher volatility and increased 12,500x ceiling make Sharp Peaks the more interesting proposition, although the differences aren't dramatic enough to make it feel like an entirely separate experience. It's a good, original slot with an appealing presentation and several creative touches, but not quite the exceptional release its ambitious concept might suggest. Still, it's fun to see developers experiment with ideas like these, even when the results are imperfect, than continue producing endless variations of the same tired formulas.
The setting shifts from the tropical coastline of Deep Trenches to the mountainous regions of Asterra, where strange creatures inhabit green pastures beneath towering peaks. It's a colourful, anime-inspired world populated by elemental beasts, including the electric rabbit Bunnit. The creatures have their own animations and health meters, while the soundtrack and battle effects help establish the feeling of a lightweight monster-collecting adventure. The Pokémon influence is impossible to miss, but Jinx has at least made an effort to translate that inspiration into actual gameplay.
The action takes place on a 7x7 grid, where clusters of seven or more matching elemental runes produce wins and disappear through Cascades. There are seven elemental types, including Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Earth, Air and Special, with regular cluster payouts ranging from 0.10x to 5x the bet. Stakes range from 0.10 to 75, the default RTP is 96.31%, and volatility is high. Much like its predecessor, ordinary symbol payouts aren't particularly exciting on their own, making the additional mechanics responsible for most of the game's appeal.
The most distinctive of these is the VS symbol. Landing one causes it to expand into a 3x3 area, revealing two elemental beasts that battle for control of the position. The winning creature transforms the entire area into matching runes carrying its multiplier, with connected symbols outside the area also contributing to the payout. It's an entertaining little spectacle, although the actual battle is essentially a visual representation of a randomly determined outcome. The novelty comes from seeing how the resulting cluster interacts with the surrounding symbols rather than the fight itself.
Elemental weaknesses provide another layer to the gameplay, with matching rune clusters damaging creatures and potentially revealing multipliers when they are defeated. The system adds some welcome variety to the usual Cascading format, even if the extra rules can make the game feel more complicated than it needs to be. There's also the question of how much these elaborate mechanics actually contribute to the entertainment once their initial novelty wears off.
Three bonus modes continue the monster-battling concept. Beast Master, triggered by 3 Scatters, introduces an elemental opponent whose health persists between spins. Defeating beasts contributes multipliers to a persistent meter, increasing the value of subsequent wins. Four Scatters activate Mythical Beast, where the opponent is the Mythical Sky Serpent. Its attacks can add multipliers to a meter that activates on certain spins, while defeating the creature makes the accumulated multiplier persistent for the remainder of the feature. Both bonuses develop the combat mechanics in ways that make sense within the game's theme.
The third option, Mystery Pack, is a rather different affair. Triggered by 5 Scatters, it awards six collectible cards containing cash prizes, ranging from ordinary Common cards to valuable Holo Rare and Secret Rare varieties. The latter can award the full 12,500x maximum. It's a fun idea in principle, especially given the monster-collecting inspiration, but opening six cards is a relatively brief experience compared with the battles. There isn't much interaction beyond revealing the prizes, and the outcome can feel heavily dependent on whether one particularly valuable card appears.
Bonus Buys are available for Beast Master at 100x the bet, Mythical Beast at 150x and Mystery Pack at 200x. Alternatively, BonusHunt FeatureSpins cost 3x for an increased chance of triggering a bonus, while VS FeatureSpins cost 50x and guarantee a VS symbol.
What is appreciated the most about Sharp Peaks is its experimental character. Jinx Gaming has taken a collection of ideas that wouldn't necessarily seem compatible with a traditional slot and attempted to make them work together. Some elements are more successful than others, and the monster battles can occasionally feel like elaborate dressing for relatively straightforward multiplier mechanics. The Mystery Pack is another example of a promising concept that doesn't quite develop into something particularly substantial.
Compared with Deep Trenches, the higher volatility and increased 12,500x ceiling make Sharp Peaks the more interesting proposition, although the differences aren't dramatic enough to make it feel like an entirely separate experience. It's a good, original slot with an appealing presentation and several creative touches, but not quite the exceptional release its ambitious concept might suggest. Still, it's fun to see developers experiment with ideas like these, even when the results are imperfect, than continue producing endless variations of the same tired formulas.