The Bowery Boys

The Bowery Boys

8 / 10
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Brace yourself as you’re about to jump back to the 19th Century where you’ll be heading to New York’s neighbourhood Hell’s Kitchen in The Bowery Boys pokie from Hacksaw Gaming. Played on a grid with a 6×5 setup and Pay Anywhere wins, this online pokie is packed with thrilling features that can lead you to max wins of 10,000x. Get ready for Blasting Bomb multipliers up to 100x and Strongboxes filled with money to help you towards major wins. There are 3 different free spins, each of them offering at least 10 free spins and an ultimate experience with great modifiers from Police Badges. Find out everything this online pokie has to offer in our independent review of The Bowery Boys.

The Bowery Boys Review

The cartoon style of The Bowery Boys is something completely different from what most players will be used to from Hacksaw Gaming. The Bowery Boys’ playing field is part of a mysterious place. The night has fallen in Hell’s Kitchen, which is reflected in the moon in the sky whilst you can just see a dark alley in the background. There’s just something in the air that something unexpected is about to happen at any moment. This is due to the presence of the streetgang “The Bowery Boys”, who were particularly known for their negative attitude towards Irish immigrants and Catholics. In The Bowery Boys pokie, we are introduced to one of the most notorious street gangs of New York at the time.

Nice to know

Launched 23 March 2022
RTP 96.41%, 94.30%, 92.19%, 88.45%
Volatility High
Software Hacksaw Gaming
Features Additional Free Spins, Avalanche / Cascading Wins, Buy Feature, Free Spins, Multiplier, Pay Anywhere, Random Multiplier, Scatter symbols, Wild Symbol
Theme Robbery
Paylines Pay Anywhere
Grid Layout 6-5
Min. bet/line $0.10
Max win x10.000
Jackpot N/A

Positive points

  • ✅ Good Standard RTP
  • ✅ Win Up To 10,000x Your Bet
  • ✅ 3 Bonus Buy Options
  • ✅ Lots of Features

Negative points

  • ❌ Ranging RTP

How to Play

The grid comes with 6 reels in 5 rows and works with a Pay Anywhere-mechanism that means that all symbols pay as scatters. As a consequence, your goal is to make a winning combo by landing 8 to 15+ matching symbols anywhere in the grid. The wild has no value on its own, but does substitute for all standard symbols to help complete scatter wins. All winning symbols are removed from the grid via the cascading wins mechanic which creates space for new and/or existing symbols to fall into the grid. This makes sure empty spaces on the screen will be filled. The cascading mechanic works as long as you win.

To play The Bowery Boys, follow the steps below:

  • Open this online pokie game in your preferred online casino’s lobby.
  • Go to the paytable and look up the values of the symbols.
  • Choose a bet between $0.20 and $100.
  • Spin, play, and enjoy.

Symbol Wins

The Bowery Boys is all about street gangs and rip-roaring heists, with the action taking place in Hell’s Kitchen, at the time one of the most notorious areas of Manhattan. The graphics are fairly basic, but are a perfect match with the audio and the sound effects as you’re just waiting for something to happen as a deep tune plays in the background. Landing a bonus feature will make the audio speed up whilst you’re in the search of the big wins.

As for the symbols, you’ve got the standard A-10 royals on the reels which make up the low values. These are joined by Dude, Kick, Gun, Kiss, and Donna, the higher paying symbols in this online pokie. Out of these, Donna is the most valuable symbol, giving you 100x your bet for 15+ symbols on the reels. A barrel is this pokie’s wild which substitutes all low and high-value symbols. There’s also a bonus symbol that’s incorporated in the game to help you activate the bonus features. Here’s a closer look at the symbols you can expect in The Bowery Boys:

Symbol Payout
10 8, 9, 10, 11-12, 13-14 or 15+ pays 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 5 or 20x
J 8, 9, 10, 11-12, 13-14 or 15+ pays 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 5 or 20x
Q 8, 9, 10, 11-12, 13-14 or 15+ pays 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 5 or 20x
K 8, 9, 10, 11-12, 13-14 or 15+ pays 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 5 or 20x
A 8, 9, 10, 11-12, 13-14 or 15+ pays 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 5 or 20x
Dude 8, 9, 10, 11-12, 13-14 or 15+ pays 1, 1.5, 2, 4, 10 or 50x
Kick 8, 9, 10, 11-12, 13-14 or 15+ pays 1, 1.5, 2, 4, 10 or 50x
Gun 8, 9, 10, 11-12, 13-14 or 15+ pays 1, 1.5, 2, 4, 10 or 50x
Kiss 8, 9, 10, 11-12, 13-14 or 15+ pays 1.25, 2, 3, 7, 20 or 75x
Donna 8, 9, 10, 11-12, 13-14 or 15+ pays 1.5, 2.5, 4, 10, 30 or 100x
Bonus Symbol 1+ Bonus Symbol triggers 1 of 3 different bonus games
Wild Symbol 1+ wild activates 1 of 3 different bonus games
Key Substitutes all symbols
Blasting Bomb Multiplier Unlocks extra cash prizes when the key lands with strongboxes
Dynamite Multiplier 3+ Dynamite Multipliers activate bonus features
Police Badge Awards up to 100x in Daisy’s Dynamite feature
Dice Lose 10% to 50% of the value in the strongbox
Dollar Sign Multiplies value by the sum of the dice

Bonus Features

What we find very pleasing about this pokie machine is that it includes a relatively large number of features. It is important to know that this pokie uses the waterfall mechanism. There is also an important role for the strongbox symbol, whilst the Blasting Bomb multipliers can land and speed up the game. Then there are the 3 different free spins features and you even can buy access to each of the 3 free spins features through the Bonus Buy feature.

Waterfall Mechanism

The waterfall mechanism is all about removing winning symbols from the reels. The collected prize money is shown above the reels during every spin. As the winning symbols are removed, empty spaces are created on the playing field. To fill these spaces up, new symbols fall into the grid from the top which can result in new winning combinations. The waterfall mechanism process continues as long as new symbols create new winning combinations. When the spin is over, the collected amount of money is paid out.

Strongbox symbols

By simultaneously turning a Key symbol, you can open a strongbox symbol awarding you what’s inside. There are 3 different strongbox symbols, which you can distinguish based on their size:

  • Small strongbox: pays 2 to 5x the bet.
  • Medium strongbox: pays 10 to 25x the bet.
  • Big strongbox: pays 50 to 250x the bet.

Blasting Bomb Multipliers

Another important symbol that can land on the reels in The Bowery Boys is the Blasting Bomb multiplier symbol. A Blasting Bomb multiplier symbol always carries a multiplier of a minimum of x2 and a maximum of x100. This multiplier is applied to the amount currently seen above the reels. Do you spin multiple Blasting Bomb multipliers at the same time? Then the multipliers are first added together before they are applied to the collected prize money.

The Bowery Boys Free Spins

The Bowery Boys has a total of 3 different free spins features which works as follows:

  • By spinning 1 bonus symbol, you trigger the Strongbox Storage free spins feature giving you 10 free spins. In this feature you can keep 5 turned strongbox symbols in case you have not turned a Key symbol at the same time. This storage is done in a special storage place next to the playing field. As soon as a Key symbol lands, all strongboxes are opened. This applies to both stored strongboxes and strongboxes that can be seen on the playing field. In addition, each spin of the bonus symbol gives an extra free spin.
  • By spinning 2 bonus symbols, the Daisy’s Dynamite free spins feature gets triggered giving you 10 free spins. In this feature, Dynamite multipliers and Igniter symbols can land on the reels. To take advantage of the Dynamite multipliers (which have a minimum of a x2 and a maximum of a x100 multiplier), you must simultaneously spin a Detonator symbol. However, you also get a special storage place in this free spins feature where you can store Dynamite multipliers. It often happens that you won’t spin a Detonator symbol at the same time though. Once a Detonator symbol does land, all Dynamite multipliers are detonated. This applies to both the saved Dynamite multipliers as for the Dynamite multipliers present on the playing field. The multipliers are then added together and applied to the collected prize money.
  • By spinning 3 bonus symbols, the Bowery Savings Bank free spins feature gets triggered giving you 10 free spins. In this feature, every amount won is paid out in full. As a bonus, a percentage of the amount won is stored in a special strongbox. By spinning Dice symbols, that amount in the strongbox can be multiplied by a minimum of x2 and a maximum of x12. When you run a Police Badge, you unfortunately have to surrender part of the strongbox amount. The fine is then a percentage with a minimum of 10% and a maximum of 50%. To win the amount collected in the special strongbox, you must spin a Dollar sign symbol.

Bonus Buy

The Bowery Boys has 3 free spins features, all of which can be purchased using the Bonus Buy feature. The costs depend on what the exact feature:

  • Strongbox Storage free spins feature costs 80x your stake.
  • Daisy’s Dynamite free spins feature costs 200x your stake.
  • Bowery Savings Bank free spins feature costs 300x your stake.

Payout Metrics

The RTP of Bowery Boys is set at 96.41%, which we’re quite excited about as it’s well above the 96% average we actually consider both the average and minimum. This RTP is a percentage that has been calculated by simulating 10,000,000,000 rounds, but short term differences can occur. The hit frequency comes at 25.05%, which is very reasonable as this means that over a quarter of all spins on average will give you a winner. The maximum win in this game is 10,000x your stake, which tends to be the standard for modern Hacksaw Gaming pokies. Volatility is high though, so be prepared for sporadic wins.

Summary

We have to say at CherryRed that we were very impressed by The Bowery Boys. It quickly becomes clear what the pokie is all about and the soundtrack and symbols fit the theme very well. The betting range of The Bowery Boys is wide, making sure that every type of player can get started with this pokie machine. The different features ensure that you will not be bored for a second which is certainly true for the 3 unique bonus rounds you won’t find in a lot of other games. We had a great time making our spins on this one and consider The Bowery Boys a very dynamic pokie that frankly exceeded our expectations of a Hacksaw Gaming pokie. The Bowery Boys not only scores well when it comes to the game theme’s, but also in terms of gameplay. This is what we’d like to see more often.