Benny the Beer Slot

Benny the Beer is a cartoon beer mug navigating a 5x4 grid with 1,024 base ways to win that can expand up to 100,000 ways through the StackWays mechanic. 96.17% RTP, medium volatility at 3 out of 5, and a 10,000x ceiling. I played 350 spins at €0.40 and the hit frequency felt high at around 38%. That's well above average for Hacksaw. Base game kept returning small wins consistently, rarely leaving me more than two or three spins without some kind of return. Balance moved sideways for most of the session like a stock chart going nowhere on a quiet trading day.

StackWays is the central mechanic and the only thing that separates this game from a generic ways-to-win slot. When StackWays symbols land on a reel, they determine how many symbols stack in that position. Could be two symbols, could be ten. The more symbols stacked on each reel, the more ways you unlock. Standard 1,024 ways can balloon rapidly if multiple reels get high stacks simultaneously. I saw the ways counter jump past 20,000 a couple of times during my session. Looked impressive on screen with numbers climbing in real time. Didn't translate to impressive payouts though, because the connecting symbols forming those 20,000+ ways were all low-value card royals worth barely anything per connection.

That's the frustration with StackWays. High ways count doesn't mean high win. You can have 50,000 ways open and still win less than a 5-way connection on a premium symbol. The system rewards quality of symbol over quantity of ways. Once I understood that, the excitement of watching the counter climb faded considerably. Big number means nothing if the symbols behind it are jacks and tens.

Book of Stackways

The main bonus round combines the StackWays mechanic with classic book-of-slot gameplay. A symbol gets chosen at the start of free spins to act as an expanding symbol. When enough of the chosen symbol lands during a spin, it expands to fill entire reels. If the chosen symbol happens to be a high-pay and StackWays pumps the ways count up at the same time, the combination can produce serious numbers in theory.

I bought the standard Book of Stackways at 85x (€34). Game chose a mid-pay symbol, not the premium one I was hoping for. StackWays triggered on three reels during one spin, pushing ways past 15,000 while the chosen symbol expanded across two reels simultaneously. Looked spectacular. Paid 52x. Decent but not enough to cover the buy cost. Rest of the feature added maybe 20x more in scattered smaller hits. Total: 74x return on an 85x buy. A loss. The mechanic worked exactly as designed. Just needed a better symbol pick at the start.

Super Book of Stackways is the upgraded version that costs more but picks multiple symbols to expand instead of just one. Should produce bigger numbers with more expanding coverage across the reels. I didn't try it. Already dropped €34 on the regular version and watching it return €29.60 was discouraging enough without doubling down on a pricier variant that might disappoint just as much.

Beer Theme and Presentation

Art direction is fun and doesn't pretend to be anything it isn't. Benny is a pint glass with a face, foam spilling over his rim, stumbling around a pub background. Beer taps, dart boards, and bar stools fill the scenery. Symbol animations are smooth and cartoonish with splashing beer effects on wins. It takes nothing seriously and that tone actually works in its favour. After playing dark gothic horror slots and intense mythology games, a beer mug falling off a bar stool is a welcome change of pace. Sound design has this upbeat pub music loop that's surprisingly catchy for the first 100 spins and still tolerable 250 spins later, which is rare.

Multiple FeatureSpins tiers exist beyond the direct bonus buy. BonusHunt, Double Stack, Triple Stack options at various costs. I only touched the direct bonus buy because the FeatureSpins tiers at lower costs feel like paying for a marginal statistical improvement in trigger odds that you can't actually perceive during normal play. You're spending extra per spin for a slightly higher chance of something that still requires luck to happen.

350 spins done, €14 down total. Medium volatility kept things stable throughout. No dramatic balance cliffs, no dramatic peaks either. Just a steady session with one underwhelming bonus buy that almost broke even. Would I play it again? On a slow evening when I want something lighthearted without any stress, sure. The StackWays mechanic is genuinely interesting to watch expanding even when it doesn't pay what the counter makes you think it should.