While a number of the slot games created specifically for mobile play by developer Lightning Box have fairly elaborate themes, allowing designers to create brilliant backdrops that keep the developer’s one-size-fits-all slots template interesting, Candy Swap is an exception to the rule. The reels are transparent as for all Lightning Box slots, but the backdrop is a simple soft-focus pink gingham tablecloth with a few enticing candies scattered on it, and there is no elaborate backstory.
The five reels with 9 paylines are enclosed in a frame of unadorned pink-and-white candy canes, and game play is accompanied by slightly incongruous light classical music. On the other hand, the simplicity of the Candy Swap design and audio allows players to tune out and drool over the delicious-looking candies that make up the playing symbols.
Standard Poker symbols are again the Lightning Box choice for low-value slot icons, but in Candy Swap the A, K, Q, J and 10 are fashioned as oddly shaped jellybeans, in bold shiny colours. They all pay 5X the line bet for three of a kind, but prizes increase with symbol value for four matches or better. The K and A win 50X for four of a kind, and 150X for five matches on one payline.
The high-value symbols are all exotic candies of the sort found in specialist confectionary stores. A green gummi bear pays 25X, 50X, and 300X the line bet for three, four or five matches, and the chocolate milk bottle, candy cane, marzipan fried egg and Candy Swap slot logo all start paying prizes for a two-of-a-kind match beginning on Reel 1. Five logos win the game’s top prize: 2,500X the line bet.
The sweet-toothed theme is continued throughout the Candy Swap symbols, with a candy strawberry and a circular chocolate arrow studded with candies fulfilling the standard slot Wild and Scatter roles, respectively.
Three or more Scatters in any position will trigger a bonus round of 10 free spins, which takes place on the same set of reels as base play. Wilds and Scatters have the same effects during bonus play as they do in base play, and three Scatters during a free spins round will trigger another 10 free spins.
Because all Lightning Box games are designed primarily for mobile play, the Candy Swap controls are not below the reels as is traditional, but in the standard position on the Lightning Box template: in two pairs flanking the reels. This makes them easy to manipulate with thumbs on a smart phone or tablet, with the right-hand buttons devoted only to the Spin and Auto Spin functions, and all the other game controls accessible via click-through menus on the left-hand buttons.
Nevertheless, the game plays smoothly on desktop and laptop platforms too, so players can find Candy Swap at online casinos as well as mobile Canadian mobile casino sites casinos. Players can adjust their bets, playing between 1 and 9 paylines per spin and staking between 0.01 and 1.00 per line, using the touchscreen controls on mobile, or by manipulating the buttons via track pad or mouse on desktops or laptops.