The Cinder Clockmaker review: a cascading slot that keeps time
A rainy workshop, a brass pendulum and a clock that strikes midnight in the bonus. Here is how Nocturn Play's steampunk ways slot works, spin by spin.
Published 4 October 2026 · Updated 5 October 2026 · Nocturn Play
The Cinder Clockmaker is a cascading ways slot from Nocturn Play, released on 4 October 2026. It spins six reels whose height changes every round (2 to 7 symbols each), for up to 117,649 ways to win, and drives everything through a brass pendulum multiplier that climbs from ×1 to ×10. The top prize is 5,000× the bet, and you can play it for free on nocturnplay.com, straight in your browser.
Inside the workshop
The setting is an old clockmaker's bench under a glass roof streaked with rain. Brass, soot and lamplight. The old man works with a loupe beside the reels, and when a win lands the symbols don't simply vanish: they burst into little gears that scatter across the bench. It is a quiet, slightly melancholic theme, which suits a slot built around patience and timing rather than flashing lights.
Above the reels, a drum counter rolls to show how many ways the current spin offers. Short reels mean a few hundred ways; when all six stretch to seven symbols you reach the full 117,649.
How a spin actually works
There are no paylines. You score by lining up matching symbols on adjacent reels, counted from reel one on the left. Common symbols pay from four reels; the precious ones already pay from three. Every winning symbol explodes, the gaps are refilled from above, and if the new arrangement wins again the sequence carries on. One bet can produce a whole chain of cascades.
Wilds take the shape of a golden pendulum. You only see it on reels two through six, and it can replace anything except the winding key. A golden gear, when it lands, pushes the multiplier up one notch on its own.
The pendulum: a multiplier with memory
This is the part that makes the game different. Each win inside a cascade sequence moves the brass pendulum one notch, from ×1 up to ×10. Unlike most tumbling slots, it does not reset when the spin ends. It stays where it is for the next bet. Only a spin that pays nothing at all sends it back down.
That changes how a session feels. A run of small connecting wins is not just small change: it is the clock being wound, and the next big hit may land on ×6 or ×7 instead of ×1.
A sample round, step by step
Say you are playing at 1 dollar. The pendulum sits at ×2 after a couple of modest wins on the previous spins. The reels drop with heights of 4, 6, 3, 7, 5 and 2. Gears land on the first three reels: a three-reel win on a precious symbol. It pays at ×2, bursts, and the pendulum ticks to ×3.
New symbols fall. A golden pendulum on reel 3 links a common symbol across four reels, which pays at ×3, and the needle moves to ×4. One more cascade brings a golden gear (×5) but no further line, so the sequence stops. Your next spin starts at ×5. If it pays nothing, the needle drops back; if it pays, it keeps climbing.
Midnight in the free spins
The bonus needs at least three winding keys, each on a separate reel. Three things change at once: the pendulum can no longer fall back, every symbol pays from three reels, and each golden gear lifts the multiplier again.
Then there is the clock. During the bonus, every cascade that pays makes it ring once. When the twelfth bell sounds, the Grand Chime rings once and multiplies everything you have won so far in the bonus by 2, 3, 5 or 10. Extra keys during the free spins add more spins, which gives the clock more time to reach midnight. If your connection drops mid-bonus, the game picks it up where it left off when you reopen it.
Who it suits, and how to pace it
The Cinder Clockmaker rewards players who like a slow build. The base game feeds the pendulum, the bonus is where the multiplier is locked in place, and the Grand Chime is the moment the whole round can swing. That means sessions are best sized for a stretch of spins rather than a handful: a flat stake, enough balance to reach a bonus, and autoplay set to stop when the free spins start so you can watch midnight arrive. Turbo is there for the base game if you prefer pace. The free spins can also be bought directly from the game.
How it compares with Gonzo's Quest
Anyone who knows NetEnt's Gonzo's Quest will recognise the idea of a multiplier that grows with consecutive cascades. The difference is memory: in Gonzo's Quest the multiplier starts again on every spin, while the clockmaker's pendulum carries over until a dead spin. Add variable reel heights and a second multiplier layer in the bonus, and the comparison stops at the family resemblance. Our own Gold Rush Outlaws also uses six reels of changing height, but with multiplier wilds instead of a pendulum.
Phone, tablet or desktop
The game is HTML5, so the same version runs on an iPhone, an Android phone, a tablet or a laptop, in portrait or landscape. Nothing to install. In portrait the pendulum sits above the reels where your thumb doesn't cover it, and the ways counter stays readable on a small screen.
Where to play it
Free play is available right here: open the The Cinder Clockmaker game page and press Play, no account and no download, in 32 languages and with 52 currencies plus 11 cryptocurrencies. It sits in our cascades and clusters category alongside the other tumbling titles.
For casinos, the game went live in every SoftAggregator lobby on its release day, already switched on. One integration covers our whole range, billed at 8% of GGR with no setup fee; the details are on our SoftAggregator page.
Frequently asked questions
How many ways to win does The Cinder Clockmaker have?
Up to 117,649. Each of the six reels shows between 2 and 7 symbols per spin, and a counter above the reels shows the number of ways for that spin.
Does the pendulum multiplier reset after each spin?
No. It keeps its position from one spin to the next and only drops back after a spin with no win. In the free spins it cannot drop back at all.
What is the Grand Chime?
During the bonus each paying cascade adds a bell; the twelfth bell multiplies everything won so far in that bonus by 2, 3, 5 or 10, once per bonus.
Can I play The Cinder Clockmaker for free?
Yes, on nocturnplay.com, in any browser, without registering. The same game runs on mobile and desktop.
What is the maximum win?
5,000 times the bet.
Category: New, Slots, Cascades & clusters
SoftAggregator: SoftAggregator, casino game aggregator
