Sandstorm N.V. Ltd.

About the Company

Sandstorm N.V. Ltd. is an online instant win game developer registered in Curacao, according to the user license agreement of their stand-alone gaming site. Their games can be found at ezscratch as well as VIPslots Casino, and Boombet. Beyond loose associations to Rome Casino founders, not much is known about the company. No technical systems testing certificates or gaming fairness claims are made in connection with the software. We find no valid clickable Curacao license and no corporate website for the company.

While some reviews associate them with Cyberrock Entertainment, current owners of about two dozen failed RivalPowered casinos, we simply can't prove ownership due to Israeli business secrecy laws and the inability to verify the veracity of certain court filings and exposés that have been removed from the internet mentioning the company. We can say with high confidence that the company's transparency is murky at best.

Software and Games

We are known to use several contrivances to access the same information our readers around the globe will find as they decide whether or not to play on certain software and at certain sites. However, this reviewer's trust level for this particular developer is negative 100 on a scale of 1-10 so they won't be getting my personal information and I won't risk being blacklisted by entering false information. That leaves us with a cursory review of the games that are available to web crawlers and search engines.

We find 7 games but other reviewers have identified as many as 30. Based on the ezscratch claim that "Every 3rd Card is a Winner" we can assume a fixed odds model. To understand the difference between a fair offer and a fixed pot, we need to look at the back of any scratch card created by world leaders such as IGT or Scientific Games. No such information is available here.

Playing devil's advocate we'll assume that rather than giving true fixed odds, Sandstorm 'batches' each title like a roll of lottery tickets. If that is the case, and due to their lack of transparency we have no reason to believe otherwise, once a major prize has been won the pool is dead and players will simply be feeding the odds. As an aside, the only way to win at scratch games is to buy the entire roll and hope it is a good one. That is not possible under the assumed online model.

Playing angel's advocate each individual game may offer players a theoretical return to player percentage. That RTP number is not relevant, but to be fair let's assume 42% - the same odds Sci-Games and IGT give you when playing the lottery. To make the math easier let's assume Sandstorm has a house edge of 50%. Over time, the statistical player would lose half their money. But we aren't statistics and most players give their winnings back. Under this model, true fixed odds, it doesn't matter if the card before yours was a winner, you stand the same chance every time you stake your money.

We simply don't know how Sandstorm software works. We don't know if individual operators can remove a batch when it becomes less profitable to them, as IGT and Sci-Games retailers have been proven to do. And we don't know anything about this company other than the fact that they are less than transparent.

The Final Analysis

My mission is to inform rather than guide based on nearly two decades of experience. Sandstorm is a completely non-transparent company. They are welcome to clear the air if they choose to. As an observer, I have challenged the biggest names in this industry for our readers. I always back up my assertions with facts. There are simply none available here. Caveat Emptor.