Overview
Ignite your senses with Pragmatic Play's explosive new slot, Hot Pepper! This high-volatility game boasts a scorching 7x7 grid and a cluster pays system, where wins are formed by connecting 5 or more matching symbols. Set against a vibrant desert backdrop, the game features a captivating visual design with a sombrero-wearing character and lively soundtrack. Prepare for tumbling wins and cascading excitement as chilli symbols explode, adding random wild multipliers that can reach a sizzling x128! Aim for the ultimate heat with a maximum win potential of 10,000x your bet. With stakes ranging from 20 p/c to $/€100, Hot Pepper offers an exhilarating experience for both casual and high-roller players alike, featuring two RTP settings: 96.45% and 95.02%. The higher RTP version increases to 96.79% when buying free spins. Get ready to feel the burn!
Gameplay & Features
Step one in grasping how Hot Pepper functions is itstumble wins mechanism. When a winning cluster hits, the symbols that formed itexplodefrom the game board. The gaps are filled by symbols falling down from above; in addition, achilli symbolis placed in one of the empty spaces as part of theRandom Wild Multiplier feature.
• Wild Multipliers
•
Chilli symbols are wild, so they substitute for all other symbols except the scatter. Arandom level from 1 to 5is selected as well. This leveldetermines what sort of multiplier the chilli wilds will have. Then, forevery 3 wildsused in a tumble sequence on the same spin, the levelincreases, up to level 5 at most. Levels and their values follow this progression:
Level 1– winning clusters of 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, and 11+ generate multiplier values of x1, x2, x4, or x8, respectively. Level 2– winning clusters of 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, and 11+ generate multiplier values of x2, x4, x8, or x16, respectively. Level 3– winning clusters of 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, and 11+ generate multiplier values of x4, x8, x16, or x32, respectively. Level 4– winning clusters of 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, and 11+ generate multiplier values of x8, x16, x32, or x64, respectively. Level 5– winning clusters of 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, and 11+ generate multiplier values of x16, x32, x64, or x128, respectively. Multipliers are applied to any win the wild is part of, and if more than one wild is part of a cluster, the values are added to each other first. In the base game, level progress is reset at the end of the spin.
• Free Spins
•
Landing3 scatter symbolsin a tumble sequence awards12 free spins. In free spins,wildsgenerated by cluster wins arealways at level 5for the full duration of the bonus round. The round can be extended by+5 free spinswhen 3 scatter symbols hit in a tumble sequence. Finally, where available, users may buy free spins for a cost equal to100 times the total bet
Final Thoughts
On the Scoville Scale, the meter measuring the pungency of a chilli pepper, you'd imagine Hot Pepper would get a fairly decent score. It's not the wildest grid slot out there, but Hot Pepper's got a few tricks it can use to heat the proverbial taste buds. The theme's execution adds verve, too, and whilst Hot Pepper is fairly basic, though not in an overly bad way, it's got the sort of components which can technically knit together to fire off an entertaining run of events.
Like heroically shovelling down a pepper that scored high on the Scoville Scale, for the lols or whatever, there is a chance Hot Pepper may bite back. At times during testing, it could be hard to gain much traction, either in the bonus round or out of it. One of the possible reasons is you kind of have to win at least two times in a row to really get anywhere. The first time to plant the wild multiplier, the second to put it to use somewhere, if possible. All part of the high volatility then, as some tumble sequences fizzle out, others linger like an oesophagus set on fire by an overly hot pepper. It's a game which can get tantalisingly close by, say, dropping an x128 or two, then pulling away by not dropping anything useful near it. There is a flip side, of course, where symbols land just to produce something decent, theoretically all the way up to10,000x the bet, which is Hot Pepper's win cap.
If you've playedFruit Party 2, then Hot Pepper's gameplay may come across as rather similar, and the games feel quite closely related. Despite its busy schedule, or because of it, Pragmatic Play is good at coming up with a decent idea, throwing in a pretty scene, and sending it out into the wild. This approach might not lead to mind-warpingly original experiences, but in the case of Hot Pepper, at least, it can lead to a pleasing game with more merits than flaws.
