The name suggests a cute and cartoonish theme, but in reality, we get a colourful and sleek design with jewelled symbols. We head into the depths of the jungle with tropical plants as the backdrop in HippoPop. From night to day, African animals with glowing eyes will illuminate the grid.
Video HippoPop™ – Yggdrasil Gaming
It’s a little puzzling why they opt for the game to take place in the jungle when the symbols very clearly originate in Africa, but we enjoyed the hybrid theme nonetheless.
The playing grid is very simple with not much of a discernable border, rather, just a glowing outline around the reels. One thing is for sure, it’s difficult to match the vivid colours offered by Avatar UX, the developer, and we thoroughly enjoyed the pops of colour that light up the screen.
HippoPop Details
The developer specializes in the Popwins mechanic, which is basically just a wheel expansion. Due to this, the paylines HippoPop offers come in staggering numbers. You start with a very simple 243, but the game has the potential to crank it up to 65,536! Imagine the hidden potential for earnings upon a reel expansion!
The 3×5 grid can offer a max payout of 48,150x your initial bet, so get ready to lay down the highest stake. The betting range is small, however, only giving players the freedom to throw in 0.20 to 40.
Read also: Fire Toad
The RTP or return to player is in your favour at 96.10%. As with most other slot games that offer high returns, HippoPop ranks high on the volatility scale. It’s in our hopes that the features can catapult players to big wins, and from what we see, that is entirely possible!
HippoPop Features
As we said, the game utilizes a grid expansion mechanic that will incrementally add rows as you land winning combos. When the grid reaches a height of 6 horizontal reels, the grid will expand to an additional 6 rows, and the bonus game will start.
The bonus game will start you off with 5 free spins that you can choose to bet on the bonus wheel, which could yield up to 12 free spins. Keep in mind that you could end up losing it all - as you would with any gamble.
The free spins can happen when the grid is at its standard size or when it expands. Every win you get will add a multiplier to your score. It’s in your best interest to hope the reels expand to their max height of 8, which is also when the lucrative max win is available.
Read also: Safari Sam 2
When you expand the grid from 6-8 rows high, the hippo symbol in HippoPop will end up paying out multipliers from 2 to 4.
Verdict
HippoPop receives a 10/10 for design, in our opinion, but we may just be attracted to the very mesmerizing colours and glowing eyes of the animals. But no one can deny the attractive five-figure wins HippoPop can potentially deliver. The volatility is a bit high, but the helpful mechanics can make up for it.