Hot Blox

Overview of Hot Blox slot

Hot Blox is the latest release from the development team at High 5 Games in partnership with Yggdrasil. This slot proves that the developers are honing their creative skills, and this shows in this third rather strange slot in a row from them. Whether you have played the original two slots or not this is a different slot with innovative gaming content that will see the game appeal to a wide audience. If you are ready to pit your skill against Hot Blox then please read on.

Game Play

The first thing that you will notice in this slot is that the reels have been divided into 9 very distinctive mini slots which is something that has never been seen in the slot world however, you should be aware that this slot can be frustrating as there is no way to win unless you can manage to merge a minimum of three “bloxes” which also have to contain the same matching symbol.
It is not all doom and gloom though as you are only required to have three completely merged bloxes in the 3x3 grid to be rewarded with a win, better still is that there is also a multiplier action that can be really worthwhile once you have fully charged one of the blox involved.

When I tried the slot I did find it hard to activate the bonus round in the game and when I did it really is something of an acquired taste and dependent on your preference you will either like the slot or hate it! Thankfully, I think all players will like it, and when you get into the bonus round it is enjoyable however the slot does have a brutal math model which may scare away many players before they have gone through the entire adjustment period.

Features and Gaming Experience

This is a unique slot in many ways and not just because of the setup that comprises of the nine mini slots that resemble boxes or blocks. Each of these boxes contains 2-reels and 2-rows making 4 symbols in each box. If you manage to land the same symbol on all the positions in a box, the symbols then merge and create a 2x2 mega symbol and fills the entire box/blox and this is known as the Symbol Fusion Feature.
You can only land winning combinations on the 3x3 grid with the 2x2 mega symbols and you also need to have at least three matching 2x2 mega symbols anywhere on the 3x3 grid. Every box in the 3x3 game grid has a meter that gets filled for every spin that does not result in a win. The meters that are in the winning boxes and are not fully charged are re-set and it takes 18 non-winning spins for the meter to be full.

If you have at least one winning box that also has a full meter you then benefit from the multiplier boost. The multiplier size is dependent on how many completely charged boxes have made up the winning combinations, and this works as follows.
One charged box will provide you with a 2x multiplier, two charged boxes will provide you with a 3x multiplier, three charged boxes will provide you with a 5x multiplier, whilst four charged boxes will provide a 7x multiplier, five charged boxes will provide you with a 10x multiplier, and six charged boxes will reward you with a 20x multiplier. Landing 7, 8, and 9 charged boxes will reward you with 30x, 50x and 100x multiplier boosts, respectively.

If you find that any of the 9 boxes are not part of a winning combination for twenty spins (one after each other) the box will become fully charged for the next four spins, this can also happen to the multiple boxes also at the same time and this mechanic can be triggered at random to boxes that have not been part of a win for 15 spins one after another. It is worth noting that all the above included the charges are reset if you decide to change the level of your bet.
If you manage to fill at least three of your boxes with the 2x2 diamond scatter and you will be rewarded with 10 free spins but unfortunately they cannot be retriggered, although at the start of every spin you do have the benefit of a random number of fully charged boxes ready to go and this will then increase your chances of landing the multiplier boost to provide you with even bigger wins.

When I tested this slot it was easy to see why it has been given the highest volatility rating as I played and played and never triggered the bonus round, but it is not bad as it sounds as I did activate the free spins many times. My best advice would be to be patient as the wins do come eventually and the game play is really entertaining even though it took me a while to get to grips with.
I would suggest you try and find a demo version of this game so that you can get the hang of things without having to risk any of your own money. At least then when you feel ready you will have a far better chance of landing wins because you will have a real understanding of the game mechanics.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that Hot Blox is unique and sticks out from the crowd, whether this is a good or bad thing is up to you. The whole idea behind the 9 mini slots is a very clever idea and relates on the screen particularly well. It is nice to see that High 5 Games and Yggdrasil are not afraid to move away from their tried and tested slots and this certainly provides a new niche to their ever-expanding portfolio. Whether or not the slot will be a success remains to be seen, but it is something of a one off and this could go either way.

I am a real fan of high-risk slot games, and the potential of 10,031x your bet is certainly solid and worth a spin or two. The problem for me was that the base game did not really grab my attention once I knew how things were going to pan out and it did take quite a while for all the bonus rounds to fire up. The concept is innovative, and the developers should be congratulated for this, but only you can make up your mind whether the slot is for you.