Hooligans Hustle

Hooligan Hustle Overview

This might be one of the most bizarrely themed slots that we have reviewed thus far this year. Hooligan Hustle is based on the premise of some sort of football hooliganism, taking inspiration from films such as Green Street and The Football Factory. We aren't quite sure why you would want to theme a slot machine game on this idea, but it does make for a unique and entertaining game, full of violence and shouting matches, the likes of which we have never seen. Whatever you might think of the theme, the 10,000x the stake top win will surely get people engaged in this new Play' n GO product.

The features of this game are many and varied. They begin with the Mystery Symbols feature. This bonus concerns the icons with question marks; these icons can land on any spin and turn into the same symbol generating wins. The next feature is the splitting symbol bonus which randomly splits symbols in two, creating more pay lines and icons to play with. There is also the rumble row feature which triggers randomly, bringing one of three modifiers into the game. Finally, the free spins game is activated by landing three or more of the Molotov cocktails anywhere on the reels. There are three free spin rounds to choose from at this point. Al features will be explained in more detail later in the review.

Theme and Symbols

The theme for Hooligans Hustle is the strange and violent world of football hooliganism. If you are unaware of this concept, we will briefly explain it. A football hooligan is generally a term reserved for an extremely passionate football team supporter. In their tribal desire to cheer their team on to victory, they often engage in acts of violence against the opposing team's supporters. Depending on your perspective, you may say that these people are either incredibly dedicated fans who sometimes lose control of their actions or disruptive idiots looking for any excuse to incite and engage in a riot.

The background for this game appropriately is the battered and ruined streets surrounding a football stadium in which most difficult, violent behaviours often occur. As football supporters are separated, the stadium's exterior represents the arena for the two team's supporters to first meet each other and potentially start very dramatic riots and fights. This is seen in the image portrayed behind the board, with two sides staring each other down, throwing improvised weaponry and no doubt shouting pejorative expletives.

The board for this game looks to have been made to resemble a riot van with amber lights topping the construction.

The symbols for this game are split into low-value, high value and special symbols. The low-value symbols are the brick, pint of beer, crowbar, spiked baseball bat and finally, the knuckleduster. These all payout at 0.5x the stake. On the other hand, the more valuable symbols are the four hooligans in various threatening poses. The most lucrative of these is the bald man showing his bare chest. Finally, the specials are the traffic cone wild, the mystery box, and the Molotov cocktail.

Game Play

Hooligans Hustle is played on a 5-reel, 3-row machine with 243 fixed pay lines. To win combinations, players must land three or more matching symbols on pay lines moving from left to right, starting from the leftmost reel.

The betting range for Hooligans Hustle is 10p to £100 per spin. To adjust their bet levels, players can toggle their stake up and down using the tool located at the bottom left-hand side of the screen.

Further information, including a short tutorial and a display of the paytable, can be found via the menu button in the right-hand corner of the screen. The spin and auto spin buttons are located in the centre of the screen.

Volatility for this slot is rated in the high range. The return to player percentage for Hooligans Hustle is 96.27%, which is above average. The biggest payout that players can win on one spin is 10,000x your stake.

Features

The first feature in this game is the mystery symbols feature. This bonus concerns the mystery box icons that can all reveal the same symbol when they land, therefore helping to score more wins.

The second feature here is the splitting symbols feature. A symbol can be randomly selected and cut into two, with all of the other instances of this symbol also being doubled. Any normal symbol apart from the Molotov cocktail symbol can be split.

By splitting symbols, the game increases the number of pay lines available and, therefore, the likelihood of you scoring more wins.

The next feature is called the rumble row feature. The rumble row feature can trigger randomly on any spin in the base game. When it does so, one of three multipliers will come into play, these are:

The wild reel feature, which turns one reel completely wild.
The x2 Multiplier feature introduces a 2x multiplier to wins from the reel on which it falls.
The double trouble feature means that two reels become synchronised and display the same icons.

Finally, there is the free spins feature. To activate this bonus, players need to land three or more of the Molotov cocktail scatters on the board simultaneously. Having achieved this, you are then given the choice of three free spins options which vary the number of spins and guaranteed rumble row features afforded to you. Once you make the selection, you go on to play this round.

Conclusion

Although initially, this game might seem quite odd, it is actually very entertaining, with plenty of feature content, lots of interesting characters and a win potential that isn't half bad. Variance is a little high, and the top payout could push the boat out a little more, but all in all, this is a great game to settle into a rhythm with.