Fire Hopper

Fire Hopper Overview

Created by Push Gaming, Fire Hopper is a cluster pay game played out on a seven-by-seven grid with a range of interesting features incorporated into a fun and original theme. In addition to being one of the more entertaining slots created by this developer, Fire Hopper is also one of the most lucrative, with a top prize of 50,000x the stake.

With an RTP of 96.3%, Fire Hopper should pay out at fairly regular intervals too. When you add all of this together, players are looking at a genuinely worthwhile game. The question is, are you going to enter this crazy pond and spin the reels for some exciting top wins, or are you going to wait on the banks and watch the action from afar?

The features for this game start predictably with a cascade feature, or as this game dubs it, the collapse feature. This is a regular feature when it comes to cluster pay games and one that helps players form more wins. The way it works is that when you score a win, all of the winning symbols are removed from the playing window and replaced by a new set.

The mechanic will continue until a new set of icons does not form a win. This gives you more chances to score wins from the same spin. The other features in this game are the Leap Frog feature and the free spins feature. The Leap Fog feature is interesting as it leaves a trail of helpful wilds when activated. All features will be explained in greater detail later in the review.

Theme and Symbols

The theme for this game is a peaceful lily pond full of colourful frogs and water-dwelling flowers. The setting is exceedingly tranquil, with a calming soundtrack laid over the top, providing an even mellower experience. This game feels like a classic arcade game with a high-quality finish in many respects. You can definitely imagine some variation of this game joining the ranks of Candy Crush and other mobile games due to its bright colours and easy-going rhythm. The frogs are at the centre of all the action, which hop majestically from pad to pad in a satisfying movement. The setting becomes even more magical when you enter the free spins as night descends and fireflies dance across the reels.

The background for this game is a pond or ravine in which all manner of plants and creatures inhabit. To the left and right of the screen, players will be able to see the very edge of the banks of the mainland, coloured in a vibrant green. However, the majority of the screen is dominated by clear blue water, populated by the odd rock, lily pad or reed, giving the impression that this body of water is most likely a large stagnant pond rather than a flowing river. Although details are sparse, the effect is really rather calming.

The board for this game, being a cluster board is a rather large square with no real visual parameters; symbols literally float in formation in the centre of the screen.

The symbols in this game are split into low-paying, high-paying and special symbols. The low-paying symbols are the blue, green and purple flowers, each of which resembles a lotus. The purple is the most valuable of these, paying out at 25x the stake for the top combination. However, the higher paying symbols are the pink, orange, and red flowers. The red flower is the most valuable, paying 200x the stake for the top combination. The specials finally comprise the frog wild, wild gold frog, firefly, instant prize icon, and the bonus firefly, each of which has its role in the bonus features.

Game Play

Fire Hopper is played on a 7-reel, 7-row cluster pay machine. This means that players must create combinations of five or more matching symbols in vertically or horizontally clusters to score wins.

The betting range for Fire Hopper 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 Fire Hopper is 96.3%, which is just above average. The biggest payout that players can win on one spin is 50,000x your stake.

Features

The first feature included in this game is the collapse feature. This feature is activated when you score a win (creating a cluster of five or more symbols). These symbols are removed from the reels and replaced by a new set. This new set gives you another chance at scoring a win from the same spin. The mechanic will continue until the new group of icons does not form a win.
The second feature in this game is the Leaping Frog feature.

This bonus pertains to the firefly symbol. When one of these appears on the reels in view of a frog icon, this is when this feature will be triggered. When it is, the frog will leap toward the firefly, leaving a Wild Gold Frog in its wake. Every leap the frog makes increases a multiplier attached to it by 1x. Each wild gold frog is also included in the multiplier.

If the frog and instant prize icon land on the grid, the frog leaps over to the icon and leaves a wild gold frog in its place. The instant prizes are then awarded – these can range up to 1,000x the stake.
Finally, we have the free spins game. This feature is triggered when a bonus firefly lands on the board and is collected by the frog. When this happens, seven free spins are awarded, with any base game multipliers also being brought across to the bonus game. The frog symbol will remain in the game for the duration of the spins and will increase its multiplier by one every time it leaps. On every new spin, Wild Gold Frogs will fall off, however.

There is also a bonus buy feature; however, it is not available in the UK.

Conclusion

Leaping froggy fun, Fire Hopper is an entertaining and chilled out game with some decent payouts. We especially like the leaping frog feature, which leaves helpful wilds as it goes. Even if you have never been that keen on cluster pay slots, you should probably have a go at this one as it not only offers a good time but an awesome top payout of 50,000x the stake.