Hot Slot™: Magic Pearls

Having found significant success with their first two Hot Slot series releases, the online slot provider Wazdan is back with a third product that promises to be even better than its predecessors, Hot Slot™: Magic Pearls. Although the game looks similar to the previous releases, this new game's draw is its complex and rewarding bonus feature that offers much more than previous games. Mechanically, this slot is played on a five-reel, five-row grid with an RTP of 96.15%. Players will also be glad to hear that Wazdan is offering a sizeable top payout in this game of 2,500x the stake. This game is available on mobile, tablet and desktop platforms.

Hot Slot™: Magic Pearls Overview

The only proper bonus feature here is the hold-the-jackpot bonus. To trigger it, players must simultaneously land a minimum of six bonus icons on the reels. However, if you land between three and five icons on a spin, the game will re-spin with the bonus symbols stuck for one spin to try and trigger the feature. The bonus starts in earnest with three re-spins, with all of the triggering bonus symbols being stuck to the reels. The idea of this game is to use your re-spins to land as many new bonus symbols as possible to build up a big payout for when the feature ends. There are modifiers, jackpots and other mechanics in this bonus to explain; however, we will do that further on in the review.

Hot Slot: Magic Pearls Theme and Symbols

The theme for this game combines the classic feel and symbols of the traditional slot game with a new motif inspired by heat and fire. As such, players will see icons such as fruits and card royals animated with a new fire look. Indeed, the screen looks much like a portal into the underworld, where the atmosphere is laden with soot. Underneath the reels, a river of lava seems to be roiling menacingly as symbols above it revolve furiously.

The background for this game looks like a still image from Mordor or an active volcano. Ash, magma and plumes of fiery debris litter the sky, whilst below is a lake of hot lava in a powerful scarlet red colour. We assume all these design efforts are due to the game's name being hot slot. Usually, when designers go for a 'hot' theme, they mean spicy, and the screen is peppered with chillies. Wazdan has taken a different approach, going for a literal temperature interpretation of the word hot. The playing board is a golden rectangle with a black interior.

The symbols are split into low-paying, high-paying and special symbols. The low-paying icons are the J, Q, K and A in playing card royals. The most valuable of these is the A, paying out at 30x the stake for the top combination. The more valuable icons, however, are the cherries, grapes, oranges and watermelons. The watermelons are the most valuable, worth 200x the stake. The only special icons in this game are the wilds and the bonus pearls that activate the hold the jackpot game.

Game Play

Hot Slot™: Magic Pearls is played on a 5-reel, 5-row machine with an undetermined number of pay lines. To win combinations, players must find ten matching symbols on the board on the same spin. It doesn't matter where the icons are as long as there are ten or more and as long as they match. The betting range for Hot Slot™: Magic Pearls is 10p to £100 per spin. To adjust their bet levels, players can toggle their stakes 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 Hot Slot: Magic Pearls is 96.15%, which is above average. The biggest payout that players can win on one spin is 2,500x your stake.

Hot Slot: Magic Pearls Features

The first feature included in this game is the wild feature—the wild icons in this game substitute for other icons to help players find more wins.

The main feature here, however, is the hold-the-jackpot bonus. Players must land six or more of the bonus pearl icons on the board simultaneously to activate this bonus. As explained earlier, if you land three to five icons on a spin, the game will keep them in place and spin again to try and find you the remaining icons to trigger the feature. The hold the jackpot feature starts in earnest with three re-spins, with all of the triggering icons stuck to their positions. Only new pearls, modifier icons and blanks can fall during this feature. Every time a new pearl falls, it will also become stuck to the reels and reset the number of free spins to three.

In addition to the pearl icons and blacks, various modifier icons may also fall, improving the values of your re-spins. These are explained below:

• Cash Symbol - awards prizes of up to 10x the stake.
• Jackpot Symbol - awards the Mini, Minor, or Major Jackpot.
• Mystery Symbol - transforms into a random bonus symbol.
• Collector Symbol - collects all cash prizes from Cash symbols.
• Double Collector Symbol - accumulates all values from Cash, Collector, and Double Collector symbols and doubles their value.

Like pearls, all bonus symbols will be taken into consideration when the feature ends, and the game calculates your take-home payout.
Like most hold-the-jackpot games, this game offers a range of jackpots by landing multiples of special symbols. These are the Mini Jackpot - worth 20x the stake, the Minor Jackpot - worth 50x the stake, the Major Jackpot - worth 150x the stake and the Grand Jackpot - worth 2,500x the stake. This final jackpot is won by filling the whole grid with symbols.

Conclusion

You will surely love this new online slots if you enjoy straightforward hold-the-jackpot games with a clean and exciting aesthetic. In regard to the payout potential, things are pretty good too. This is considering that the RTP is relatively high, the top payout is weighty, and the features triggered quite a bit on the demo. However, this game has high volatility, so we may have just been lucky. You can also try Hot Spin Deluxe from our demo slot collection.