Hotline Game Tutorial
Once you’ve watched the gripping introduction, you’ll be presented with the reels on one of Miami’s many streets. On first glance, it may look like an ordinary slot with the classic 5×3 grid structure in place.
However, any eagle-eyed viewers will notice the strange RTP, or theoretic return-to-player percentage, that’s been recorded. Usually it’s just one figure, so it’s evident from the very beginning that something’s different due to the three different numbers jotted down. It’s all because of Hotline’s jewel in the crown…
Hotline Bonus Bet
Take a look at the left-hand side of Hotline’s reels and you’ll notice three round icons. When you first load the game up, one of these will be in yellow – which means that row is an activated Hotline.
A minimum of one row must be Hotlined for each and every spin, but this can be boosted to all three depending on how much of a risk you’re willing to take. However, be sure to note that activating more will increase your stake – going from x2 for two activated rows and x3 for the full works. This is also the cause of the differing RTP results you see above.
But why exactly are these important? It’s very simple, but it all depends on whether a Wild comes into play…
Wild and Expanding Wild Substitutions available on Hotline
As experienced gamers will know, a standard Wild symbol fills just one spot on the grid and will substitute for all other symbols except Scatters. For anyone who’s new to online slots, it’s very similar to a blank Scrabble piece – with the overall goal of landing or enlarging coin wins.
However, what the Bonus Bet offers you is the chance of Expanding Wilds. Essentially, if a Wild symbol happens to land on a row that’s Hotlined, it’ll expand to cover the entire reel for added benefit.
You can see the Hotline Bonus Bet and Expanding Wilds in action, with demonstrations on how they work, in our video review of Hotline above.
Hotline Re-Spins
A quick point to note while the Wilds and Bonus Bet are fresh in the memory is the Re-Spins Feature. You’ll be granted a Re-Spin whenever a Wild symbol lands on an activated Hotline and expands.
This basically gives you another bite of the cherry, no matter the original result, with more expanding Wilds leading to further Re-Spins. The Re-Spins utilise the same Hotlined rows, coin value and bet level as the original spin – for example, if you spun initially with two activated Hotlines, the same two will be activated for the Free Spins Round.
Hotline Free Spins Round
The classic NetEnt Free Spins Bonus Round also arrives with Hotline, as the car chase suddenly gets more intense. Unlike other games, you’ll always be granted 7 free spins when you land a Scatter symbol on reels one, three and five. The Hotline Bonus Bet will also mirror the same selection as the round that was used to win the free spins, just like Re-Spins.
Yet, NetEnt usually have something different for this special bonus round of free spins, and iGaming fans won’t be disappointed. Whenever you manage to land an Expanding Wild in the Free Spins Round on Hotline, it will stay expanded over the reel until the free turns have been used up.
Needless to say, the win potential here is terrific!
Hotline Bet Limits
The Hotline slot game by NetEnt allows players to choose between the usual 10 bet levels, plus coin values ranging from 0.01 to 1. This allows you to wager what you like, up to a minimum bet of €0.15 and a maximum bet of €450.
Maximum Win on Hotline
If you consider wagers on a single bet line only, the maximum payout is 2,000 coins or €2,000. However, for a maximum coinciding win, this is multiplied several times over to reach 60,000 coins or €60,000.
