HippoPop

Brace for an encounter with the mighty mammal on the PopWins slot from Avatar UX powered by Yggdrasil Gaming. HippoPop is the next addition to the series with the proprietary game engine, joining the likes of TikiPop and BountyPop which have proven to be a hit with players.

On this occasion, you will be embarking on a journey to a dense jungle across five dynamic reels with up to 65,536 bet ways, cascading symbols, PopWins expansions, progressive multipliers, a Bonus Wheel with extra prizes and a free spins round with unlimited multipliers that can lead to win of up to 48,150 times your bet.

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Slot Details

HippoPop PopWins is a cascading video slot with a default 5×3 reel set and 243 ways, doubled to 486 courtesy of the pay-both-ways mechanic. In the base game, the PopWins game engine can increase the format up to a 5×6 size with 7,776 bet ways, again doubled to 15,552 due to awarding wins both ways. It can further grow up to a 5×8 size in the free spins, featuring up to 32,768 and 65,536 ways respectively (more to that shortly).

Wins are awarded for three to five matching symbols on adjacent reels from left to right and from right to left. Available on desktop or mobile, you can bet from 0.20 to 40 credits per spin. The game has very high volatility (square root of variance is 330) with an RTP of 96.10% and a hit rate of roughly 1:5 spins.

A fantasy jungle scene is opening up when you load the games, keeping the subtle neon style Avatar UX is using regularly in their creations. The dynamic reels seem to be floating in the air and include a range of wild animals as pay symbols, including zebras, flamingos and naturally hippos. A combo of digital bongo-style sounds mixed with EDM elements provides the main audio to the gameplay.

The pay symbols start at the low end with the card royals from J through to A, awarding across the board 1x your bet for a single five of a kind. They are followed by frogs, owls, frogs, zebras, pumas, flamingos and the hippo himself. Hit five across the reels to win 1.5x to 4x your stake. Remember, that a 5OAK is indeed paid twice, once from left to right and once from right to left. There are no wilds or scatters on the reels.

HippoPop PopWins Slot Features

Avatar UX seems to be firing on all engines by adding a sixth title to their PopWins series in just 13 months, thanks to the popularity of the games in the casino community. The mechanic with dynamic reels that adds more symbols as a spin sequence progresses is being continuously fine tuned while new features are added into the gameplay to separate each PopWin slot.

At the core of the gameplay is still their proprietary PopWins reel mechanic where every spin sequence starts on the default 5×3 reel set with 486 ways to win. It is actually 243 ways but since wins are paid in both directions it amounts to the 486 ways. To score a winner, you will need to land minimum three matching symbols on adjacent reels starting from the left or the right.

All symbols in the combo will literally pop and disappear, only to be replaced by two new symbols in each vacated position, thus increasing the game grid and the number of win ways at every step. The process continues as long as new winning combos appear after a pop, gradually raising the grid to its maximum 5×6 format with 7,776 ways in the base game, which is doubled to 15,552 thanks to the pay-both-ways mechanic. Once fully expanded, popped symbols will be replaced by single symbols only as there is no need for further double symbols.

Expanding a reel to six symbols in the base game will activate the progressive win multiplier shown to the left of the game window (desktop), increasing it by x1 for each further pop win in the same spin sequence. While in the base game the multiplier will reset between spins, any from the triggering spin will be transferred into the free spins feature.

The aim of the game is to fully expand the grid to its full 5×6 size within a singe=le spin sequence. Keep an eye on the reels as each will start glowing once it reaches the maximum height of six symbols. Light them all up to trigger 5 Free Spins. However, before the start of the round, the game will lead to a second screen with a Gamble Wheel where you can try to win more free spins.

You can now either choose to spin the wheel or start the round with 5 free spins. The gambles are 50/50 and will award up to +4 spins on level one and up to +5 spins on level two. You will need to win the first gamble to get access to level two, however, losing any of them will see you fall back to the initial 5 free spins. You can collect and start the feature at any time.

Once you get past the Bonus Wheel, the Free Spins feature will start with the accumulated win multiplier from the base game spin. It will further increase by x1 after every winning pop. The round starts with the default 5×3 game area and will expand similarly to the base game. The difference is that will not reset completely after a free spin sequence concludes. Instead it resets down to the shortest reel only. For example, getting to a 5-5-7-6-5 format will be reset to 5-5-5-5-5 for the next free spin. Fully unlocking all reels to 8 symbols will award once +2 free spins.

And there is more. Any win with Hippo symbols will benefit from an extra multiplier when you reach specific thresholds. Unlocking all reels to 6, 7 or 8 positions will result in the Hippo payouts being multiplied by x2, x4 and x4 respectively.

Lastly, the Bonus Buy button is again included in jurisdictions were the feature is not restricted. It allows players to head straight to the main event by betting a one-time amount to instantly trigger the Free Spins round. It will cost you 85 times your default bet for 5 Free Spins with a random starting multiplier ranging between x2 and x4. You can gamble the feature for more free spins and higher multipliers:

• Level 2: Gets you 7 Free Spins with a chance for an additional +2 spins and starting multipliers ranging from x4 to x6.
• Level 3: Gets you 9 Free Spins with a chance for an additional +3 spins and starting multipliers ranging from x6 to x10.

You can choose to head straight into the round or gamble your bought Free Spins. However, losing the gamble will see you instantly returning to the base game. We urge some caution on using the gambles as losing them repeatedly will have a significant impact on your playing balance.

Final Verdict

HippoPop is a clear sign that there is still more than enough life left in the PopWin series. Avatar UX is cleverly mixing known mechanics and features with new add-ons that let each of the slots in the franchise stand by its own. I was pleased to see that triggering the free spins, which is often hard enough, and taking a gamble will not see you losing the entire feature, instead, you will be guaranteed minimum 5 spins. Up to 48,150x bet are possible in a single feature.

HippoPop PopWins – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. What is the RTP setting on HippoPop PopWins?

HippoPop PopWins is not offered with a range of RTP settings and as such you will find it at all online casinos with the default RTP of 96.10%. Using the Bonus Buy button will slightly increase the RTP.

2. How much can I win on HippoPop PopWins?

Avatar UX noted the maximum win potential at 48,150 times your bet which they hit once in 1 billion spins during their test simulations. In real money, that converts to 9,630 credits at minimum bet and 1,926,000 credits at max stake.

3. Can I win free spins on HippoPop PopWins?

Yes, you will trigger 5 free spins if you unlock all five reels to 8 symbol positions within a single spin sequence. Doing the same during the feature, will retrigger once +2 spins. You can gamble the initial amount of spins on a Bonus Wheel to win up to 14 free spins.

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