- A slot that gives you the choice of improving the payouts
- Hotlines improve features and make the game more exciting
- Quite a basic design but a good slot overall
Hotline slot is an interesting game from NetEnt because it gives you, the player, the option to change how things play out. That’s because of the Hotlines which you can choose to activate, for a cost of course, in return for better rewards. I’ll come onto how these work in much more details shortly.
For now, let’s have a look at the design. It’s a fast-paced theme that reminds me quite a lot of Grand Theft Auto. It doesn’t look bad, but I’m not sure it really stands out. There are 5 reels with 3 rows, offering a total of 30 paylines. You need to get a win along these to get a cash reward using the base symbols from left to right. These are as follows, ranked in ascending order based on their value:
- Ring (lowest value)
- Necklace
- Crown
- Blue Man
- Purple Man
- Red Woman (highest value)
Hotline Slot Bonuses and Features
Hotline Bonus Bet. This is the main attraction of the slot, so much so that the name of it is even based on the title of the slot itself. You’ll notice on the left hand side of the reels a circular button, which when pressed actives the Hotline on that row. As there are 3 rows in total, you can choose to activate Hotline on 1, 2 or all 3 of the rows. When one Hotline is activated, the game is played with the base bed. Activating 2 Hotlines will play the game at double the bet, while, you guessed it, 3 hotlines will cost triple the base bet. So why would you want to activate them, what do they offer you? They will improve your chances to win some of the other features in the game, namely the Expanding Wilds and Respins.
Expanding Wilds. Wild symbols can appear anywhere on the reels during the base game, respins feature and the Free Spins Bonus, substituting for all other symbols in a winning combination apart from the Bonus symbols. However, a Wild symbols lands on a Hotline while it’s active, it will expand to fill that entire reel, giving you a better chance of getting more wins.
Respins. The expanding Wilds don’t stop there, however. If a Wild symbol does expand, a respin will be awarded once all wins have been paid out. The Wilds will stay on the reels until this is over.
Free Spins Bonus. This Bonus is triggered by landing 3 Scatter symbols anywhere on reels 1, 3 and 5 during the base game. You’ll be given 7 free spins when this happens, and here if a Wild symbol lands on a Hotline, it will expand to cover the entire reel and remain there until the end of the Bonus. Keep racking up some Wild symbols for some impressive wins.
Conclusion
Hotline slot from NetEnt has quite a lot to offer, but at a price. The Hotlines promise some significant upgrades both in the base game when the base game features trigger, but also during the Free Spins Bonus. If you don’t plan on using them there isn’t really much point in playing the game. However, with a good RTP and high payouts available, especially through the Free Spins Bonus, it’s quite an impressive game that’s a bit different to the norm. I’m not a huge fan of the design and feel like it could stand out a bit more, but I don’t have many complaints other than that. I’d check it out if I were you, and you can use the link below to get a sign-up offer. You can also see some of NetEnt’s other slots here.