Fire Hopper: Slot Overview
Head down the waterhole and get all tranquil with an army of
frogs in Push Gaming's pond themed slot, Fire Hopper. Tranquil in Fire Hopper is a
subjective term since it's a highly volatile grid slot from one of the masters of the
genre. Still, Fire Hopper does achieve a certain level of relaxation during its base
game which can get sleepy. However, triggering free spins unleashes a mix of leaping
wild symbols, instant prizes, and progressive multipliers that can get pulses racing in
a moment.
Let's deal with the tranquil part first. Fire Hopper is a cluster paying grid
slot played on a 7x7 sized game grid hovering above a slow-moving pond. Visually, there
is not a heck of a lot going on. The periphery of the screen displays rocks, lily pads,
and grass while your ears are treated to bird song. Fire Hopper is indeed quite
peaceful, but don't get too comfy; the game packs plenty of punch. It might take a
little while for it to wind back, though, so patience may be required.
Playable from 10
p/c toR$/€100 per spin, regular wins occur in Fire Hopper when at least 5 matching
symbols land adjacent to each other in horizontal or vertical directions. Wins trigger
the cascade mechanic, which clears them from the panel, filling empty spaces with new
symbols. Repeat wins may result, and cascades continue till no new clusters form.
Behind the peaceful scene lies a highly volatile math model, producing a return to
player value of 96.3% at its most optimal setting.
Leading off the paytable are the
regular paying symbols and their values. There are six pay symbols that look like blue,
green, purple, pink, orange, and red lotus flowers, or thereabouts. Clusters top out at
20+ symbols, ranging in value from 25x to 200x your stake. Next up, features.
Fire
Hopper: Slot Features
Fire Hopper has a Jammin' Jars ring to it when it comes to
features. Let's start with the wild symbols of which there are two – Wild Gold Frog
Symbols and Frog Symbols. Both substitute for all other symbols except Fireflies or
Bonus Fireflies. The Frog Symbol also possesses an increasing multiplier, starting at
x1.
Leaping Frog Feature
This feature is triggered when there is a Frog Symbol in view
along with one or more Firefly Symbols. The Frog leaps to the Firefly, leaving behind a
Gold Frog in its place as it does so. When the Frog leaps, its multiplier value
increases by 1. If there is a Frog and an Instant Prize Symbol in view, the Frog will
leap onto the Prize, also leaving a Gold Frog in its place. This awards the applicable
prize, which has a maximum value of 1,000x the bet. The Frog multiplies instant
prizes.
Free Game
The final symbol is the Bonus Firefly. If one of these lands at the
same time as a Frog Symbol, the Frog leaps onto it, awarding 7 free spins. The current
Frog multiplier is then carried over from the base game to the bonus. During free
spins, the Frog Symbol remains on the grid for the full duration of the feature. The
Frog's multiplier increases as mentioned above, but now, when Gold Frogs are created,
they take on the Frog's current multiplier. Gold Frogs do not persist like the Frog and
drop off the grid between free spins. A fun detail is that the frog changes colour as
its multiplier increases.
Bonus Buy
Clicking on the discrete star icon opens the bonus
buy menu. Buying free spins costs 124x your base bet and increases the RTP for the
round from 96.30% to 96.38%.
Fire Hopper: Slot Verdict
Fire Hopper is a game that
didn't initially get us frothing with excitement, but it seriously grew as the session
progressed. The game is cute, but after visual feasts like Fat Drac, Fire Hopper was a
tad plain by comparison. Even though looks aren't everything, they are something, and
the low-key visuals and sparse sounds got Fire Hopper off to a tepid start. The symbols
were hard to distinguish from each other; the base game trickled on, not accomplishing
a heck of a lot. The game info mentions a tranquil setting, and Push has definitely
achieved that, almost too much so at times. It's almost as if the studio went overboard
on the minimalist approach and overdid it, in the base game at least.
However, Fire
Hopper moved into a totally new gear once the features and bonus game reared up. The
up-tempo music injects a blast of life, and the game's multipliers get a chance to
flex. Like Jammin' Jars, having more than one wild multiplier at the same time can
seriously jack a winning cluster's value as they are applied one after the other. Add
in the fact the Frog symbol's multiplier is persistent in free spins means it can
create a bunch of sizeable Gold Frog multipliers as it leaps around. The Frog also
comes in handy for boosting Instant Prizes. Get the lily pads popping, and wins of up
to 50,000x the bet are on the cards.
Leaping wild multipliers is a classic Push Gaming
feature, and the studio has evolved the effect superbly for Fire Hopper. There is an
effortlessly enjoyable Fat Rabbit/Jammin' Jars vibe going on, but Fire Hopper sits in
its own aquatic niche. Since Push Gaming helped redefine the grid slot experience,
expectations are high when they revisit the genre, partly explaining why Jammin' Jars 2
didn't fully ignite. However, Fire Hopper goes a long way in restoring Push's
credentials because this is rock-solid grid slot gaming with a bonus round that blazes
when those frogs are in the mood.
