Hot Rod Racers

Relax Gaming are one of the most accredited developers across the gambling industry – a provider that never lets us down, whether this be in their graphics, sounds, or potent maths models. One of the team‘s greatest strengths is in taking a simple theme and a simple idea, and offering it with a punch – this remains true in their upcoming release, Hot Rod Racers, which we’ll be looking at today. Highly (5/5) volatile, this release comes with an RTP of 96.0%, and win potential up to 25,000x bet. Let’s take a closer look…

Hot Rod Racers Base Game

Visually, we’re in a mechanic’s garage, made clear with the cars in the background, one of which has the hood popped. I always say this when I review a Relax game, but they never miss a trick with their graphics, making sure every single element ties in to the overall theme. In this case, it’s various parts surrounding the reels, and the reels themselves being encased in the grille of a car. Audios are upbeat, and probably not the first thing you’d imagine when you think of a car themed slot, but they work really well, tying the whole thing together.

Hot Rod Racers Offers Players 30 Fixed Win Lines

Hot Rod Racers Base Features

Taking place across 5 reels, wins are formed on Hot Rod Racers by matching at least 3 symbols on adjacent reels, beginning with the leftmost reel, across 1 of 30 fixed win lines. Symbols available begin with non-premiums, with diamonds, hearts, clubs, and spades. Land 3 of a kind of any non premium to see wins of 0.30x bet, increasing to wins of 2.50x bet for 5 of a kind. At the premium end we have four cars – blue, green, red, and purple, to match the non premiums. Land 3 of a kind of any premium to see wins between 0.50 and 1x bet, increasing to values between 5 and 10x bet for 5 of a kind. Finally, Wilds are available, substituting for all symbols except Scatters, and awarding wins of 2, 7.50, and 20x bet for 3, 4, and 5 of a kind, respectively.

Wheelspin Wild Feature

These Wilds work hand in hand with the main feature in Hot Rod Racers – the Wheelspin Wild Feature. Wheelspin Wild symbols can land on reels 2-5, and when they do, they will spin off the row to the left. In the process, if they move through any premium car symbols, they will covert them to Wilds. Non premiums remain unchanged.

If two or more Wilds land on the same row, the leftmost Wild will move first. When the following Wilds move, any premiums they pass through that have already been converted to Wilds will have a multiplier upgraded on them – this will be +1 for each new Wild that passes through them. As mentioned above, Wilds substitute for all symbols except Scatters, and award wins of 2, 7.50, and 20x bet for 3, 4, and 5 of a kind, respectively.

Land 3 Scatters to Trigger Free Spins, or 3 Scatters and 2 Nitro Wilds to Trigger Super Free Spins

Hot Rod Racers Bonus

Scatter symbols are present on reels 2, 3, and 4 only. Land 3 Scatters in view to trigger 10 Free Spins. During the feature, any Wheelspin Wilds that land will stick in their position on the reels, and trigger their feature on every spin. This means on every spin, any car symbols in the row to the left of a Wheelspin Wild will be converted to Wilds, and potentially have their multiplier upgraded if more than one Wild is in view to the right of them.

Nitro Wilds can land on reels 1 and 5, and if they do land on these reels with Scatters on reels 2, 3, and 4, 10 Super Free Spins are triggered. Nitro Wilds will also substitute for all symbols. Super Free Spins work in the same way at Free Spins, except each position that is converted is given a multiplier, which begins at x1. Each time another symbol in this position is converted, this multiplier is increased by +1. Multipliers become active if they hold a converted symbol or a Wheelspin Wild, and are capped at x5. If more than one multiplier is used in a win line, they multiply their values together before being applied to the win.

Hot Rod Racers Free Spins

Players in appropriate regions have the opportunity to buy into either feature:

• 10 Free Spins – 100x bet
• 10 Super Free Spins – 400x bet

The maximum win available in Hot Rod Racers is 25,000x bet. If the sum of a single game round exceeds this, the game round will end and 25,000x bet will be awarded.

Hot Rod Racers Super Free Spins

First Impression

There’s a real Top Dawg$ feel to Hot Rod Racers – simple, beautifully presented, but with a potency that seems deceiving at first. Similarities come to mind with Hex too, another Wild focused release from Relax. This is what we’ve now come to expect from Relax – they aren’t building games that take 300 spins to wrap your head around, but they are building highly volatile releases, with win caps that are frequently shattered not long after release.

Why then, did it seem surprising that Hot Rod Racers could go off like it does? Who knows, but it doesn’t matter much – the important thing is that Wheelspin Wilds do the job and then some in this one. Of course, this feature keeps the base game ticking over, but things definitely kick into high gear in Free Spins, and even more so in Super Free Spins, where it becomes possible to trigger Wild Lines with building multipliers – and what a difference the multiplier makes. At one point in testing, a Wild Line paid roughly 5,000x bet – on another, 200x bet. This is all made possible with multiple multipliers multiplying together. Land the right combinations, and wins are actually possible up to 25,000x bet. Finally, maths is highly (5/5) volatile, and RTP is 96.0%, so no complaints on either front.

If you liked Top Dawg$ I think Hot Rod Racers will definitely have some allure. More than that, if you’re the kind of player that feels slots have become needlessly complicated – this ones for you.

*The screenshots taken of games reviewed on this site are taken from Demo Play, as reviews are often written before games are released for real play.