3 Lucky Hippos (Microgaming) Slot Demo & Review

When I first opened the 3 Lucky Hippos slot from Pear Fiction, I was instantly transported back to my childhood days. The hippos above the reels look like those in the Hungry Hippo board game that I remember playing with my friends and frantically trying to get my hippo to gobble up as much food as possible. In 3 Lucky Hippos, rather than food, it is coins you want the hippos to eat. The coins fatten up the hippos and could trigger one of three lucrative LockNWin bonus games. At its core, 3 Lucky Hippos is a highly volatile 5-reel and 3-row slot with 243 ways to win. However, the latter can increase up to 7,776 ways to win on any given spin, thanks to split symbols.

The base game rolls along nicely thanks to those split symbols, which, once landed on a horizontal reel above the reels, will increase the rows on the reel below it up to 3 positions in size. A base game cash collect feature also allows you to collect cash symbols worth up to 100x the stake. The main USP, however, is the LockNWin bonus games, one which multiplies cash values, another which features collect symbols, and a third which could land you one of five fixed jackpots.

As you can see, a lot is happening in the 3 Lucky Hippos slot, so it might prove easier to jump in and start playing the free demo version. If you decide to play the Lucky 3 Hippos slot demo, my tip is to use the buy bonus feature to trigger the LockNWin bonus games. That’s the quickest way to see what they’re all about.

3 Lucky Hippos Slot
ProviderMicrogaming
Reels5
Rows6
Paylines7,776
Bonus Rounds3
Bet Range0.20 - 50
VolatilityHigh
Max Win5,000x
Bonus BuyYes
RTP96.00%
Our Rating7.0

3 Lucky Hippos Casino Bonus


3 Lucky Hippos Slot Demo


3 Lucky Hippos Slot Theme, Stakes, Pays & Symbols

3 Lucky Hippos Paytable
3 Lucky Hippos paytable

Animals have been used as slot themes since the year dot, but I cannot recall many other slots themed on the Hippoptumous, possibly just AvatarUX’s HippoPop slot, so in that case, Pear Fiction Studios certainly gets a gold star for some originality. By the way, if you’re into animal-themed slots, I highly recommend you check out the reviews of Push Gaming’s Boss Bear, Gameburger Studios Mega Moolah Megaways, and the fantastic Pirots 2 slot from Elk Studios.

Right, back to the slot at hand and what it can reward you with in terms of symbol payouts. The high-paying symbols are all related to money, wealth, and gambling. I’m not sure what the connection between these symbols and the Hippo theme is, but the Safe symbol can deliver 5x the stake for a winning combo of five, whilst the Gold Bars, Sack of Money, Poker Chips, and Dice pay 4x, 3x, 2.4x, and 2x, respectively. The playing cards will deliver the smaller payouts, with the Ace and King both worth 1x and the Queen, Jack, and Ten returning 0.6x for a winning combination of six. Finally, the least exciting but extremely useful symbol is the trusty wild. It substitutes for the regular paying symbols when it can create or improve a winning combination. It will not substitute for cash, collect, split, or lotus symbols.

If you’re considering playing the 3 Lucky Hippos slot for real money, you’ll find a variety of suitable bet sizes, starting from a minimum of €0.20 and maxing out at €50.


3 Lucky Hippos Slot Base Game

3 Lucky Hippos Base Game
3 Lucky Hippos base game

The action starts on a 5-reel and 3-row configuration that delivers 243 ways to win. However, as you’ll soon find out, Split symbols can increase the row positions on the reels to allow spinning with up to 7,776 ways. Above the reels is a thin horizontal reel, but that can only reveal split and lotus symbols and, therefore, has no effect on the ways to win. Creating wins involves landing 3 or more matching symbols on successive reels starting from the leftmost reel first.


Split Symbols

When split symbols land on the horizontal row above the reels, they will increase the number of positions on the reel beneath. They can expand the size of the reels by up to three positions.


Cash Collect

Cash symbols with values between 0.2x and 100x can land on the main reels. Each time a Frog collect symbol lands on the 5th reel simultaneously with the cash symbols, it will collect those values and add them to your balance.


Multiplier

When orange coin symbols land, the Orange Hippo above the reels collects them, with each coin increasing the Hippo’s multiplier by 1x. This multiplier is applied to the cash collected by the frog symbol, and its value resets once used.


3 Lucky Hippos Slot Bonus Features

3 Lucky Hippos Bonus Feature
3 Lucky Hippos bonus feature

When Pink, Orange, or Yellow coins land on the reels, the Hippo of the same colour will eat them and collect them. When collecting these symbols, the respective LockNWin feature of that Hippo can trigger. You can also trigger all features one after another via Lotus symbols. These can appear on the horizontal reel above the reels, and when they land, a fully grown Lotus flower appears below the reel it landed above. Once each reel has a Lotus flower, all the LockNWin bonus games will trigger.


Locknwin Feature

The LockNWin feature is a Hold & Win-style bonus game that gives you 3 respins on reels that only contain the green cash symbols with values between 0.2x and 100x the bet. If a cash or jackpot coin symbol lands on the reels, your respins get reset back to 3. You continue to re-spin until you run out of re-spins or all positions are filled with symbols. The LockNWin bonus has three variations, which can trigger individually or one after another. Those variations are:

  • Multiply LockNWin: During this variation, the current multiplier value of the Hippo will apply to all the cash won.
  • Jackpot LockNWin: In this variation, you can collect jackpot symbols for the 5-fixed jackpots. You need two symbols to receive the Micro (10x) jackpot and three, four, five, and six for the Mini (20x), Minor (100x), Major (500x), and Mega (5,000x) jackpots, respectively.
  • Supreme LockNWin: This variation of the LockNWin bonus has a collector vibe. When orange cash lands, it will collect the values of all green cash. If purple cash lands, it collects all the green and orange cash values.

Bonus Buy

If you haven’t got the time to try and trigger each of the above LockNWin bonus games, why not use the buy bonus feature instead? If it’s allowed in your region, this feature lets you buy each bonus game, two of them one after another, or all three. These all cost a multiplier of your current bet and are:

  • Supreme LockNWin for 26.16x
  • Multiply LockNWin for 35.10x
  • Jackpot LockNWin for 37.70x
  • Multiply & Jackpot LockNWin for 54.70x
  • Jackpot & Supreme LockNWin for 57x
  • Multiply & Supreme LockNWin for 63.25x
  • All Three for 81.70x.

Pros

  • Another good option when jackpot hunting.
  • The graphics of the original have been given a much-needed facelift.

Cons

  • There's not much going on in terms of bonus features.

3 Lucky Hippos Slot Review Final Thoughts

I’m not sure if it's my childhood memories of the Hungry Hippo board game swaying my opinion, but I really enjoyed 3 Lucky Hippos. I enjoy slots with a lot going on, and with cash collection, split symbols, multipliers, jackpots, and three variations of the bonus game, that is certainly the case on this slot game release from Pear Fiction Studios.

7.0

Good


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