You may not think a classic three-reel slot could be that complex, but Mancala Gaming has proven here with their Reel Reel Hot online slot that this is not always the case. Three-reel games don’t necessarily have to be dull and unexciting, it turns out, and I’ll admit to being a little bit shocked myself when I found out just how much depth this game had underneath the surface. Reel Reel Hot has just five pay lines during the base game, but when you activate the game’s bonus round, the reel set will expand into a 5×3 configuration, and the game becomes a 243-way slot instead. The RTP is 95%, whilst the maximum win is 4,100x your bet and is achievable in the bonus round only.
So, what other ways have Mancala used to ensure that their Reel Reel Hot online slot isn’t a tedious and limited three-reel slot? First up, there are several special symbols, including a wild, which can substitute for everything, including bonus symbols. Next, there is a free spins bonus round which is triggered by hitting the specific combination “Reel”/”Reel”/”Hot” on a pay line. Then there is the wheel feature, which can award any of the features described so far, as well as prize multipliers, additional free spins for your next bonus round, and even nudges and holds like a classic fruit machine.
There’s a lot to discover in this game, so if you intend to play for real money, then it could be worth giving our free demo slot of Reel Reel Hot a few spins beforehand.
| Provider | Mancala Gaming |
| Reels | 3 |
| Rows | 3 |
| Paylines | 243 |
| Bonus Rounds | 1 |
| Bet Range | 0.05 - 5 |
| Volatility | Medium |
| Max Win | 4,100x |
| Bonus Buy | No |
| RTP | 95.00% |
| Our Rating | 7.6 |
Reel Reel Hot Slot Casino Bonuses
Reel Reel Hot Slot Free Play
Loading...
Latest Online Slots
New
Demo & Review
New
Demo & Review
New
Demo & Review
New
Demo & Review
New
Demo & Review
New
Demo & Review
New
Demo & Review
New
Demo & Review
New
Demo & Review
New
Demo & Review
Reel Reel Hot Slot Theme, Stakes, Pays & Symbols
The theme of Reel Reel Hot is based on the classic fruit machine aesthetic, but the symbols show an unusual amount of variety for a game with just three reels. You have many traditional fruit machine-type symbols, such as cherries, watermelons, and lemons, as well as a selection of BAR symbols and the top prizes of bells, diamonds, and Lucky 7’s. We’ve seen all these symbols thrown together in one game many times before, so much so that Reel Reel Hot might look familiar to you even if you have never heard of the game before. Overall, the theme feels very consistent, although it is a bit bland, except for the burning flames effect displayed at the bottom of the screen.
Two different paytables are used in Reel Reel Hot – one for the base game with three reels and one for the bonus round with 243 pay ways. And there is a huge difference between the two – whilst three Lucky 7’s in the base game return just 10x your stake for three-of-a-kind, a full pay way of the same symbol in the bonus round will pay 500x your stake. The differences are just as huge right down the paytable, but there is a big gap between the top symbol and the rest of the bunch. For example, the diamond symbol returns 8x your bet for three-of-a-kind in the base game and 200x your bet for five-of-a-kind in the bonus round. The prizes for the pay-way combinations do feel higher than usual, but it’s worth remembering that you will spend a tiny percentage of your time playing this game inside the bonus round. Most of your winnings will come from the more diminutive base game paytable, so maybe don’t get too excited by the numbers shown for the bonus round.
Like other Mancala slots, the game’s demo version is played in the DEM currency, which doesn’t seem to resemble any monetary system in active use today. So, whilst the game’s demo version shows minimum/maximum bets of 5/450 “DEM”, this translates into actual minimum/maximum bets of €0.05 and €5.00 in the real world. That maximum figure feels a bit on the low side but seems accurate from all of the information I have available.
Base Game & Modifiers
The base game of Reel Reel Hot online slot takes place on a 3×3 playfield, which feels tiny by modern standards. Despite this, and the game’s description as being a “classic 3×3 line-wins based fruit slot”, there is quite a lot going on behind the scenes in this slot that makes it entirely different to other “classic” slots you might have played before. Unusually for an online slot, most of the extra features included in the game take place in the base game rather than the bonus round; Wild symbols may not be worth mentioning as a “feature” of most other games, but Reel Reel Hot is far from your average online slot.
Wild Symbol
The wild is so unusual in this game because it only appears on reels one and two during the base game, and it also substitutes for special symbols such as the “Reel” symbol described below. During the free spins feature, the wild symbol will appear on all three of the centre reels but not on the two additional reels which grow from either side of the stack before the feature begins.
Reel/hot Symbols
The “Reel” symbol appears only on the first and second reels during the base game but can also be substituted for the wild symbol. It would help if you hit a combination which is the equivalent of “Reel/Reel/Hot” to trigger the free spins feature, which is explained fully in the next section.
Wheel Feature
The wheel symbol only appears in the base game and only on the third reel, but it does not activate unless you also manage to land a “Reel” or wild symbol on the first and second reels simultaneously.
If you manage to make your way to the prize wheel, you can win any of the features available in the game and some additional free spins that will be added to the default 10 you get at the start of a regular bonus round. There are a couple of other features which appear only on the wheel, which are described below:
Prize Multipliers
These multipliers can only be won from the wheel feature but are only applied during your next free spins round. This can initially seem a little confusing, but it is a great way to ensure people keep playing between features!
When you hit the multiplier segment in the wheel feature, a second multiplier-specific wheel will be spun before your next free spins round to determine how much the multiplier is worth. If you hit several wheel features before you trigger your next bonus round, you can end up spinning the multiplier wheel several times, all of which will be added together to determine the final multiplier for your bonus round.
Nudge & Hold Features
I missed what was going on with these features the first couple of times I won them because there is no indication in the base game that the features are available after you win them from the wheel feature.
If you win a nudge from the wheel feature, it will be assigned to one of the three reels of the base game – nudges cannot be used during the bonus round – and you can use your nudge for five spins after winning it from the wheel. A nudge will only move the reel up one slot – you cannot use nudges to move reels downwards.
Holds, as you would expect, allow you to lock a specific reel in place for the next spin. This can potentially increase your chances of hitting a more valuable combination, but from my experience, I didn’t seem to have much luck converting holds into any kind of advantage; nudges were much more useful.
Reel Reel Hot Slot Free Spins Feature
The bonus round in Reel Reel Hot is triggered by hitting a combination which spells out “Reel Reel Hot” on any of the five base game pay lines, although you can also complete this combo by using wild symbols as well.
The default number of free spins is ten, but you can often win more free spins in between your features by hitting the prize wheel and landing on the segment for additional free spins. I was able to accumulate up to 18 free spins this way during my testing of the game.
The free spins feature uses an extended reel set with 243-ways to win, and the prizes available during this part of the game are much higher than those of the base game. This is the only way you can win the maximum prize of 4,100x your stake, for example. Note that you can trigger the free spins feature using your nudges won from the free spins wheel – keep this in mind before you hit the spin button again, as opportunities to win free spins can easily be lost if you just keep hitting spin without paying attention to the layout of the reels!
Reel Reel Hot Slot Review Final Thoughts
Reel Reel Hot is undoubtedly the deepest three-reel slot I have ever played – there are loads of features included here, making what at first appears to be a fairly bland slot into something that punches well above its weight.
It certainly isn’t perfect – why not use a five-reel setup from the get-go? And the RTP, at 95%, is a whole percentage point lower than the industry standard, which can make a massive difference to the amount of play time you get whilst playing an online slot.
On the whole, Mancala’s Reel Reel Hot is a worthy choice for a way to spend an hour spinning the reels, and it’s always nice to enjoy a game more than you expected to in the beginning!
Not made an account yet? Register here to join the conversation.
Log in to share your thoughts