Hot Rod Racers Slot Review

08/12/2022 | Categories: Relax Gaming Slots | Published by: Joe | Last updated: 05/01/2024

We know it has been a while since we have looked at a Relax game. That is something that has gotten brought to our attention by one of our Twitter followers recently. And since Relax Gaming has been making moves in multiple European markets lately. Plus, it has garnered loads of attention thanks to the release of Money Train 3. Now is as good of a time as any to see what this Malta company has been up to, game-wise.

From what the records show us. These days, Relax is releasing about two slots per month. Their latest one is Hot Rod Racers, appearing in gambler’s windshields on November 16th. It made a splash upon its release, entering the top thirty standings in multiple territories and turning some heads with its modifying and sticky Wheelspin wilds. Below, we dive into exploring this Relax Gaming product, giving all the nitty-gritty about it, and telling you how it stacks up with some of Relax’s best-reviewed titles, such as Money Train 2, Beast Mode, and Temple Tumble Megaways.

Theme & Design

According to most race car drivers, the thrill of this sport is not in the speed reached when competing. It is more the feeling of driving on the edge of disaster. It is more about getting perfection out of a vehicle than whizzing past objects and opponents. In car circles, the term Hot Rod refers to a vehicle specially modified to exude extra power and gain more speed. Fast acceleration is what it is all about concerning vehicles customized for performance. Traditionally, these are old-timey, American-built cars with massive engines that look cartoony.

Interestingly, this is the only online slot we could find with the words hot rod in its title, which surprised us. We know of such a land-based spinner powered by the exclusive ARCH cabinet design, but we could not find any online versions.

The sport of Hot Rod racing here gets presented using colorful painterly visuals. When we say colorful, we mean graphics exuberantly rich with modestly saturated primary and secondary colors. The base game here plays out in a garage, with the reel grid featuring six exhausts, three on each side. Once the Free Spins bonus mode activates, the backdrop of Hot Rod Racers changes to a desert landscape, and race lights signal the start of this mode.

The music used throughout this game has a 1980s edge and is in line with the theme here. The effects also blend in nicely. The presentation of Hot Rod Racers is not overly impressive, but it has a tightly-packaged feel. Everything mixes in super appropriately.

The button configuration here holds the spin functions in the middle, with the bet adjuster and the bonus buy buttons to the left of these, where entry into the setting page gets provided via the trusted hamburger icon.

Hot Rod Racers

Specs & Gameplay

Relax has given this release a high variance setting, which is not shocking, given that the max win potential of this title is x25,000 on a max bet of $40. The lowest one you can make on this game that boasts an RTP of 96% with thirty paylines is $0.1. It implements a 5×4 setup, and you must land at least three identical symbols on a defined payline to win a prize in this slot.

The low-pay tokens of Hot Rod Racers are card suits in different colors, made up to look like gems. They pay rewards of x2.5 across the board for five-of-a-kind combinations. The game’s four racing cars, in colors corresponding to the card suits, generate prizes of x5 to x10 when five matching instances of them stop in view on the same spin.

Hot Rod Racers has two wilds. The Wheelspin ones can pop up on reels two, three, four, and five. They transform any high-pay token to the left of them into a wild. If another wild or an activated high-pay symbol gets influenced by a Wheelsпin wild, an x1 multiplier will get attached to these tokens. A payline with five wilds on it is worth x20 here. Nitro wilds only appear on reels one and five. And they play a role in the bonus mode.

A checkered racing flag is the scatter here.

Bonus Features

Hitting three scatters gains you entry in the Free Spins round, where you get awarded ten complimentary reel rotations. The scene shifts to the discussed desert one, and you are off to the races. Inside this round, landed Wheelspin wilds become sticky until the end of the feature.

If you hit three scatters and two Nitro wilds on reels one and five on the same reel rotation, you activate the Super Free Spins, getting ten on-the-house spins with no retriggering possible. Here, the Wheelspin wilds remain in place after they perform the mentioned wild transformation in a boosted iteration. When they pass over a Hot Rod, it fits them with a frame with a multiplier starting at x1, which can grow to x5. The Super Free Spins mode ends when your spins expire. Or you land the top prize.

Bonus Buy entry into the Free Spins is available in specific markets costing x80, and access to the Super Free Spins will run you x400 in jurisdictions that allow feature purchases. The default RTP setting for these two modes stands at 97%.

Hot Rod Racers Slot