Hot Sync

Many people don't realize this, but the very first slot actually used five reels. It was based on five-card poker hands, which is where the card ranking symbols in video slots come from today. After that came a series of three-reel games for several decades until video slots overtook them as the most popular game in the casino. Hot Sync is a game produced by Quickspin that includes some serious mixing up of the two genres. It's a video slot, but it has classic slot motifs and a number of bonus feature to give you an exciting experience.

Format of the Game

The format itself for this slot uses five reels, three rows and 20 paylines. As far as Quickspin Slots go, this is a pretty usual format since they're known for using atypical layouts from time to time. You can pick total bet sizes that range from $0.20 at the lower level to $100 at the upper level, but you can't play with a different number of paylines or manipulate coin sizes and coins per payline directly. Instead, you can simply divide the total by 20 to know your equivalent wager size if you want. It's not really necessary in this game, however, since all bets are based on a multiple of your total bet size, not the line bet wagers.

Regular Wild Symbols

There are actually two types of wild symbols in this game. The first is just a regular wild, and it substitutes for any regular symbol, not including the bonus game symbol or the Hot Sync wild symbol, which is the other wild and which functions a lot differently. Three or more wild symbols will get you a payout if they're on the same payline from left-to-right, and the top prize is 50x (which is like a 1,000x line bet win) for five of a kind. You can also pick up 12.5x for four or 2.5x for three of a kind of this symbol.

Hot Sync Wild Symbol

The other wild symbol is the Hot Sync wild. Whenever you get two or more on the reels during the normal game, you get the Hot Sync Respin Feature. The way this feature works is the the reels with these symbols on them sync together to show the same set of symbols, and you'll get extra wild symbols on those reels as the rest of the reels give you a free re-spin. If you get more of the Hot Sync wilds, those reels will sync up as well, and the feature will continue with another re-spin. This continues until you have a re-spin with no new Hot Sync wilds.

Free Spins Bonus Feature

There's a bonus game symbol that's red with yellow text, and it shows up on the middle three reels only. You can pick up three of these symbols to get a set of eight free spins, and the Hot Sync feature works a bit differently during this feature. The way it works is that every Hot Sync wild symbol that you get turns into a "hot" reel, which includes extra wilds and that stay in place for the remainder of the feature. You can end up with a lot of wilds on the screen for several spins in a row if you catch a couple of hot reels early in this feature.

Big Winning Combinations

Five diamonds scores 25x, and five of the lucky red seven gives 15x. You can earn 10x for five of the star or five of the bell symbol. The watermelon pays 6.25x for five of a kind, and five of the plum, lemon and cherry will pay out five times your total bet size. These are obviously based on classic slot symbols, and it's something that we can definitely get behind as a great part of the overall theme.

Our Thoughts

This game does what it sets out to do, and that doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be one of the top games out there in the industry. However, it's not trying to be. Instead, it looks to give players a certain type of experience, and it definitely succeeds in that. Whether this game appeals to you will depend completely on whether or not that type of experience is something you'll enjoy.