Hotline is a 5 reel, 30 payline slot from NetEnt that takes you to the 80s. With a cop theme reminiscent of Miami Vice, it’s all about the Hotline Bonus Bet feature where you can choose from 1, 2 or 3 rows being a Hotline – if a wild lands, you will trigger the Re-Spins feature where the wild expands and remains sticky for that re-spin. If more new wilds land, you get another re-spin (the wilds also expand and remain in place). There’s also a Free Spins feature where you get 7 free spins – the Hotlines are also in place but expanding wilds remain sticky for the duration of the feature.
It has an 80s feel to it and comes with a Hotline Bonus Bet feature where you make a choice to see wilds expanding and sticking for re-spins. There’s also a Free Spins feature where you’ll benefit from expanding sticky wilds.
Theme wise, you are taken back to the 80s as Hotline draws its inspiration from retro themed TV shows and popular 80s movies such as Miami Vice – you will see palm trees in the sunset and neon signs in the background and you will hear 80s music. It will remind you of old cop movies.
Symbols on the reels include shining gemstones as well as 3 typically 80s characters (a suave sunglasses-wearing gangster, a permed cop with a gun and a class lady with a brick mobile phone!). The latter is the most rewarding giving you 200 coins for 5 across a payline.
The red sports car is the wild symbol which can appear on any reel – it substitutes for all symbols bar the scatter. Now, Hotline comes with a Hotline Bonus Bet feature which you can choose to activate at will. When you activate 1 Hotline, you will play at 15 coins per level (so 15p at minimum stakes) – if you use 2 Hotlines, it will cost you double (30p at minimum stakes). If you want all 3 Hotlines, it will set you back 45 coins (45p at minimum stakes).
The more Hotlines you activate, the higher your chances to get expanding wilds and re-spins – if a wild symbol lands on an activated Hotline, it will expand to take over the whole reel. When you do this, you will also trigger the Re-Spins feature where you get a free re-spin with expanding wild(s). More re-spins will follow if you land new wilds on the activate Hotline – the expanded wild(s) remain sticky until all re-spins have finished.
Look out for the sunset scatter symbol as 3 of them appearing simultaneously on reels 1, 3 and 5 will trigger the Free Spins feature where you’re rewarded with 7 free spins. If a wild lands on an activated Hotline, it will expand and remain on the reels until the end of the feature. In theory, you could end up with a screen full of wilds on every free spin!
This could result in maximum wins of 400 times your stake on every spin/re-spin/free spin – it’s a medium variance offering where you can choose your stake size to see how many expanded, sticky wilds you play with. I found playing with 3 Hotlines the best option but it will set you back between 45p and £450 per spin. Overall, it’s a decent game from NetEnt which is unique
