Hot Potato

Hot Potato Slot Review

Slot Provider: Thunderkick

RTP: 96.16% | Variance: High | Maximum Win: 10,000x

Our Score: 7.0

Play at Grand Ivy Casino
QUICK LINKS: Game Information | Where To Play | Full Review | Testing Notes | Tips For Players | About The Developer

WHY YOU CAN TRUST THIS REVIEW: The information and opinions on this page are the result of an comprehensive process of information gathering and live game testing by the gambling experts who work at allslotsites.com. Find out more here.

About Hot Potato

Reviewed by:

Published Date: 19th July 2024

How We Review Slot Games

We test and rate all slot games across 5 criteria, assigning a score out of 10 for each and an overall score that is an average of the 5. To build an accurate assessment of each game we gather information from the supplier and play in real play or demo mode. Find out more.

Hot Potato by Thunderkick not only invites you to the streets of New York, but also behind the scenes of a fast-food kitchen. With its 7×7 grid and cluster pays mechanic with plenty of exploding wilds that leave 3×3 multiplier grids behind, there are almost endless winning possibilities. Its 96.19% RTP and 10,000x max win put this slot right at the generous end of the payout spectrum, but watch out for the high volatility.

Hot Potato Game Information

  • Release Date: 08.11.23
  • RTP: 96.16% | 94% | 92% | 90% | 87%
  • Variance: High
  • Maximum Win: 10,000x
  • Progressive Jackpot: No
  • Reels: 7
  • Rows: 7
  • Minimum Stake: £0.10
  • Theme: Food
  • Features: Cascading WinsFree SpinsMultipliersWilds
  • Format: Cluster Pays

Testing Notes: Here’s What Happened When We Played Hot Potato

IMPORTANT: To give you an accurate assessment of the games we review our writers play 200 spins. Whilst this is a useful tool to help us review games and to give an example of what might happen when you play, keep in mind that 200 spins is only a very small sample and cannot be used to accurately predict what might happen over another 200 spins. The outcome of all slots play is always random.

Boom Or Bust? Our Session By The Numbers

Test spins and results analysis by Mark Wadie.

Results from 100 spins with real money on Hot Potato at Casumo.

  • Stake Size: £0.1
  • Start balance: £977.23
  • End balance: £983.49
  • Win Rate: 29% (29 winning spins in 100)
  • Biggest Win: 17.6x
  • Free Spins Round: 2

I played Hot Potato at 10p per spin for 100 spins. It’s a fun and simple game that is really easy to follow. The win rate was very good too with 29% of spins returning a win of some kind. The exploding wilds showed up a lot so those multiplier grids build fast. On the flipside, often they don’t get used because no cluster builds over the top of them. That happened a lot, which is the frustrating part of the game.

And it’s also worth noting that although there were a lot of wins – 29/100 is very good – they were mainly very small because the payouts don’t reach above stake size until you get to clusters of 7 or 8 or bigger.

A 17.6x win in Hot Potato base game
A 17.6x win from the base game (10p stake)

The free spins round dropped twice in 100 spins, which is also unusual. The multipliers are more powerful there because they stick between spins. In my case the best free spins win of the two was just 17.3x, and in fact I got a bigger win of 17.6x earlier in the base game. That’s the luck of the draw, but there is plenty of potential in both phases of the game, that’s for sure.

Hot Potato Free Spins Round
Free spins round where multipliers stick between spins

Take aways? A really fun game, where the upbeat and fast-paced gameplay matches the humorous and brightly colored theme and design.

What We Liked

  • Build big multipliers of up to 128x even in base game
  • Good win rate of 25% in testing
  • Bright colorful slot with fun theme
  • Multipliers are sticky in the free spins round
  • Avalanches and multipliers create big cumulative win sequences

What We Didn't like

  • Low RTP at some slot sites - be careful where you play

Hot Potato Review Scores

  • Theme and Design 7
  • RTP and Variance 8
  • Maximum Win 7
  • Symbols and Paytable 7
  • Features and Gameplay 6

What Our Reviewer Says ...

"A really fun cluster pays slot where simple but powerful combinations of exploding wilds and multipliers can build serious wins"

Overall Score: 7.0

Theme & Design

Our Score 7

A Great Looking Game With A Fun And Unusual Theme

From the title alone, you might be expecting a slot set in a farm, or a kitchen. However, the base game of this slot takes you to the busy streets of New York. You’re surrounded by skyscrapers and yellow cabs. Only during the free spins round do you enter the kitchen, where you’re responsible for cooking up all kinds of fast food staples (including fries – hence the name). 

Hot Potato by Thunderkick
Hot Potato – Fast Food Fun In New York

It’s a beautifully executed theme, with crisp, clean graphics and a nice change of pace from the base game to the bonus round.

RTP and Variance

Our Score 8

What is RTP?

RTP (Return to Player) refers to the amount a game will pay out in cash prizes expressed as a percentage of all the money wagered on that game. For example, a 96% RTP means a game will pay out £96 for every £100 wagered. This is an average number and will vary from one session to the next.  Read more here.

What is Variance?

Variance refers to how far a game will deviate from its RTP over time. High variance games deviate a lot and produce uneven win distributions and unexpected windfalls. Low variance games provide a more stable and even distribution of wins. Read more here.

Hot Potato has a pretty great 96.16% RTP alongside high volatility. This means you should see some big wins in longer gaming sessions, but will also experience some dry spells. If you have a very tight play budget then consider a slot with slightly lower volatility. Blinged by Play n Go is a good New York themed alternative with medium volatility.

Maximum Win

Our Score 7

What Is Maximum Win?

Maximum win refers to the maximum amount a player can win from one spin. It is expressed as a multiple of the stake. For example, where the maximum win is 100,000x, from a £1 stake, the maximum win would be £100,000.  

Hot Potato has a top payout of 10,000x your bet which is neither super generous, nor is it stingy. If you’re chasing enormous jackpots then you might be a little disappointed, but in our experience, most people would be pretty happy to land that max win!

If you want to stick to the New York theme but be in with the chance of a bigger win then try The Bowery Boys. This slot invites you to join a safe-cracking New York gang and has a 25,000x max win.

Symbols and Paytable

Our Score 7

Hot Potato is played on a 7×7 grid with a cluster pays mechanic. This means that instead of making wins on set paylines, you just need to land 5 or more matching symbols that are adjacent to each other either horizontally or vertically.

Hot Potato Paytable
The paytable with 100x for 25 or more chef symbols in a cluster

There are 6 pay symbols in this game, plus a wild symbol and a scatter that we’ll cover in more detail soon. The low paying symbols are the cucumber, donut, and soda, these payout from 0.2x your bet for 5 cucumbers, up to 25x your bet for 25+ sodas. The premium symbols are the fries, burger, and chef. These pay out between 0.4x your bet for 5x fries, up to 100x your bet for 25+ chefs.

Features and Gameplay

Our Score 6

While it’s not bursting with unusual mechanics, Hot Potato does bring together a handful of neat features that accentuate the gameplay brilliantly. Let’s take a look at how they all work.

Avalanche‍s After Every Win

Whenever a win is created, the avalanche feature triggers. All of the winning symbols are removed and new symbols fall into their place. These can form new winning clusters, restarting the avalanche feature every time they do. The avalanche feature will only stop when no more new winning combinations are created.

Wilds, Explosions and Multipliers

The wild symbol is represented by the baked potato itself. It can substitute for any of the pay symbols in the game to help create winning clusters.

As well as this, at random – and this happened a lot in testing – the wild symbol can explode from within a cluster or just any other position on the grid, removing all symbols in a surrounding 3×3 area to trigger a further cascade. All positions in the 3×3 area then also take on a multiplier value of 2x.

Hot Potato Multipliers
A 3×3 multiplier grid created by an exploding wild

Now, if ANOTHER potato wild symbol explodes and the grid it creates covers existing multipliers then those multipliers double in size. This can happen again and again up to a maximum value of 128x. Better still, if more than one multiplier is part of the same winning cluster then their multipliers are added together before being applied to the win. 

Free Spins With Sticky Multipliers

If you land three scatter symbols then the free spins round begins. You begin with 10 free spins but can gather more by landing 3 additional scatter symbols at any point in the free spins round. Any multiplier grids are sticky during the game, meaning they stay active throughout all of your free spins. This gives you a brilliant opportunity to create even bigger wins.

The Final Verdict

With its cute but crisp New York theme, and varying settings for base game and free spins round, fans of well-designed themes will enjoy Hot Potato. The creative team have left no box unchecked, giving this slot a beautifully clean aesthetic.

Meanwhile, the cluster pays mechanic removes any payline anxiety and the exploding wilds and progressive multiplier grids make those top wins seem actually possible. And it’s all wrapped up with a nice max payout of 10,000x your bet combined with a slightly above-average optimum RTP (96.16%).

Useful Tips When Playing Hot Potato

Remember, online slots are games of chance, there is NO strategy that can improve your odds of winning. However, reading our review and following these tips will help you get the most out of your time playing this slot game.

1. Watch For The Potatoes To Land 

The potatoes are what makes this game tick! Look for these wild symbols landing as they regularly explode to spread multipliers over the grid.

2. Choose Low Stakes

Thunderkick games let you play from just 10p which is handy when the volatility is high as in this case. You can burn your funds fast if you don’t watch out.

3. Look For HOT HOT HOT Scatters

You need 3 of these on one spin to trigger the free spins round.

4. Play At Our Recommended Slot Sites

We have chosen the sites on this page because they all scored high in our reviews and they are licensed by the UK Gambling Commission. That makes them fair and safe places to play slots.

Who Made Hot Potato?

  • Name: Thunderkick
  • Established: 2012
  • UK License: 40165
  • Total Games: 55
  • Known For: Quirky, eccentric slots with fun features and distinctive designs
  • Popular Slots: Pink Elephants 1 and 2, Flame Busters, Birds on a Wire
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