Slot Wars - Reel Banks VS Hot Pepper

Pragmatic Play has two new slots that will be rivals in the weekly slot war. Prepare yourself for Reel Banks VS Hot Pepper as this will be an amazing battle.

1, 2, 3 - GO! Start the new episode of slot wars!

Reel Banks slot is played on a 5x4 grid with 25 paylines. Thanks to Money symbols, collect and free spins feature the winning potential rises up to 5,000x the bet. 

While this is a big number, it still isn’t a match to the maximum prize of Hot Pepper slot - 10,000x the stake! Spread on a large 7x7 grid, the game uses cluster mechanics which enhances the chances of creating winning combinations spin after spin. 

When it comes to RTP, the difference is almost unnoticeable. Still, if you want to nitpick, the Mexican-themed title is in slight advantage with an RTP of 96.45% compared to the RTP of 96.04% featured in its rival. 

The gameplay is at the highest volatility level in both releases. 

At the heart of Reel Banks is its Money symbols. They play critical roles in the Money Collect feature in the base game and in the Free Spins feature.

Regarding bonus features, Money symbols are a star of Reel Banks slot as they play critical roles in the base game Collect feature as well as in the free spins round. These special symbols came with cash values of up to 500x the bet. The Collect symbol completes the feature since it awards the value of all Money symbols in view when it lands. 

If Money symbols appear on all five reels simultaneously, they trigger the bonus round with 9 free spins. For the round, the “reel bank” container is placed at the top of each reel and in it the values of triggering and any new Money symbols that land is collected. 

During free spins, the Collect symbol is replaced with in-game modifiers able to increase coin values, award extra spins, multiply reel banks up to 5x and collect all bank values as they land. 

In Hot Pepper slot, the main attractions are Chilli Wilds as they appear with a multiplier. Wilds appear Whenever a cluster of symbols hits and explodes on reels, it leaves behind a Wild in a random empty spot. 

To make things interesting, there are different levels that determine the multiplier value based on the number of symbols that participate in the winning cluster. There are five levels in total and the maximum multiplier is 128x if the winning cluster counts 11 and more symbols.

 Multipliers are applied to any win where Wild participated, but if more than one Wild is part of a cluster, the values are added to each other first. The level is awarded randomly and increases by one tier for every 3 Wilds used in a tumble sequence on the same spin. 

To make things better, during the bonus round with 12 free spins triggered by 3 Scatters in view, Wilds generated by clusters appear always at level 5. This means that the multiplier has a minimum value of 16x and a maximum of 128x, depending on the number of symbols participating in the winning cluster. 

Although both slots have exciting bonus features and a Buy Bonus option, the winner of this round is Reel Banks due to its Money symbols and numerous free spins modifiers. 

The bank theme isn’t just seen many times before, but games with it also tend to have a similar appearance. The same goes for Mexican-inspired slots as many use the same recognizable symbols such as pinatas and tacos. 

While Pragmatic Play didn’t choose some original themes for these games, it did follow them thoroughly. The end result are visually appealing titles enriched with superb graphics and animation. Still, the small advantage goes to Hot Pepper simply because of the design as it is more detailed and complex.

This was a very exciting episode of slot wars, ending up with Hot Pepper as a winner due to its massive winning potential. But since Reel Banks was triumfal in the bonus features round it is clear that both of these slots are quite deserving of the player’s attention.