Hot Charge

Hot Charge Review

Get ready to get funky with it in Hot Charge, a classic-themed slot from Booming Games boasting an electrifying soundtrack and ditto visual experience. The 5x3 grid has a bluish tint on the 3 middle reels, with a dark purple color on reels 1 and 5. The progress meter above the grid is waiting to be charged by special Charge symbols, awarding random wilds and increasing the win multiplier.

However, before we get to the heart of this thing, let’s cover the basics. You start by choosing your bet level between €0.2 to €100 per spin, catering to most types of players. You win by landing 3 to 5 matching symbols across up to 20 paylines, starting from the leftmost reel. The so-called Major symbols, consisting of a diamond, triple 7s, golden bell, and BAR, award between 7.5x and 20x your stake for 5 of a kind wins. The royals pay 4x or 4.5x for the same, and Wilds substitute for regular pay symbols.

Hot Charge Slot - Reels Screen

The lightning bolt Charge symbol progresses you along the Hot Charge meter seen above the grid, with the 3 first steps being inactive in the base game. After that, each charge adds a number of wilds or multiplier values to the respective counters, with the achieved number of wilds being added per spin until you win with a wild. The achieved multiplier boosts the win and everything then resets in the base game.

The bonus round takes things to the next level with the 3 inactive steps pre-filled, making each Charge symbol count from the start. In addition, the meter never resets, meaning the number of wilds and the multiplier keeps growing until you hit the 2,500x jackpot at the end of the meter. With a max win of 4,000x and an RTP of 95.2 %, Hot Charge slot offers a medium to high volatility experience with plenty of base game action to keep you afloat.

Hot Charge Features

Charging the Hot Charge meter is the name of the game, also literally, and this gets even easier when you trigger the bonus round. Let’s dive in!

Hot Charge Feature

The Charge Symbol can appear on reels 2, 3, and 4, progressing the Hot Charge Meter that sits above the reels. The meter advances one step per Charge symbol, but you need to reach step 4 to be awarded a feature upgrade. Once you reach step 4, every subsequent step awards a feature upgrade, and it works as follows:

• Random Wilds (awarded at steps 4, 6, 8, and 10) - add +1 to +3 wilds to the Wild meter.
• Win Multiplier (awarded at steps 5, 7, and 9) - add between +1 and +5 to the multiplier.

The achieved number of wilds is added to random positions while the achieved win multiplier boosts all wins. The Hot Charge meter resets when you land a win with a wild or scatter symbol. Reaching the 11th step awards the Grand Jackpot of 2,500x your stake. When this jackpot is awarded, the Hot Charge meter resets.

Hot Charge Free Spins

The Hot Charge Bonus Round triggers when you land a Scatter symbol on reels 1 and 5 on the same base game spin. This awards 15 free spins and the feature can be retriggered the same way, awarding +5 extra free spins per retrigger. The 3 first inactive Hot Charge steps are pre-filled in the bonus round, and the meter does not reset when you land wild or scatter wins. This increases your chances of reaching the Grand Jackpot at the end of the meter.

Hot Charge Slot - Free Spins

Hot Charge Bonus Buy (not UK)

Eligible players can take advantage of the Bonus Buy menu, found via the Star icon on the left-hand side. The price is 70x the stake to get 15 free spins, and the bonus buy RTP is 95.9 %.

Theme & Graphics

Hot Charge Booming Games is a classic style game with a modern twist, set against a deep orange backdrop. The funky synth-based soundtrack adds to the upbeat and electrifying atmosphere, and the reels are filled with classic symbols like 7s, BARs, golden bells, and diamonds. The Hot Charge meter is prominently displayed above the reels, crackling with energy and tempting you with the 2,500x Grand Jackpot at the end.

Pros and Cons of Hot Charge

Our Verdict

Hot Charge is one of those slot games that may not look like much at first glance, but once you start spinning the reels, it grabs you by the eyeballs and keeps you engaged. I was pleasantly surprised by what Booming Games has conjured up here in other words, and that doesn’t happen all that often in this business. The classic-inspired visuals may be a tad generic, but the presentation is spiced up with plenty of electrifying animations.

The upbeat soundtrack creates the perfect atmosphere for this game, and lifts your mood instantly with its funky rhythms. The spin speed is excellent with the turbo switched on, and the Charge symbols appear frequently to award wild-fuelled and multiplier-boosted wins. There is hardly a dull moment even in the base game, although you can expect top-up wins most of the time between anything significant.

This is par for the course with slot games, after all, so it’s hard to complain when the gameplay is as entertaining as it is in Hot Charge slot. The 2,500x prize at the end of the meter keeps you motivated to keep going, and things definitely heat up in the bonus round. This is where the game truly shines, taking things to a whole new level. Not only are the 3 inactive Hot Charge meter steps eliminated, but the meter does not reset unless you hit the jackpot.

Getting as little as 3 to 4 wilds added per free spin goes a long way in my experience, and with an okay multiplier to back that up, you’re looking at pretty solid back-to-back wins throughout the feature. It’s always exciting to see how far you can progress along the meter per bonus round, and the 4,000x max win is okay for a medium to high volatility game like this. The RTP is a tad low, though, but far from a deal breaker. Hot Charge is a simple and charming game, and something I can see myself returning to whenever I need to recharge my batteries.