High Street Heist: Slot Overview
We certainly aren't experts on the subject, but if someone robs a bank or does a smash 'n grab in an expensive shop, surely wearing a striking disguise is only going to draw extra attention? Whether the answer is yes or no, snatching riches while wearing a comedy mask does create memorable visuals. Cast your mind to the Spanish Netflix series Money Heist, or even further back to Patrick Swayze and his gang of surfer pals robbing banks wearing ex-president masks in the classic action film Point Break. This is the sort of scene Quickspin has tapped into in their online slot High Street Heist. In this game, it is the player's job to literally break glass to gain entry to free spins, where stacked symbols lead to symbol upgrades and multipliers. In the words of Bodhi, 'Little hand says it's time to rock and roll.'
The gaming takes place in the sort of shop where there are no price tags on the goods, so shoppers know if they have to ask, they probably can't afford it. A place of dreams, or nightmares, depending on whether putting a rock on a partner's finger is a sign of eternal love or an out-dated custom. In this world of glittering items sits a 5-reel, 4-row grid, which provides up to 1,024 ways to win. As you'll notice, a strip of glass initially covers the middle 2 rows, blocking win evaluations on them. It's the player's duty to smash this out of the way.
High Street Heist is a game of quirks, and one of them is its math model. In the base game, it runs on a low-medium setting, rising to super-high volatile in free spins. The RTP is variable too, so if you want the best value, be on the lookout for the 96.29% version, as it can be found at 94% or even 92% elsewhere. Bet selection starts at 20 p/c, rising to $/€100 per spin, available on any device.
In total, 10 pay symbols appear on the reels, divided into low, medium, and high values. Lows are five rings worth 0.5-1x the bet for five, mediums are four masked robbers paying 2.5x to 5x for five of a kind, and the one high pay is a diamond symbol worth 12.5x for a line of five. Symbols can land stacked, and the last tile for this section is the gold bar wild, which substitutes for anything on the reels.
High Street Heist: Slot Features
Step one in High Street Heist is clearing the pesky glass from the grid. When a full stack of the same symbol type lands, it removes the glass from its reel and awards a respin. If a full stack lands on the respin, the process is repeated. If you manage to break the glass on all reels on a single spin/respin sequence, 10 Heist Free Spins are awarded.
Once in, landing a full stack of the same symbol type in free spins increases the Heist Meter by +1. When the Meter is full, +2 free spins are awarded and the lowest value robber symbol is converted into the diamond symbol. When all robber symbols have been converted to diamonds, filling the Heist Meter adds a +1 multiplier to diamonds and awards +2 additional free spins.
Buy Feature
If buying features is an option where you reside, you can pay 111x the bet for a spin that triggers free spins. It is possible to collect cash if winning combinations land on this spin.
High Street Heist: Slot Verdict
High Street Heist was a game we thought we'd like more than we did. There are definite good and bad points, plus it is quite original, yet there was something abrasive as well. It's as if Quickspin picked a cool theme but were slightly too timid with it. In the hands of a braver studio, High Street Heist might have made a bigger impact. The gang of hardened robbers seemed at odds with the so-so visuals.
A bit unusually, the base game felt more innovative than the bonus round, thanks to the glass smashing feature. It's one of those things that you sort of love or hate, but good on Quickspin for trying something new. On the bright side, the glass smashing does give you a mission to focus on while spinning for wins, and it is satisfying when the glass on all five reels is busted up, gaining you entry to free spins. For the vast majority of the time, this isn't going to happen, so get used to plenty of near misses, or far misses for that matter. During these times, you have to put up with glass taking up much of the usable real estate, eating into win ways.
Free spins are pretty regular, really, compared to paid spins. It's a case of collecting stacked reels to convert symbols, build a multiplier and win extra free spins. Compared to the breaking glass task in the base game, it's standard fare. Funny too, we'd just reviewed Eye of Atum before we test drove High Street Heist, and both games have a strong Eye of Horus vibe, what with the premium symbol upgrade dynamic. High Street Heist does up the ante by introducing a multiplier when all premiums have been converted to diamonds. It will most probably be quite a challenge to get to that point, but rewards have been boosted to match - in 100 million simulated spins, Quickspin's best result was a sizeable 21,160x the bet.
High Street Heist is a game that is innovative in some ways, familiar (even dated) in others. Positives include a fairly unique experience, fronted by a playful bunch of outlaws getting up to no good, producing impressive numbers. Demoing is definitely the order of the day if the game appeals, though, as the smashing glass to unlock free spins concept and the restrained theme use is an acquired taste.
High Street Heist might have benefited from bolder handling of its theme and the gameplay is likely to rub some players up the wrong way as much as thrill others.
