Fire Stampede Ultimate

Fire Stampede Ultimate: Slot Overview

Whilst getting caught in a stampede in real life would be pretty darn boo, a slot stampede might mean a flurry of activity happening on the reels, possibly leading to a hefty payout. Pragmatic Play partner Wild Streak Gaming has thrown a veritable stampede of features into its range of Fire Stampede slots. Today, we have the third one under the microscope. Going by the title, Fire Stampede Ultimate, the studio has bulked up the third release in the range with extra features and greater winning potential.

Wild Streak Gaming has been pretty consistent when it comes to the three Fire Stampede slots' looks. To the left, we find a buffalo, literally blazing on fire, thundering across a patch of countryside. In part one, that was a rocky zone, part two, grassland, and this one, grassland again, though the background has been repainted. Players are also able to soak in a wider view of the surrounding lands this time, though not so broadly that the on-screen nature drowns out Fire Stampede Ultimate's classic/physical, jackpot-style slot ambience.

So far, all Fire Stampede releases, including this one, have been played on a 6x5 gaming grid. The top and bottom positions on the third reel and the entire rightmost reel only land special prize symbols that are won by the Connect & Collect feature. Regular symbols may land on the other positions, producing 1,875 ways to win. In addition, all have been highly volatile, and this one has a maximum RTP of 96.45% when betting $/€0.30 to $/€240 per spin.

On the lower part of the paytable can be found 9-A card royals, and on the top part, cacti, birds, nuggets, and buffalo. Hitting 5 matching symbols pays approximately 0.33x to 0.67x the bet for royals, or 0.83x to 3.33x for the high pays. Wilds hit on reels 2-4, substituting for all symbols except the Connect & Collect symbols.

Fire Stampede Ultimate: Slot Features

Fire Stampede Ultimate brings out the Connect & Collect mechanic again, which awards prizes from the rightmost reel and certain positions on the third reel. There are also Respins, Cash Respins and free spins to be aware of, as well as a feature buy.

Connect & Collect

Connect & Collect symbols can land on non-special positions on reels 1-5. Hitting vertically or horizontally adjacent Connect & Collect symbols left to right from the leftmost reel until the chain reaches a special position on the third or rightmost reel awards the prize on the reached position:

• Respins - Available only on the third reel. When triggered, 3 respins are awarded, where all initial Connect & Collect symbols are locked. Reels 1-5 respin. New Connect & Collect symbols lock and reset the respin count. After the round, all connections are paid.
• Cash Respins - Available only on the third reel. When triggered, the initial Connect & Collect symbols get a random value and lock in place. Three respins are awarded on reels 1-5. New Connect & Collect symbols lock, get a random value and reset the respin count.

A special Buffalo Coin may land during the round, awarding random multipliers to random positions, which apply to their value. When there are no more respins, all values on screen are added and paid. Each Buffalo Coin pays a multiple of the bet multiplied by any multiplier it may have. If the screen is filled with symbols, the Grand prize is awarded. Mystery symbols remain on the screen till the end of the round, where they reveal a money award, which could even be the Minor, Major, or Grand prize.

If Respins and Cash Respins hit simultaneously, the round plays like Cash Respins, but at the end of the round, the values on the rightmost reel connected to Connect & Collect symbols are also awarded. This is considered the Super Respins round. If Connect & Collect symbols hit during the Respins round and connect to a Cash Respins symbol, the round is upgraded to Super Respins from then on.

• Money Value - Values are awarded when reached by a connection chain on the third reel or the rightmost reel.
• Add Wilds - When reached by a connection chain, wilds are randomly added to reels 2-5.
• Free Spins - Awards a displayed amount of 7 to 25 free spins and 2x the bet when reached by a connection chain.
• Mystery Prize - Only hits on the rightmost reels and awards a prize up to the Grand prize when reached. The Minor, Major, and Grand awards can hit with an x2 multiplier.
• Stampede - When reached by a connection chain, it adds the highest value symbols on random positions to reels 1-5.
• Minor - Can only hit on the third reel, and when reached, it awards its payout.

Free Spins

Free spins are triggered when Connect & Collect symbols reach free spins symbols. The total number is added up and awarded. The Connect & Collect feature functions the same as it does in the base game. More free spins can be won when the connection chain reaches free spins symbols.

Random Awards

On random spins, wilds, Connect & Collect symbols or the highest paying symbols may be added to random non-special positions. Each time Respins or Cash Respins symbols land, they are collected in a pot. When that happens, Respins, Cash Respins, or both may randomly trigger.

Feature Buy

For 100x the bet, the free spins round can be triggered from the base game. When bought, Connect & Collect symbols are guaranteed to form a chain on the triggering spin that reaches special positions on reel 3 and at least one position on the rightmost reel. For the triggering spin, the rightmost reel only contains free spins symbols.

Fire Stampede Ultimate: Slot Verdict

Debatable whether this qualifies as an ultimate game, but Fire Stampede Ultimate is the biggest of the three so far in several ways. It was a little confusing as to how big it might actually be since the paytable information, more than once, mentions the Grand prize having a value of 80,000x the base bet. For clarity, it would seem that certain prize values on the paytable need to be divided by 30 to calculate the multiple of the total bet. By this logic, it means the Grand prize is worth about 2,667x the total bet. Elsewhere, the win cap is stated as being 12,500x, which seems a more down-to-earth figure for players to set their sights on. Provided, Fire Stampede Ultimate does enough to warrant attention in the first place. Suppose it might do, if the first two releases lit your fire, or if flashy buffalo-themed jackpot-style slots are of interest.

Fire Stampede Ultimate does expand the Respins feature. In this Ultimate edition, it is possible to land Buffalo Coins, which don't look overly exciting, though Mystery symbols may reveal the named prizes. Cash Respins are a neat twist, since Connect & Collect symbols not only award stuff when chains reach special positions, but they bear prize values themselves. A double whammy right there. If players have liked what they have seen so far, the chances are good they'll like this as well.

All in all, Fire Stampede Ultimate is an okay game, and to its credit, it is the largest and busiest of the three so far. The Connect & Collect feature in itself is quite unusual; it's not something you see in a lot of slots, so Fire Stampede Ultimate has a certain uniqueness. Players who have built up an affinity for the last two Fire Stampede games will likely be on board with the third instalment, while others, well, there's something here we don't see every day in slots for players to figure out if they like or not.