Hot Potato Battleground

Hot Potato Battleground: Slot Overview

Ah, the age-old question when designing a follow-up: do the same but more, or try out something completely different? Software provider Thunderkick has managed to do both in Hot Potato Battleground, a follow-up to the 2023 release Hot Potato. On the one hand, many of the original's features have been retained, such as the Exploding Wild symbol and Multiplier Grid, while the theme has been completely overhauled and the gameplay thickened by a bunch of new supporting extras. This has meant the core of Hot Potato's grid multiplier/cluster combo is clearly visible, but the action is potentially even more chaotic.

The scene has changed drastically between the original and Hot Potato Battleground. That one word in the title has moved the gang from the hustle and bustle of the city to somewhere far more dangerous. This time, we're in an area covered by forests, bordered by mountains, and brimming with weaponry. This isn't a fight to find the next culinary sensation but a fight for survival; well, a lot of things blow up on the screen, pretty sure no actual potatoes are harmed. This gives Hot Potato Battleground a sort of Worms effect, as ordnance flies across the place, bits of it blow up - there's even a nuke. It's a long way from hailing a cab to go grab a snack at the local diner, as Thunderkick pulls the potatoes in a completely new and unexpected direction.

Hot Potato Battleground is played on a 7x7 grid, creating wins using a cluster pays method. Cluster pay wins occur when 5 or more matching pay symbols connect vertically or horizontally. Winning symbols are removed, triggering an avalanche that refills the grid, repeating until no new winning cluster is created. Players can expect volatility on the higher side and an RTP of 94.23%, while betting options range from $/€0.10 to $/€100.

Hot Potato Battleground's pay symbols from low to high are apples, chocolate bars, bottles, hot dogs, chips, sandwiches, and chefs. The largest clusters in the game are 25+ OAK, and they are worth from 10x to 100x the bet. Wilds substitute for all of the regular pay symbols.

Hot Potato Battleground: Slot Features

Hot Potato Battleground has the Exploding Wild symbol, except there are new versions of it, the Multiplier Grid, Land Support, Sniper Support, Air Support, Radar Symbol Transformations, a Nuke, a bonus round, Bet+ ante bets, and a feature buy.

Features

• Exploding Wild Symbol - Each winning cluster creates 1 of 3 random wilds. Potato Wilds explode in a 3x3 area, General Potato Wilds in a 5x5 area, and Sniper Potato Wilds in a vertical and horizontal line across the grid. Wilds may also land at random and always explode during the spin or avalanche.
• Multiplier Grid - Each explosion creates or applies to a Multiplier Grid with a base value of x2. Overlapping explosions double the multipliers they cover up to x128. All covered multipliers are applied to the win. High pay symbols are protected from explosions. The sequence continues until there are no new wins or feature triggers
• Land Support & Sniper Support - Land Support (Turret symbol) and Sniper Support (Crosshair symbol) trigger when their symbol is detonated during avalanches. New symbols first drop in, then the triggered feature injects 3 wilds, which may replace low or mid-pay symbols. Land Support injects 3 Potato Wilds, and Sniper Support injects 3 Sniper Potato Wilds. These wilds always explode and can create extra wins. Only 1 of each feature can be active at a time.
• Air Support & Radar Symbol Transformations - Air Support (Walkie-Talkie symbol) and Radar Symbol Transformation (Satellite Dish symbol) trigger when their symbol detonates during the sequence, and activate when the avalanche sequence ends. Air Support drops 5 Scout Wilds up to 3 times per sequence (up to 15), while Radar Symbol Transformation transforms 1 low-pay symbol into a mid or high-pay symbol. Up to 3 different symbols can be transformed per sequence.
• Nuke Feature - The Nuke Feature is triggered when its Red Button symbol detonates during the sequence. At the end of the sequence, and no Air Support or Radar Symbol Transformations are triggered, it awards a respin, doubling the multipliers on the Multiplier Grid. The Nuke can trigger once per sequence.

Bonus Game

Hitting 3 scatters in the base game awards 8 free spins. The Multiplier Grid resets when the bonus round starts, but it does not reset between free spins. During the round, landing 3 scatters awards an extra 4 free spins.

Bet+ & Feature Buy

Players may activate the Bonus Boost, or Bonus Boost Plus for 1.7x or 3x, making each spin 4x or 10x more likely to trigger a bonus, respectively. The Bonus Boost Extreme costs 10x to trigger the bonus once every 10 spins on average. Increasing the stake to 3.5x guarantees a Nuke, or for 10x, Battle Mode guarantees at least 3 activated features. By contrast, there is just one feature buy, where for 100x the bonus round can be triggered.

Hot Potato Battleground: Slot Verdict

The previous release was already an explosive game, yet with Hot Potato Battleground, Thunderkick has amplified just about everything happening on the screen. The bones of the original are all present, such as the cluster pays engine, the Exploding Wild, and the Multiplier Grid, yet the theme change into a warzone isn't just cosmetic. It brings a selection of new features that might not change how the core action unfolds beyond recognition, but adds several layers of amusement on top. Each of the new features is able to support the flow, leading to avalanche sequences that may spiral in excitingly busy ways. Sure, a wild flurry of action might result in a surprisingly small amount of dough at the end, but the opposite is also possible when the game gets it right.

While the new additions add to the enjoyment, the Multiplier Grid remains the key weapon in the arsenal. Pragmatic Play's Sugar Rush led to a number of grid multiplier-style releases from other studios, and Thunderkick's contribution was able to replicate the rush of building multipliers in individual positions across the grid without totally copying its competitors' ideas. However, even if the way multipliers are added to the grid and grown is different, the results can be just as thrilling. Free spins are probably the best place to really get some good multiplier growth going, and when the bombs are dropping and all the other military stuff is chipping in, Hot Potato Battleground has all the ingredients for a thrilling clustering, multiplying salad.

When the mushroom cloud dissipates, and the debris falls back to earth, what's left over in Hot Potato Battleground is a playable slot which balances past mechanics with an array of new supporting features. It's unusual that the same 10,000x win cap has been put in place, rather than expanded to reflect the larger collection of features, and the RTP has been dropped a couple of notches. But if that's not a showstopper, Hot Potato Battleground is an enjoyable slot, and a worthy successor to the original. If cluster-paying, grid multiplier action on a smoky battlefield appeals, then Hot Potato Battleground is worth dropping in for a demo.