Piggy Heist

Piggy Heist: Slot Overview

Poor piggies, they get a bit of bad rap in the slot world, often depicted gorging themselves on wealth or engaging in some other distasteful activity. In the case of software provider Play'n GO's online slot Piggy Heist, the piggies are, as the title suggests, out on the rob. This is a game about bank robbery that delivers coin collecting, a Hold'n Spin bonus, and a wild upgrade feature to provide potential spoils and thrills for lucky safe-cracking players. Piggy Heist dangles a hefty max win to capture attention, too, though if brand new features are a must, then being a reskin of Crabby's Gold isn't going to help.

Instead of a bank, Piggy Heist looks like it is held in a nuclear launch site, though a safe and a vault door to either side of the grid give some thematic density. It's not as theme-rich the original was, however, which was a classically designed pirate slot. Piggy Heist has a funkiness to it, a porcine sass, but the skin doesn't feel hugely developed, possibly because it's a clone and its maker wasn't in the mood to focus all its development powers on it.

Symbols fall into a 6x4 play area where winning combinations are evaluated by a 4,096 ways to win system. Winning potential, on paper, is high, but the math model volatility sits around medium, rated 6 out of 10. It is possible to stake $/€0.10 to $/€100 per spin, bearing in mind that Vault Wild progress is linked to the bet level.

Piggy Heist's table of symbols is made up of J-A lows and 5-character symbol high pays. Landing 6 OAK winning combinations pay 1x the bet when formed of royals, or 2x to 5x the bet when formed of characters. Wilds replace any regular paying symbol to help form wins, and the game delivers a large number of different wild types when they've been unlocked. Wilds appear on all reels except the leftmost.

Piggy Heist: Slot Features

Piggy Heist's features mirror Crabby's Golds, meaning a Coin Collection, Hold'n Spin, Vault Gamble, and Vault Wilds.

Coin Collection

Coin Pouch symbols can land on the leftmost and rightmost reels and collect Coin symbols. If two Coin Pouches land, they collect the Coins twice. Coins appear with values of 0.5x to 25x the bet, and if they are not collected by Coin Pouches, they are collected by the Safe. When a Coin is collected, it may randomly trigger the Hold'n Spin feature, though the size of the safe does not correspond to the prize.

Hold'n Spin

During this feature, Coin symbols land with a back face showing, and stick to the reels. When the round ends, they flip to reveal a value of 1x to 30x. A total of 3 spins are initially granted, and this number resets when one or more new Coin symbols land - up to 30 respins.

Vault Gamble

At the end of the Hold'n Spin, players may gamble winnings in the Vault Gamble. In 1 spin, Double Coins and Police Badges can land. If more Double Coins land, then the winnings from the Hold'n Win are doubled. If more Police Badges hit, the winnings from the Hold'n Spin are reduced to 0. The gamble can be used up to 4 times.

Vault Wilds

Collecting stethoscope symbols fills the Vault Meter, which unlocks various wild symbols. Every 6 stethoscopes collected unlocks a new Vault Wild:

• Stage 1 - standard wild.
• Stage 2 - Multiplier Wild with values of x2 to x5.
• Stage 3 - Expanding Wilds and Multiplier Expanding Wilds with values of x1 to x5.
• Stage 4 - Expanding Chobby Wild and Multiplier Expanding Chobby Wild with values of x1 to x5 and 3 respins.
• Stage 5 - Expanding Walking Wilds, which move left with respins until off the reels or a maximum of 10 respins. Also unlocks Multiplier Expanding Walking Wilds that move left with respins until falling off or a maximum of 10 respins holding values of x1 to x5.
• Stage 6 - Mega 2x2 wild.

There can only be one type of wild in view at one time, and a maximum of two 2x2 wilds can land. If a Multiplier Wild lands, the rest of the wilds take on the same multiplier. The multiplier is applied to the winning way.

Piggy Heist: Slot Verdict

Piggy Heist is not the freshest concept ever crammed into a slot, on account of it being a Crabby's Gold remake, and its visual covering wasn't majorly thought-provoking. Pigs, bank vaults, safe cracking, it's all pretty common stuff that can be hard to get very excited about. Not to say these topics can't be exciting, but when they've been paired with recycled maths and gameplay, well, they're easier to dismiss. On the bright side, the atmosphere is quite cheerful, which may appeal, and not everyone is likely to have played Crabby's Gold either, so Piggy Heist might feel somewhat fresh, more so if bank-robbing pigs are of interest.

Even then, Piggy Heist's extras aren't particularly wow. The Coin Collection feature is about as vanilla as they get. Hit collectors, hit coins, prizes are yours. Okay. The Hold'n Spin is utterly vanilla as well. There could be a measure of suspense when landed coins flip to reveal their values at the end of the round, but they are limited, up to 30x each at the most. Players who require more excitement are able to launch the Vault Gamble at the end of the bonus, which, since it's literally double or nothing, might get the adrenaline going - provided players are okay losing the lot if the gamble goes sour. Bizarrely, Piggy Heist boasts winning potential of 70,000x the bet, which may be as unexpected as it is unlikely to occur. But that's the number, and it may be dazzling enough to help some gamblers see past the generic holes in the gaming.

The Vault Wilds feature might help hold interest as its upper-level wilds are quite attractive. Additionally so, when considering that the Vault Gamble is capped at 11,520x, meaning far greater wins are technically possible in the base game than the bonus round. Splitting hairs? Perhaps, since Crabby's Gold wasn't the most earth-shattering game when it came along, and neither by extension is Piggy Heist.