Pyrofox

PyroFox: Slot Overview

The word 'pyro' is often used in relation to heat or fire, as in the word 'pyromaniac', which is someone with an uncontrollable urge to set things on fire. It's also been used in the title PyroFox, an online slot produced by Hacksaw Gaming partner Backseat Gaming. Despite the connotations, this isn't a slot with a huge amount of burning going on, but it is a classically designed Backseat Gaming slot of expanding wild reels, a global multiplier, sticky wilds and more.

PyroFox starts off quite well with a rather distinctive look, rich in browns, oranges, and licks of fire at times lighting the screen, though some players might have been expecting more burning action. Pyro's there, standing next to the set of reels, every so often igniting flames in his hand. Why this guy feels the need to burn things is not explained anywhere, making PyroFox one of those reader-response theory moments where gamblers create the meaning of the text, or the game, in this instance, as they see fit. Whatever it all means, PyroFox's camping out in the woods setting is easy on the eyes, while Pyro himself has an interesting sort of monk/guru thing going on.

Hacksaw Gaming and pals often use very specific numbers of paylines in their games. PyroFox is one of these, which has 14 paylines on a 5x4 gaming area to evaluate winning combinations of 3 to 5 OAK. Two RTP configurations are available, and the highest of the two return values is 96.24%, while the math model volatility is high. When it comes to gambling, PyroFox comes with a range of feature buys and takes bets of 10 c to $/€100 per spin.

The paytable contains 10-A card ranks, leaves, wood, an axe, and a lighter. Five-of-a-kind royal wins pay 1x-2.5x the bet, whereas premium symbol wins are worth up to 5x-25x the bet. Wilds, both regular and expanded, substitute for all paying symbols and have the same value as the lighter when five wilds create a winning line.

PyroFox: Slot Features

Backseat Gaming has reached into its bag of tricks and pulled out Pyro Reels, a global multiplier (during bonus rounds), two free spins features, and feature buys.

Pyro Reel

When the Pyro symbol hits, it expands into a fully stacked wild if it participates in any winning combinations. One Pyro symbol may land per reel, and they do not appear in the Blaze of Glory feature.

Global Multiplier

The global multiplier is displayed above the reels and multiplies all wins, but it is not available in the base game. In the bonus rounds, the multiplier starts at x1 and increases by +1 at the start of every spin. The global multiplier value is persistent during free spins.

Blaze of Glory

10 free spins are awarded by landing 3 Full Moon scatters in the base game. As well as the persistent global multiplier, wilds are sticky for the entire duration of the round. In both bonus features, landing 1, 2, or 3 scatters awards an extra +1, +3 or +10 free spins. Fire Tree scatters and Pyro symbols are not present in this feature.

Flame Fox's Frenzy

Hitting 3 Fire Tree scatters in the base game triggers this feature with 10 free spins. This bonus follows the base game mechanics but has an increased chance of landing wild and Pyro symbols, plus it has the persistent global multiplier. Full Moon scatters do not land in this feature.

Fiery Wheel of Fortune

When either bonus round triggers, players have the chance to gamble for additional free spins. Via a spinning wheel, it is possible to win up to 25 free spins in total or lose all of the free spins.

Feature Buy

BonusHunt FeatureSpins cost 2x the bet and cause each spin to be 3 times more likely to trigger a bonus game. WildFire FeatureSpins cost 50x, and a random global multiplier of x2 to x100 is revealed before each spin. Players can buy either bonus game, too, 100x buys Blaze of Glory, 200x buys Flame Fox's Frenzy.

PyroFox: Slot Verdict

If you've been tracking Backseat Gaming's output, then you may find that PyroFox is a slot which doesn't throw up a lot of things the studio hasn't used before. Expanding wild reels, a global multiplier, sticky wilds, good stuff to be sure, but stuff that's peppered numerous past Backseat Gaming slots in one form or another, such as Crystal Robot, Chocolate Rocket, Super Twins, and so on. The total package might not be exactly like any of those slots, but PyroFox is built on individual components the studio likes to use, and to be fair, they can be rather formidable components when they're popping together.

Less common, for Backseat Gaming, ideas have made their way into PyroFox as well. Key amongst them is the way the global multiplier increases by +1 on each and every free spin. This mechanic is directly linked to the gamble feature as well since more spins literally translates to a greater global multiplier, making it tempting to try your luck at the start of a bonus round in order to squeeze more free spins out of the wheel. Or not, if the gamble goes sour. What's also of interest is the way Flame Fox's Frenzy doesn't build on the Blaze of Glory feature like rising bonus rounds often do. Instead, one has sticky wilds but no Pyro symbols - and vice versa.

However, PyroFox's maximum win of 15,000x the bet can be achieved no matter the game mode, meaning it can technically smoulder at any moment. Summing up, while there's little revolutionary happening here, PyroFox is a tidily designed game from Backseat Gaming, stacked with technical devices the studio has expertise with that may not be very original but which can be fruitful when firing.