Wild Hike
Wild Hike is a video slot with six reels, four rows and 4,096 ways to win. Pays are awarded for three to six matching symbols landing on adjacent reels from left to right only. Available on desktop, tablet or mobile, you can bet from 0.10 to 50 credits per spin. The game has high volatility with a default RTP of 96.09%. Lower versions might be offered.
A dark forest on a full moon night opens up when you load the game. A campfire started by the hiker sparsely illuminates the scenery. During the free spins, the sky is clearing to show a star-studded sky at night with elaborate animations for the expanded wilds. A suspenseful soundtrack with cries of wild animals completes the game design.
The pay symbols start at the low end with wooden card royals from 10 through to A, awarding across the board 1x your bet for a single six of a kind. They are followed by owls, roe, wild boars, bears and wolves. Hit six across the reels to win 1.8x to 10x your stake. A howling wolf with the full moon in the background is the wild, appearing on reels two to five only and performing the usual substitution duties. A hiker’s tent marked with Free Spins acts as the scatter.
Wild Hike Slot Features
Admittedly, not every slot release can be a blockbuster a la Money Train 3 thus most developers use the time to add more mundane games to casino lobbies. They might not get the same attention but can provide entertaining sessions and like on Wild Hike mega wins of up to 20,000 times your bet. Let’s see if the features included in the gameplay will make for an interesting trek through the dark forest.
Core to it all is the Wild Respins feature. Land any wild on reels three and/or four and they will expand to cover the entire reel before turning into sticky wilds. Further, the game will trigger unlimited respins as long as a win is scored. The wild multiplier starts at x1 and increases by x1 after every respin, no limits. Having expanded wilds on both reels will see the factors being multiplied by each other.
Worth noting is that wilds on reels two, five and six are not expanding. However, landing scatters remain sticky until the feature ends and will trigger the Free Spins if at least three are in view.
Hitting three or four scatters anywhere on the reels will award 7 and 10 Free Spins respectively. Any scatter landing during the feature will retrigger + 1 spin. Landing expanding wild on reels three and/or four will trigger again the Wild Respins with the difference that any achieved multipliers will stick until the feature is reactivated again. They will only reset to x1 once the Free Spins end or you hit the max win at 20,000 times your bet.
Relax Gaming included two Bonus Buy options for unrestricted jurisdictions. You can pick from 75x your bet for a standard Free Spins round or splash out 150x your bet of the Wild Free Spins which guarantees at least once double expanded wilds on reels three and four. The number of Free Spins for both is either 7 or 10. The default RTP is slightly higher at 96.51% and 96.54% respectively.
Final Verdict
As already mentioned, Wild Hike feels more like a filler slot than a blockbuster. While it incorporates the Expanded Wild mechanic from Iron Bank, it lacks that cracking suspense and the multitude of bonus features. Instead, it relies on the sole mechanic to deliver the big wins which will elude most players. On the other hand, it can trigger in the base game too on this occasion, providing the opportunity to score significant hits at any time.