HipHopPop: Slot Overview

As wikiHow succinctly puts it, 'a rap battle is a verbal tussle, a contest of force where MCs flex their rap muscle, and if you wanna hustle to the top of the battle rap bustle – get ready to throw down in a rap scuffle.' Made famous, in part, by B-Rabbit (Eminem) in the film 8 Mile, rap battles are where contestants face off using words instead of fists or bullets to defeat their adversary and win glory. Rap battles, or just rap music in general, has been used to bring life and colour to AvatarUX's online slot HipHopPop - a PopWins-powered game, slinging features such as free spins with wilds or Synced Reels, or both.

It's to the streets of a neon-lit city where HipHopPop's rap battling takes place. One of those Tokyo Drift, Fast and Furious sort of spots full of fast cars, graffiti, hands waving in the air like they just don't care, that sort of thing. It's an environment you sort of blend into or feel like you're sticking out like a sore thumb. If the latter, then it's all good; HipHopPop provides a safe space to… get jiggy? Anyway, before moving on, a quick mention about the music. The soundtrack fits the scene in a chilled, understated way and all, but being a hip-hop slot, we were kind of expecting music that tried harder to get all up in our face.

In the middle sits the game grid, made up of 5-reels and 3-rows at its starting size, with 486 ways to win. Winning symbols pay both left to right from the first reel as well as right to left from the right reel. When a combo hits, the symbols that formed it are popped off the reels by the PopWins mechanic and replaced with two new ones – increasing reel height and ways to win. In the base game, the grid can reach 6 rows high or 9 rows high in free spins. HipHopPop bounces with a super high volatile math model with two RTP models – 96.05% and 94%. It's playable on any device and takes bets of 20 p/c to $/€40 per spin.

When it comes to pay symbols, HipHopPop groups its 14 regular tiles into low pay 9-A royals, high pay nitrous oxide canisters, sneakers, stereos, and four character symbols, as well as one dollar sign super high symbol. Payouts range from 1.2x-1.6x for five lows, 2.5x-8x for five high pays or 15x the bet for five super high dollar signs. Five-of-a-kind wins pay just one way, though, which is important to note. The only other symbol in the game is the skull wild which is able to substitute for all other symbols. However, only in free spins will this occur since the wild does not land in the base game.

HipHopPop PopWins: Slot Features

HipHopPop's base game has nothing extra going on other than the PopWins mechanic we need to cover. However, if all five reels manage to be expanded to 6 positions high, the free spins bonus round is triggered. In free spins, the reels start at 6 rows in height and can be expanded to 9 positions high. When the grid resets its size between free spins, the reels drop to the lowest reel height achieved.

Gamble Wheel

Before free spins begin, players are able to gamble to win more free spins and unlock the Bonus Pick or collect. To begin with, 6 to 8 free spins are awarded with random Guaranteed Wilds or random Synced Reels. Losing the gamble at any time returns you to the base game:

• Winning the first gamble awards up to 9 free spins with random Guaranteed Wilds, or random Synced Reels, or both.
• Winning the second gamble lets you pick up to 10 free spins with Synced Reels on every spin or Guaranteed Wilds on every spin.
• The wheel may also land on a Golden Field, awarding up to 12 free spins on the first gamble and up to 13 on the second gamble.

When Synced Reels are active, 2 adjacent reels synchronise and land identical symbols. Free spins also come with a win multiplier that starts at x2. Each win increases the multiplier by +1 after pays are awarded. If all reels reach 9 positions high, the multiplier increases by +4, and an extra +4 for each win in that pop-round. Fully unlocking all reels also awards +2 additional free spins.

Buy Bonus

Click the bonus buy button to buy one of these bonus round options: 75x the bet buys a regular entry to free spins, 300x the bet buys up to 10 free spins with Synced Reels, 300x the bet also buys up to 10 free spins with Guaranteed Wilds, while 1,000x the bet buys up to 12 free spins with Synched Reels and Guaranteed Wilds.

HipHopPop PopWins: Slot Verdict

If HipHopPop entered an actual rap battle, there are good odds it would work its way to one of the final stages, but unclear whether it would actually take out the title. From a thematic perspective, HipHopPop doesn't have quite the same verve of Nolimit City's hip-hop extravaganza East Coast vs West Coast. Where NLC's creation threw open its arms to let anyone join in the rap fiesta with its collage of excellent visuals and outstanding soundtrack, HipHopPop felt like a more exclusive shindig. As if the party was attended by a more self-conscious crowd rather than just a bunch of beats fans showing up to enjoy some choons. It does have a pretty sweet look, though, and the animated bits are about as slinky as you could ask for.

A similar thing is happening with HipHopPop's gameplay, which in some ways has a harder edge than they've had recently from AvatarUX. One concern is that to get the most out of the free spins bonus round; users might have to put it on the line via the gamble wheel or shell out extra when buying a bonus. There is no other way to level up. No super bonus symbol upgrading the free spins round or landing extra scatters on a triggering base game spin to activate a higher level. Either you take what you get, which could still turn out alright, or risk it on the wheel for the chance to beef up the bonus. What might make choosing to gamble or not a tougher choice is knowing that HipHopPop comes with a max win figure of 50,000x the bet. AvatarUX has dubbed this a super high volatile game after all.

To wrap up, HipHopPop felt like one of those earlier PopWins games which came with massive max win numbers and what could be a hella brutal gamble feature. In short, HipHopPop isn't messing around. Players still have the chance to be entertained when playing purely organically, without risking anything on a gamble wheel or dishing out for a bonus buy, but the game also lays out a number of opportunities to take a punt to see how far things can be pushed, and, if it all goes to plan, dish out ample rewards for the fortunate.