Hot Cross Bunnies

With a title like this, Realistic Games could have gone either way with the visuals. So I was happy to see that it really does feature overheated, grumpy bunnies stuck on a desert island! It’s not clear how they got there, but they do add an element of fun to the reels. 

In the base game, this 3x3 slot offers extreme old-school slot action, with only one payline to land combinations of matching fruit machine symbols across. These are cherries, worth 2 x the bet for three, the only winning combo possible,  oranges worth 3x, grapes worth x5, watermelons worth 10x, and finally bells, worth 30x the bet. The betting range itself is from 0.05 to 100.00.

This all might seem pretty basic, and it is. But that doesn't mean there's no reason to play this slot except nostalgia for old land-based mechanical one armed-bandits. There are a couple of twists to the gameplay that will keep you on your toes, and can lead to some big potential rewards. 

There’s no Wild in the game, although with only one payline to land regular wins on, this would actually be a welcome addition. 

But there is a Scatter, an angry pink bunny glowering from the reels. This will trigger the bonus round when three are in view anywhere on the grid.

The first extra feature on Hot Cross Bunnies is a base game bonus that kicks in randomly after any win. The players will have three seconds to select a reel to nudge to try and create a new winning combination. 

Sometimes, more than one nudge is awarded, up to a max of nine, and the game can also decide to improve a win if the player could have done better. A Super Spin with a guaranteed win can also trigger after a miss on the nudges. It’s a good feature that adds a sudden jolt of excitement to the base game while the player waits for the Bunny Money feature to trigger.

This happens when three of the bunny Scatter land on the reels. The grid is reduced to 3x1 set up, and below it, there are metres for three randomly chosen symbols, with three positions in each. Every time one of these symbols lands on the reels, a position in the metre lights up, and when all three are lit, the payout for that symbol is awarded, and another symbol in the metre replaces it. 

Hot Cross Bunnies is an interesting game, with its combination of old time gameplay, including the good old nudge feature from land-based machines, in the base game and the original bonus round. And I love the bunnies. But these bad-tempered rabbits might decide not to show up for a while, so always set a loss limit before playing. And if you enjoy this, there are plenty more games to enjoy at Gala Bingo like Book of Charms, Jammin' Jars 2 and Secret Garden. Good Luck.