Hypno-Hippo Slot Review

Gamblers with a little experience know that slot game developers can be inspired by virtually anything when it comes to design and gameplay. Take Hypno Hippo for instance, a Novomatic video slot game that will take you on a wild African safari with free spins and big wins at stake. A hippo with hypnotic powers wasn’t especially high on our list of guesses for a new slot game…

That being said, Hypno Hippo behaves like a classic Novomatic slot. With clear rules and a relatively high variance, this game can prove a little challenging at times. Fortunately for the players, the Novomatic developers make sure to add free spins and plenty of special scatter symbols on the reels as well. Let’s see how this all translates in our full review of Hypno Hippo.

Not Your Average Safari

Hypno Hippo is based on a cartoon design, with bright colours and fun characters on and around the reels. The action is taking place in a pond somewhere deep in the African savanna. All the animals come here to relax, clean up and drink some fresh water, but the hippo is clearly the only one in his natural environment around here.

The reels and blue command bar take up most of the screen space in Hypno Hippo, with a band at the top showing the pond with a few reeds poking out of the surface. Visually speaking, Hypno Hippo is not particularly impressive. That being said, we still enjoyed the original behind the game.

First Steps into the Wild

As far as the gameplay goes, Hypno Hippo is making things easy for the players right away. You can play on 10 or 25 paylines, with 5 spinning reels and a betting range going from 0.50 to 100.00 every time you spin the reels. The few command buttons under the reels are all you need to adjust your bet settings freely, and play the optional double-up mini game after each win.

Because of its high volatility, you will need some luck and patience to start scoring cash prizes in Hypno Hippo. The paytable contains the usual card icons, of course, plus reed, hyenas, monkeys and elephants, with a top prize of x200 available if you are lucky. All of these animals visit the pond quite often, but the most interesting Hypno Hippo dwellers are yet to show up.

Some Welcome Help

Surprisingly enough, the chicken symbol plays the part of the scatter in Hypno Hippo. Wherever chickens land, they can create winning combination worth a maximum of 50 times your total bet. This simple and classic feature is actually able to award some very impressive cash prizes, so don’t let those chickens out of your sight.

The hypnotic whirl has two different functions in Hypno Hippo. First of all, it acts as a wild symbol to replace the basic icons on the reels and increase your chances to unlock different cash prizes. Moreover, finding 3 wilds at the same time awards 8 free spins, which you can trigger again once. The hyenas, monkeys and elephants will be affected by the hippo’s hypnotic powers and turn into scatters during the free games. As a result, big wins are almost guaranteed once you are in free spin mode.

Classic Novomatic Structure

The basic rules of Hypno Hippo are very classic, especially when you look at the rest of the Novomatic portfolio. With its high volatility, Hypno Hippo is indeed quite close to other slots such as Book Of Ra, just to name one. So rest assured that the Novomatic developers have you covered if you are looking for other similar options.

For a more classic African adventure, check out Big 5 Safari from Nektan. With beautiful graphics and some majestuous wild beasts, this slot game is the perfect choice for the hunter that sleeps in any player. The variance is just as high as in Hypno Hippo, with a few extra free spins available as well.

Not Revolutionary, Yet Quite Entertaining

Hypno Hippo blends a classic gameplay with a rather original theme, and we found the result very endearing. If you play your cards right, the bonus features will open the way to some very interesting cash prizes very early into the game. This alone is a great reason to give Hypno Hippo a try.

If you don’t mind the cartoonish universe of the game, Novomatic’s Hypno Hippo is clearly worth checking out. We would have loved to find a progressive jackpot here as well, but even in its current configuration Hypno Hippo can prove addictive quite fast.