Hooligan Hustle Slot Review

12/01/2022 | Categories: Play'n GO Slots | Published by: Joe | Last updated: 05/01/2024

We love Play’n Go. Yet, who doesn’t? It is one of the most sought-after brands concerning bespoke gaming solutions for the European market. Founded way back in Sweden in 1997, they are responsible for three hundred reel-spinning titles, including the super-popular Book of Dead. In December 2021, they released a batch of several high-quality slots, including Hooligan Hustle. It stormed online casinos everywhere on December 17th and shot up to the 78th position in the UK the following day. From then on, it has maintained in the top one hundred rankings. Below, we will analyze if we believe that this game will have any staying power whatsoever. Will it go by the wayside quickly or maintain as a relevant title for years to come?

Theme & Design

Most people believe that sports hooliganism is an invention of the mid-20th century. However, that is not accurate. In England, football-related violence can get traced back to the 14^th century. Naturally, at that time, football had not evolved in the form we know it as today. The first recorded case of English football hooliganism concerning the modern game happened in the 1880s. Yet, this phenomenon became widespread during the 1950s and exploded in Britain in the 1960s. Many films have attempted to capture the football hooligan lifestyle, but few games have dove into this world. Thus, we can say that Hooligan Hustle is a novel slot on that front.

The game utilizes a comic-book/anime aesthetic. It features visuals that were somewhat common for late-1990s Asian video arcade products. Sadly, we do not know the name of this visual style. We can tell you that it boasts lines that vary in thickness and multiple colors that are not too heavily saturated. Hooligan Hustle looks good to us. We liked the presentation here, and the characters look unique. The setting is a city street where two rival hooligan groups are about to settle a score. The game also features some rock/punk music, which has lyrics. That is also something you do not see every day in slot gameplay. It also has voice-over sound bites.

The button interface is the standard Play’n Go one. The bet-adjuster is in the middle of this configuration, and the spin buttons are to the right of it. A bar at the bottom of your screen displays your casino balance. There, you can also mute the game and tinker with its settings.

Specs & Gameplay

Hooligan Hustle is five-reel, three-row slot. It is a high variance one with a default RTP of 94.27%. Wager limits here go as low as $0.1 and as high as $100. The max exposure is x10,000 your stake, and this slot utilizes the ways-to-win format, boasting up to 248,832 ways to win.

The low-paying symbols of this spinner are a brick, a drink, a crowbar, a bat, and brass knuckles. For five-of-a-kind, they pay either x0.3 to 0.5 your wager. The high-paying tokens of this title are its four hooligans. They can yield prizes of x1.4 to x2 for five-of-a-kind.

A traffic cone is this slot’s Wild, and it replaces all other symbols except for the Scatter. Hitting five cones on a spin will generate a reward of x2 your bet. The Scatter is a Molotov cocktail, and getting five in view on a spin will earn you a win of x5. A mystery crate reveals matching symbols of any kind, except for Scatters. They are also available in the free spins round.

Bonus Features

Hooligan Hustle has a Rumble Row. That is an extra row on top of the reel grid with five positions. At any spin, these positions randomly activate, supplying either a reel of stacked Wilds, an x2 multiplier or two reels that synchronize and produce the same tokens on each one.

On any spin, the game can randomly select symbols to get split. It then divides every instance of the chosen token on the reel grid.

Landing three or more Scatters in the base game triggers the free spins round. When that happens, you can pick your mix of how many complimentary reel rotations you want to receive and the number of guaranteed Rumble Row modifiers. You can receive ten free spins and two modifiers, five rotations, plus three modifiers, or one complimentary reel rotation and four guaranteed reel modifiers. These combos bear the names Lairy, Riot, and Anarchy.

GOSU Verdict

Way above average is what we would call Hooligan Hustle. It has shades of Punk Rocker from Nolimit City, as it features the same theme and an extra row. It seems like everyone is looking to copy Nolimit these days. That said, Hooligan Hustle stands on its own feet. It is a quality slot that provides some dynamic gameplay. The max exposure here is terrific, and presentation-wise, this is one of our favorite slots in recent memory.