Merry Hog Slot

Merry Hog Slot Review

Merry Hog slot from Belatra Games can offer players a high-quality gameplay and an engaging bonus feature. The developers have also added several extra functions that can lead to big wins. This attracts lots of players who gladly spend a lot of time spinning the reels of this slot.

Here is a review of the Merry Hog slot, where we describe its features in detail.

Backstory

Mr. Hog was one of the most influential rich people in town. This pig not only ran the local bank but also conducted dozens of criminal schemes behind the police’s back. Inspector Barks worked tirelessly to put Hog behind bars. However, the businessman had long since bought off everyone around him, so any evidence disappeared before the inspector managed to reach it.

Right before Christmas, an informant came into the police station. He told Barks that Hog had ordered a shipment of illegal acorns. They would be brought in by trucks any day now. The banker disguised the cargo as regular construction materials to avoid paying taxes.

Inspector Barks decided to do everything in his power to catch Hog red-handed. He is currently devising a plan to intercept the trucks and keep them under surveillance. But he lacks the staff to keep up with everything. You can join the inspector and take part in apprehending the pig. In return, he will reward you with a substantial win.

Design

The slot machine features high-quality two-dimensional graphics. The developers placed an image of a bunch of gold coins in the background, lying in the middle of a pile of snow. Behind these golden coins, you can also spot open safes and other objects. To keep the background from being boring and static, the developers added an animation of a snowfall.

The playing field is located in the centre of the screen, within a frame of blue-and-white poles that are covered with snow. Various decorations in the form of fir branches with Christmas ornaments are placed at the corners of the frame.

Every symbol is intricately detailed. Moreover, when animal symbols land on the screen, they move and play different animations. When a winning combination is formed, they light up and grow in size, drawing the player’s attention. Throughout the entire gameplay, cheerful Christmas music plays, with pig squeals mixed in.

As in most Belatra Games slots, the control panel is located at the bottom. The buttons allow players to spin the reels, adjust the bet, activate autoplay, and enable turbo mode. On the left side, in the bottom corner, there is a button that allows for purchasing free spins. The information panels display the remaining balance, the current stake, and the latest win.

Symbols and Payouts

Merry Hog features the following symbols:

1. Candy cane, round cookie, diamond, and Christmas-tree cookie — these four symbols are the lowest-paying in the slot. Three of them award x0.1, four award x0.5, and five award x2.5.
2. Bells — three award x0.4, four award x2, five award x5.
3. Cat in a red hat — three symbols pay x0.5, four pay x2.5, five pay x7.5.
4. Pig in a mask — three pay x1, four pay x5, five pay x20.
5. Bulldog police officer — three symbols award x1.5, four award x7.5, five award x25.
6. Rich Hog — shown as a pig dressed as Santa Claus. It is the highest-paying symbol in the slot and also acts as the Wild. It substitutes for other symbols, and a combination of three pays x2.5, four pays x12.5, and five pays x50.
7. Magic Safe — depicted as a red box with a golden ribbon. It reveals random symbols and lands as a stack covering 4 cells.
8. Golden Hog— represented as a gold coin featuring the Rich Hog. It appears inside the Magic Safe and reveals various prizes.
9. Scatter — shown as a piggy bank . Symbols marked “Bonus” trigger the bonus game, while symbols with “+1” raise the Magic Safe stack by one position.
10. Coins — coins awarding specific prizes: x1, x2, x5, x10, x25, x50, x100, x500, x1000, x2500. They do not land on the reels and only appear inside the Golden Hog.
11. Multipliers — appear only in the bonus game. They increase the win by x1, x2, x3, or x5.

The help menu provides a clearer explanation of symbol values. To open it, click the button with three lines, then select the “i” icon from the menu that appears. This window contains brief information on all combinations, rules, and extra features. With the help of this overview, anyone can understand the mechanics of the Merry Hog slot.

Bonus Game

Before we take a look at the bonus game, let’s discuss the other additional features of the slot. During spins, Magic Safe symbols appear on the reels. They appear in stacks of four and can occupy either the entire reel or just the lower portion.

At the end of the spin, the safes open to reveal a specific symbol. This creates a chance to form a large combination if matching symbols are present in other positions. Additionally, before each spin, Magic Safes move down by one position until they eventually disappear from the game field.

Multiple stacks of safes can appear on the reels simultaneously. In addition to regular symbols, they can also reveal the Golden Hog symbol, which contains Coins with various winnings.

When at least one Magic Safe is on the reels, the “Police Control” feature can activate. During this feature, the reels with safes are frozen and do not move down for three spins.

The bonus game consists of free spins. It is triggered by three Scatter symbols. At the start, a separate meter is placed on the top row, which performs a spin. Multipliers and at least two Magic Safes can land on it. The landed multipliers are summed together and added to the initial win multiplier, which starts at x1. The safes, landing in specific positions, move down to fill the entire reel.

After this, the free spins begin, and after each spin, the win multiplier increases by one. If a Scatter with a +1 appears on the reels during free spins, the Magic Safe symbols move up by one position. The bonus continues until all safes have disappeared from the game field.

To avoid waiting for the bonus to trigger during regular spins, it can be activated manually. To do this, press the star button in the lower-left corner. The purchase costs x100 the bet.

Technical Specifications

Merry Hog has high volatility. This means combinations on the reels do not occur frequently, but when they do, the payouts can be quite large. Wins are determined across 20 paylines. To receive a payout, a player must line up at least three identical symbols on a payline, starting from the leftmost reel.

The RTP in Merry Hog is 96.08%, and the maximum win is x5000. The playing field consists of five reels, each containing four symbols. The developers implemented a wide betting range, with a minimum bet of 0.2 coins and a maximum of 50 coins.