Hot Nudge is a gritty video slot released in July of 2018 by the Malta-based software provider Nolimit City. Leading us into a dark, industrial, post-apocalyptic theming, this title continues the trend of creating an interesting look for itself, with a little bit of polish through animations and symbols. The music is mostly ambient noise, which works great to reel you into the mystery of the whole thing, and you have several special features to keep things fresh and interesting.
Further adding to the awesomeness of the special features is the RTP, which is set at 96.29%, which is above the average for video slots. Available bonuses including nudging Wilds with multiplier increases, a free spins bonus and the three human icons nudging themselves up and down.
We really like that the reels are this giant, complicated looking machine, with various moving parts that all shift around as one every time you spin the playing field. The background image, however, is dull, being just a regular, gray wall. The symbols are actually card deck icons – spades, diamonds, hearts and clubs, done in this weird, metallic look. We also get to see the three human icons, which take up multiple spots horizontally – Jack of Punk, Queen of Steam, and King of Diesel – the post-apocalyptic version of card symbols, re-imagined to fit the setting.
Special symbols include Hot Wild, which is a female mechanic that covers four rows and replaces all symbols except for the Scatter, and hot Scatter, which is a flammable sign that has the same words written on top of it, and is used to trigger free spins.
All wins are awarded by collecting three or more identical symbols from left to right in adjacent reels, following one of the forty fixed paylines.
And since the paylines are fixed, gamblers cannot decide to turn some or all of them on or off at will. This means players can set their wagers between $0.20 up to $100 per spin, which is a great spread of bets, and also a nice gesture to casual gamblers, as they pay half of what they should for 40 paylines.
You also get access to the Autoplay function, which allows players to spin automatically for up to 100 spins, not having to press the spin button themselves. The feature can be ended early, and you can also set limits to ensure the game does not spend too much of your cash.
If you land the Jack of Punk, Queen of Steam and King of Diesel symbols fully visible on the first and second reel, you activate the Hot Symbol Nudge feature. If the triggering icon lands on the other three reels, it will automatically be nudged into position to fully cover the reel it landed on, increasing your chances of forming a winning combination.
Free spins are activated by collecting three Scatters during normal gameplay. When additional Scatters land during the bonus, they will nudge downwards. The amount it takes them to disappear is the amount of extra free spins they will award.
Finally, Hot Wild is a 4-row high Wild that can only appear on the second, third and fourth reel. The Wild will nudge its position to be fully visible if a win will occur as a result. For every step the Wild nudges, its multiplier will increase by 1, up to a maximum of 10x.
Hot Nudge is playable on mobile devices, as well as desktop.
Our only annoyance was the dull background image, everything else blew our expectations out of the water. If you need a new slot to play, you should definitely consider this one.