Greedy Fortune Pig

Greedy Fortune Pig from Pragmatic Play presents a familiar yet intriguing foray into Asian-inspired slot design, moving beyond simple thematic tropes. Instead of just relying on well-trodden visuals, the game builds its core experience around the interplay of expanding wilds, multipliers, and respins, providing dynamic gameplay that will engage experienced players. The visual design adheres to standard Chinese aesthetics with golden hues and traditional symbols, but the game distinguishes itself through its robust mechanic.

Core Game Mechanics and Symbol Interplay

The slot operates on a 5×3 reel grid with 10 fixed paylines. Symbols are quite typical for the theme: lower-value card ranks alongside scrolls, gold coins, golden frogs, and, of course, the golden pot. The key symbols, however, are the Wild pigs and the Money symbol. The Wild pig symbol is critical, appearing on all reels, and acts as a substitute for other symbols (except the Bonus and Money symbols) to complete winning combinations. The Money symbol, a unique element, holds a random value from a pre-defined set, ranging from 1x to 100x total bet. A crucial part of the game’s dynamic is when a Wild symbol appears, triggering a respin where it expands to fill the entire reel and moves one position to the left, awarding respins and escalating the multiplier, after every respin. With multiple wild pigs on screen, the game becomes increasingly dynamic and unpredictable.

When Money symbols appear simultaneously with at least one Wild symbol, the values of all Money symbols are collected and paid, which can result in a massive payout, especially with an already active multiplier. This mechanic encourages a particular type of gameplay, where the player tries to land multiple Money symbols, alongside Wild pigs, to unlock the game’s full potential. It is important to note that only the highest win on a payline is awarded, however, wins on multiple paylines are added together.

Bonus Features and Their Impact on Gameplay

The game’s bonus mechanics are centered around two distinct features: Free Spins and the Ante Bet option. Landing three Bonus symbols on reels 2, 3, and 4 triggers the Free Spins round. A random number of free spins, either 5, 6, 7 or 8, is awarded. During Free Spins, the Wild symbols work in a modified manner: when the Wild symbol appears on the reel it expands and moves towards the left side of the screen with respins triggered after every movement. Also, the multiplier begins at 1x, and increases by 1x every time the Wild symbol moves during the respins, lasting for the whole free spins round. This feature offers a great change of pace compared to the base game, as the constant presence of expanding wilds with escalating multipliers can lead to significant wins. This feature cannot be retriggered, adding some extra tension to the round.

The game also offers an Ante Bet option which can be activated to change the dynamics of the main game. This option increases the bet by 50%, and with it, the chance to trigger the Free Spins feature is doubled and more Bonus symbols are present on the reels. It’s a strategic choice for players who are willing to risk more for potentially higher rewards, and while it increases the likelihood of triggering the Free Spins, it also disables the Buy Free Spins feature. If you are not sure about the functionality of the Ante bet or free spin bonus features, you can start the demo version of the slot and open the built-in help by pressing the “i” button.

The Buy Free Spins option is a direct route into the bonus round, allowing players to purchase it for 100x their current total bet. While costly, it gives players the chance to quickly access the game’s most volatile and rewarding feature. However, if the maximum win of 8,888x the bet is achieved at any point of the game, the round ends immediately, the win is awarded and all remaining features are forfeited. This means that the maximum payout is not limited in the Free Spins round.

Volatility, Payouts and Max Win

Greedy Fortune Pig is a high volatility slot, which means that wins may be less frequent, but the potential for a large payout in a short period is higher. The slot has a maximum win of 8,888x the bet, a number considered lucky in Chinese culture. While the slot does offer a theoretical RTP of 96.50%, the provider also offers lower settings of 95.50% and 94.50%, therefore, the RTP is variable and depends on the operator. However, the game, even with high volatility, has enough interesting mechanics to keep players engaged.