Introducing Hot Ross
This slot, Hot Ross, is made by Hacksaw Gaming. It features Ro$$, a cat with one eye from imaginary RIP City, as its main figure. People who played the RIP City slot will find that the style of the city and Ro$$ are similar here. Compared to RIP City, this one improves wild mechanism and adds three sorts of bonus rounds.
The grid is 5x5, with 19 ways to pay that do not change. You get a win by matching at least three symbols left to right on the paylines. This is not new for a slot. The difference is how Ro$$ and Hot Ro$$ work: they are wilds that stretch downwards and can boost multipliers. You can win maximum 15,000 times your bet in any mode you play, even with bonus purchases.
RTP numbers start at 96.32% for the normal release, which is standard for this brand. But, you need to look at which RTP your casino carries as some versions slip down to 94.23%, 92.23%, or even 86.16%. A few places run on these lower setups. When I try Hot Ross with real cash, I will make note of which variant was active at the time.
Ro$$ Wild Mechanics - How the Expansion Works
The main gameplay is shaped by the Ro$$ and Hot Ro$$ wild symbols. They don't just work as wilds - they expand, and this is where the biggest multipliers are.
How Ro$$ Symbol Works: When it lands, Ro$$ expands from its place directly to the very bottom of its reel. It will only do so if the expansion means you get at least one win. If not, it just sits as a wild. Only a single Ro$$ or Hot Ro$$ can show on a reel at one moment.
How Hot Ro$$ Symbol Works: Hot Ro$$ acts differently - when you get one, it moves up to the top spot on the reel, then stretches down to fill that whole reel. When this happens, if regular Ro$$ symbols are on reels to the left or right, those become triggered too - making them expand from the top and take over their full reels with wilds.
About Wild Multipliers: Things get spicy in this step. Whenever a symbol expands right through an existing normal Wild during its movement, it collects a multiplier. That multiplier attaches to the giant wild formed and every win it forms gets the bump. If the wild goes through more than one Wild symbol, the multipliers are added.
Possible multiplier values:
Should two expanded wilds with their own multipliers work together on the same paying row, their numbers are summed up before you get your prize. So, having a 100x and a 200x on a win would create a 300x multiplier - applied additively, not multiplicatively.
Bonus Features
Landing FS scatters launches one of three bonus features, based on how many appear at the same time. Each version starts with 10 free spins. Getting two FS in bonus adds on 2 more spins and 3 FS scatters instead grants 4 extra spins.
The idea of activated reels means the Nine Lives bonus grows in power during play. At the start, you might get only one or two such reels. If you trigger several, by spin 8 or 9, maybe three or even four reels could be dropping Ro$$ or Hot Ro$$ wilds every spin. That's where real chance of big wins is.
One important rule: if you have four or more activated reels when Nine Lives is active, you cannot land more FS scatters, so it is not possible to retrigger any more spins past that.
Bonus Buy Options
There is also a buy feature called FeatureSpins™. Instead of just directly buying a bonus round, FeatureSpins™ changes each spin using a specific modifier, billed at a set multiple of your wager, as long as you keep the option enabled.
| Option | Cost | What You Get | RTP |
|---|---|---|---|
| BONUSHUNT FEATURESPINS™ | 3x bet/spin | 5× better chance to trigger a bonus | 96.22% |
| FEISTY FEATURESPINS™ | 60x bet/spin | Guarantees at least 3 Ro$$ symbols per spin (no FS scatters) | 96.28% |
| EPIC DROP™ FEATURESPINS™ | 1,000x bet/spin | Guarantees 5 Ro$$ + at least 3 Wilds per spin (no FS scatters) | 96.29% |
| Cat Calls (direct buy) | 100x bet | 10 free spins – Cat Calls bonus | 96.27% |
| Nine Lives (direct buy) | 200x bet | 10 free spins – Nine Lives bonus | 96.35% |
| Bigg Boss Ross (direct buy) | 1,000x bet | 10 free spins – Bigg Boss Ross bonus | 96.29% |
Whether or not you get the option to buy bonuses or use FeatureSpins™ depends on where you live and which casino you use. Not every site will let you use all functions.
RTP Breakdown
According to Hacksaw, RTP remains 96.32% for regular play. That is based on 10 billion simulated spins. Note that it is not a guarantee - the big volatility means swings can be very wide, especially for short sessions. If you want to see more, check data examples below after we test.
| Mode | RTP |
|---|---|
| Base Game | 96.32% |
| BONUSHUNT FEATURESPINS™ | 96.22% |
| FEISTY FEATURESPINS™ | 96.28% |
| EPIC DROP™ FEATURESPINS™ | 96.29% |
| Cat Calls bonus buy | 96.27% |
| Nine Lives bonus buy | 96.35% |
| Bigg Boss Ross bonus buy | 96.29% |
The range of RTP in this game is close together (from 96.22% to 96.35%), so none of the buy features are much worse than base spins. Oddly, Nine Lives at 96.35% is written as the most theoretical RTP if you buy straight in. But with high volatility, it isn't promised that you'll see more returns short-term - swings may still be large.
If you do not understand why the RTP on paper and actual winnings are sometimes very different, the RTP analysis guide gives more info about this.
Symbol Payouts
All values below are for a €1.00 bet per spin, as provided in the official paytable.
| Symbol | 3 of a kind | 4 of a kind | 5 of a kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low Pay | |||
| 10 | 0.20 | 1.00 | 5.00 |
| J | 0.20 | 1.00 | 5.00 |
| Q | 0.30 | 1.50 | 7.50 |
| K | 0.30 | 1.50 | 7.50 |
| A | 0.40 | 2.00 | 10.00 |
| High Pay | |||
| Banana | 1.00 | 5.00 | 15.00 |
| Fish Bones | 1.00 | 5.00 | 15.00 |
| Spray Can | 1.50 | 7.50 | 17.50 |
| Dice | 1.50 | 7.50 | 17.50 |
| 8-Ball | 2.00 | 10.00 | 20.00 |
| Special | |||
| Wild (W Bomb) | — | — | 25.00 |
The payouts for symbols in Hot Ross are not as high as with some volatile slots. It is done like this intentionally - most of the big wins are aimed to come from expanding wilds and their attached multipliers. For instance, a 5-of-a-kind 8-Ball symbol awards 20x, which is reasonable. However, when a Hot Ro$$ symbol spreads across two Wilds with their multipliers and makes 200x total on the same line, that is where main win potential is actually found.
What to Watch For When Testing
Before I will use actual funds on this game, I am watching few things particularly, and you should pay attention for them as well if you are either doing a bonus wagering or you just want to try it out.
- The RTP kind is important. Some versions have 94.23%, 92.23%, and even 86.16%. The casino where you are maybe is not running main 96.32% edition. Usually you cannot check it easily from inside the game; best is to check out the information area for the casino's game or maybe look at the paytable, if you can find it.
- Ro$$ symbol which does not expand. When a Ro$$ icon shows but does not make a win after it tries to expand, then it stays as a simple wild symbol. You see these types of non-expanding Ro$$ spins often and they just feel like dead spins on this high-volatility slot. You should expect to get lots inside normal play.
- Wild comes before the Ro$$ drops. Multipliers only start working when there was a Wild in place before Ro$$ grows through that spot. Regular Wilds showing up before the Ro$$ expansion are an important setup. It is good to notice how much this actually happens.
- Speed of Nine Lives reel activation. When Ro$$ or a Hot Ro$$ hits on a reel earlier in Nine Lives, you get more spins with the benefit of that reel being on. If it takes long to activate, you get not so many times for guaranteed symbols showing. The first 3 spins are really important.
- Bonus wagering suitability. If you are considering bonus wagering, this is risky because of high volatility and a pretty small 20.70% hit rate. The expanding part can help out, but sometimes it just goes for over 50 normal spins with almost nothing paid. For the bonuses, easy slots with not much volatility are more ideal - this is better just for fun, demo playing, or regular money sessions.
Related pages:
All Hacksaw Gaming slots in our database
Le Bandit RTP test results (Hacksaw Gaming)
Le Zeus RTP test results (Hacksaw Gaming)
How RTP affects welcome bonus wagering
Slot volatility explained
Responsible gambling
