Casino Bonuses
| Provider | Relax Gaming |
| Reels | 5 |
| Rows | 3 |
| Paylines | 30 |
| Bonus Rounds | 1 |
| Bet Range | 0.40 - 40 |
| Volatility | High |
| Max Win | 4,953x |
| Bonus Buy | Yes |
| RTP | 96.34% |
| Our Rating | 6.3 |
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Demo & Review
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Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Game Overview
I thought I had seen everything there is to see regarding online slots, but Hot Rise Games are here today to tell me that I was wrong! The developer has created a new online slot machine based on the timeless board game of chess; I have to give it to them; it’s certainly a unique idea! Their Checkmate Hot1 video slot takes its inspiration seriously, as it is set on a dramatic backdrop resembling what I’d imagine the Russian grand hall of chess to look like. The game has 30 fixed pay lines and a 96.14% RTP, which increases slightly to 96.34% if you only opt to play using the bonus buy feature. Finishing off the primary stats, we reach the maximum win, which is stated at 4,953x bet.
More than half a dozen information pages are stashed alongside the paytable, suggesting that Hot Rise has crammed plenty of features into their Checkmate Hot1 slot game. Wilds will boost winning combinations by 2x, there is a “mystery re-spin” consolation prize for hitting two scatter symbols, and the free spins feature has numerous unique touches I haven’t seen before in any other game.
It’s an intriguing mix of features and bonuses that I expect most slots players will enjoy – give our free demo slot of Checkmate Hot1 a spin for yourself and see if you agree!
Checkmate Hot1 Slot Theme, Stakes, Pays & Symbols
Chess, eh? It’s sometimes known as the sport of kings.. but then again, so is horse racing. And soccer. And American Football, but we’re getting away from the point here! The game of chess seems to pop back into the public consciousness once a decade or so; American Bobby Fischer played Boris Spassky in several widely televised “East vs West” games during the 1970s, for example, and Garry Kasparov’s legendary “Man vs Machine” matches against the IBM supercomputer “Deep Blue” caused a media sensation in the 1990s.
Apart from such rare events, however, Chess doesn’t get a great deal of attention outside of its core circle of dedicated players and supporters. That makes the game an unusual choice for converting into an online slot – who does Hot Rise Games hope that Checkmate Hot1 will appeal to? The developer has done their best to make sure they cast their net as widely as possible by making sure the game looks great and is fun to play… but have they done enough?
To answer the question, let’s start by examining the game’s paytable; note that Hot Rise have not programmed this part of the game to update as you change your current wager size, so I have converted the numbers shown into stake multiples manually. I hope the developer will add this tiny bit of extra code into their games next time, as it is far more player-friendly! The King is the highest-paying symbol with a return of 25x your stake for a full pay line of five-of-a-kind; I guess this is correct in Chess terms, although I think I would have made the King into a wild or other special symbol if it had been me designing this machine!
The Queen is next, of course, with a return of 10x for all five, followed by the Rook at 7.5x, the Bishop at 5x, and the Knight at 3.75x. Strangely, the Pawn has the same value as the Knight and pays 3.75x for five-of-a-kind; does Hot Rise Games know how to play this game?! Yeah, I’m probably overthinking this a little bit, right?! The developer has wisely chosen to use playing card suits for the low-paying symbols rather than the more commonly used values, which might have gotten confusing as we already have a King and Queen on the board.
Despite having 30 pay lines, Checkmate Hot1 online slot asks you to set your bet as a multiple of 40 coins. I’m not sure why this is, but I guess it doesn’t matter too much in these times where every game features completely fixed pay lines. The minimum bet is €0.40 per spin, while the maximum reaches €40.00 per spin. If you look to the bottom of the stake selection screen, you will see your “base bet”, which is the amount you need to divide the numbers shown on the paytable to find out how much you will win as a multiple of your bet.
Base Game & Modifiers
The base game uses a standard 5×3 playfield which is shown hovering in midair inside a church-like room full of beautifully decorated tables, chairs, and chess sets. There are 30 fixed pay lines, but the layout of some of these is quite unusual, and you may want to spend a moment or two examining the diagrams on the paytable before you begin to play. Wins are awarded for hitting three or more matching symbols on a pay line starting from the left-hand side of the reels.
The wild symbol acts as a 2x multiplier in Checkmate Hot1, so any winning combination that includes one or more wild symbols will be doubled.
Mystery Respin Feature
There isn’t much in the way of base game features in this game, but Hot Rise was at least kind enough to throw in this mystery consolation prize each time you miss a bonus round by catching two scatter symbols without the all-important third symbol.
The two reels containing bonus symbols will be locked in place, whilst the remaining three will re-spin. This not only gives you a second chance to hit a winning combination but also gives you another shot at hitting an additional scatter symbol and thus triggering the bonus round.
This feature’s “mystery” element refers to the fact that bonus symbols can randomly transform into wild symbols for some re-spins, known as a “wild gambit re-spin”.
Checkmate Hot1 Slot Free Spins Feature
As with so many slot machines, the free spins feature is where the most significant prizes can be found in the Checkmate Hot1 video slot. To trigger the bonus round, you must hit three or more bonus symbols during the base game or after a mystery re-spin.
You begin the free spins feature with seven spins, each of which is assigned to a different chess piece or, in the case of the last spin, the “Hot1”. Your triggering bonus symbols will be locked in place and transform into the first symbol – a pawn – at the beginning of the feature.
If a bonus symbol lands on any free spin, it will become sticky, lock in place, and trigger one additional free spin with the same chess piece assigned to all sticky symbols. If no bonus symbols land on the first spin, assigned to the pawn, the game will move on to the next piece – the Knight – and all sticky symbols will transform into that piece for the next spin.
The Hot1
Your final spin during the free spins feature is referred to as the “Hot 1”, and all sticky symbols will be transformed into wilds for this last shot at scoring a big win. If any bonus symbols land during this spin, they will become additional sticky wilds, and another spin will be played.
A full screen of wilds could theoretically be possible during this part of the game, which by estimation, could award a top prize of 1,500x your bet (50x 30 pay lines).
Bonus Buy Feature
Don’t fancy waiting around for the scatter symbols to drop? For 75x your current stake, you can skip the base game and go straight to the bonus round, provided it is permitted within your jurisdiction. Whilst 75x your bet seems like quite a bargain compared to the price of purchasing a bonus in many other online slots, the bonus round of Checkmate Hot1 isn’t quite as generous as I had hoped.
Regarding RTP, you are slightly better off taking this offer rather than playing the game normally. With that in mind, I guess it is a fair price, but my experience of trying the option was not overly positive as I only came out in profit twice out of roughly 15 attempts.
Checkmate Hot1 Slot Review Final Thoughts
I wasn’t sure what to make of Checkmate Hot1 when I first began playing, and now that I have finished, I still have mixed feelings about the game. I like the presentation, despite the unusual theme, and especially appreciate the calming piano soundtrack. Try out our demo above and see what you think of it.
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