Chicken Chase: Slot Overview

Most people know the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover,” and it applies just as well to online slots. How often have we started reviewing a cute-looking game only to get absolutely punished by it? Studios like Hacksaw Gaming or Peter & Sons (amongst others) are experts at wrapping brutal gameplay in a sweet, innocent package. With that in mind, Chicken Chase from Pragmatic Play feels like a bit of an outlier. It begins gentle and somehow gets even gentler as you go. Time to get ready for the chase.

One look at the animals on Chicken Chase’s 5×3 reel set basically tells the whole story. The idea is simple: hungry wolves are after the farmer’s birds. The backdrop is a traditional slot-style farm scene—red barn, hay bales, windmills, and a sunset behind big mountain peaks. It’s all very picturesque, and the cartoon critters paired with the oompah/saloon-style music are clearly designed to keep players comfortable.

Usually we’d warn you not to get too comfy because things are about to ramp up—but honestly, Chicken Chase isn’t built like that. The max win is eye-catching (more on that later), yet the engine behind it is a low volatile model, which Pragmatic Play rates at 2 out of 5 lightning bolts. Operators can choose from four RTP configurations, starting at 96.48% and dropping as low as 94.55%. Whether you see it as chasing chickens or escaping the big bad wolf, it runs on any device, and bets can be set from 10 p/c to $/€100.

The grid uses 10 fixed paylines for creating winning combinations of three or more matching symbols. At the bottom of the paytable are Bars, strawberries, broccoli, aubergines, and peppers, which return 5-10 times the stake for five of a kind. Above them sit chickens, turkeys, and roosters as the three premium symbols, paying 30-80x the bet for five of a kind. Higher still is the blue wolf wild, which pays 200x for five on a payline, and wilds can land on any reel to substitute for regular paying symbols.

Chicken Chase: Slot Features

On the feature front, Chicken Chase offers a fairly unusual spin and hold mechanic that triggers very frequently, along with a fast pick ’n click bonus.

Spin and Hold

This feature works a little differently than you might expect. If you spin and do not land a five of a kind win, you receive a respin. The game awards the payout after the respin, or immediately if a 5 of a kind win lands on the first spin. In the gap between the initial spin and the respin, you get two options. First, you can select which reels you would like to hold for the respin. Alternatively, you can let the game randomly pick the held reels. Either way, the respin is free, and you’re able to deselect any reels the game locks in for you.

Bonus Feature

Hit 3 or more golden egg bonus symbols to activate the bonus feature. It’s very straightforward: four chickens show up, and players pick one to receive an instant prize. Possible prizes are:

• 2x, 4x, 12x, or 50x the bet if the feature was triggered with 3 bonus symbols.
• 4x, 8x, 24x, 100x the bet if the feature was triggered with 4 bonus symbols.
• 6x, 12x, 36x, 150x the bet if the feature was triggered with 5 bonus symbols.

Chicken Chase: Slot Verdict

That’s the whole package. Chicken Chase stays light, easygoing, and uncomplicated from start to finish. It doesn’t ask for much emotional investment, which can be perfect if you want a low-effort session. The downside is that calling Chicken Chase’s returns “on the low side” is putting it mildly. This one is aimed at players who enjoy the rhythm of a low volatile slot—lots of wins, but rarely anything impressive.

Still, it’s easy to understand why some players might like what Chicken Chase brings. In a sense, you often get two spins for the price of one, which could appeal to anyone trying to stretch their playtime. Choosing which reels to hold can be entertaining, and you’re not paying extra for it like you do with features such as HyperSpins from Triple Edge/Microgaming, where repeated use can become expensive. Here, it costs nothing. The hold mechanic isn’t as deep or as engaging, but the price is hard to argue with. Learning the win lines could help when deciding what to hold—luckily, there are only 10 to remember.

That said, in life you often get what you pay for, and in terms of upside, Chicken Chase is about as thin as it comes. For one thing, the Bonus Round tops out at 150x, and that’s only if you’re fortunate enough to trigger it with five bonus symbols. On top of that, if Chicken Chase lands 210x the bet in a single round, that’s it—instant stop, game over. We’re guessing the max win frequency is relatively high to balance this out, but Pragmatic Play hasn’t provided the official figure for us to confirm.

We have a feeling there won’t be many degens queuing up to take on Chicken Chase any time soon. To be fair, it doesn’t pretend to be a high-adrenaline, big-win slot the way some lightweight games try to. It’s simple, relaxed, and clearly aimed at a specific audience that wants a cute, easygoing style of slot.