Hotline (NetEnt): Introduction

It’s pretty clear what inspired this title. Yes, you got it – Miami Vice! The slot is presented almost like a videogame, complete with a stylish intro and in-game cutscenes. NetEnt have definately succeeded in delivering a sense of speed, action, and pure 80’s nostalgia.

On the surface, it seems like a classic format with 5 reels, 3 rows, and 30 paylines. Still, NetEnt are experimenting here by adding a new option called Bonus Bet.

The Hotline mechanics are straightforward: you pick a row – a Hotline – and when Wilds land on that row, they expand to fill the whole reel and stay in place during Re-Spins. In Free Spins, those expanded Wilds remain for the entire Free Spins, which ramps up the excitement.

By placing an extra wager, players can enable the Hotline Bonus Bet feature and select additional Hotlines, boosting the chances of landing Expanding Wilds and triggering Re-Spins on two rows, or up to three rows for the strongest opportunity to cover the reels with Wilds.

Hotline (NetEnt): Features

The Hotline Bonus Bet is an option that raises your chances of hitting Expanding Wilds and Re-Spins by increasing the stake. Each row counts as a Hotline, and players can switch each Hotline on or off as they prefer. One Hotline is always active. With one Hotline active, the game runs on Base Bet (15 coins per bet level). With two Hotlines active, it switches to Double Bet (30 coins per bet level), and with three Hotlines active, it becomes Triple Bet (45 coins per bet level). The more Hotlines you activate, the better the odds of getting Expanding Wilds and the chance to trigger Re-Spins.

Wild symbols may land anywhere on the reels in the base game, Re-Spins, and Free Spins, and they replace all symbols except Scatter symbols. When a Wild lands on an activated Hotline, it expands to cover the full reel. Wild and Expanding Wild substitutions award the highest possible winning combination on a bet line, as shown in the Paytable.

In the base game and during Re-Spins, if a Wild lands on an activated Hotline, it expands to fill the reel and grants a Re-Spin after all wins have been calculated.
The Expanding Wild stays on the reels until the ReSpins finish. Re-Spins stop when no new Wild symbols land on an activated Hotline.

Landing 3 Scatter symbols anywhere on reels 1, 3, and 5 in the main game triggers 7 Free Spins. During Free Spins, if a Wild lands on an activated Hotline, it expands to cover the entire reel and remains there until the Free Spins end. Extra Free Spins cannot be awarded during Free Spins. Free Spins cannot be triggered during the Re-Spins.

Hotline (NetEnt): Verdict

Hotline is unquestionably a polished production. NetEnt clearly have huge resources behind their releases, and their slots are increasingly styled like video games. But strong visuals alone aren’t enough if the game lacks real potential and truly compelling mechanics—and it’s debatable whether this one delivers that.

The maximum win on a single spin seems to be just 400x with a full screen of expanded wilds. That said, because they can stick in the bonus, it could theoretically reach 2,800x, though that would mean landing all wilds on the very first spin.

In testing, it didn’t take long to trigger the first bonus, which payed roughly 50x. After that, results dropped off quickly. The Re-Spin feature in both the base game and the bonus is fairly entertaining and is the main element that keeps things engaging, but the symbols pay low and there isn’t much sense of big upside to keep excitement high.

The max win cap on this slot is €60 000, or €2000 on a single bet line (30 bet lines). The RTP also changes based on how many Hotlines are active: 1 Hotline: 96.13%, 2 Hotlines: 96.70%, and 3 Hotlines: 97.04%

Don’t Miss

If you like the Hotline slot from NetEnt, make sure you also try the follow-up Hotline 2.