Spicy Meatballs

Join Big Time Gaming on a trip to a New York City kitchen, where the food is delicious and the wins are plentiful, for a combination of Spicy Meatballs. Taking the token phrase from our own Hideous, Big Time Gaming are providing us a new Megaways release, where wins of up to 55,000x are available. The meatballs, used as multiplying wilds, are naturally the star of the show, which will be sad news for Hideous, although he’s second in the queue with his American-Italian, questionably accented, cheeky catchphrases ringing throughout. RTP is solid at 96.57% in this high volatility release from BTG.

spicy Meatballs Base Game

Visually, Spicy Meatballs takes place in a brassy kitchen, with four flaming pots atop the reels, providing the multiplying wild feature that makes up the majority of excitement within this release. Additional pans, spices, vegetables, and jars of tomato sauce sit behind the reels, ready to be kicked into action the next time a customer requests a batch of those world famous meatballs (IKEA who?). For now though, we just focus on what’s on the reels: more than enough to provide huge hits, without the additional help behind the scenes.

On the audio side of things, it’s about as stereotypically Italian as you can get, without actually playing the national anthem in the background. Barely important, though, because it won’t be long before you’re distracted from standard audios by not only the wins available, but the cries of Hideous – “It’s-a Spicyyyy Meat-a-baaalll-a!” will greet you anytime a meatball rears its spicy head, alongside “Caio Bella” and “Magnifico!” Immortalised forever in slot form, that’s something…

spicy Meatballs Base Game Win

Spicy Meatballs Base Features

Taking place across 6 reels, between 2 and 7 symbols can land on each, for a potential of 117,649 ways to win. During each spin, reactions are available, wherein all symbols involved in a win are removed from the reels, allowing for new symbols to drop down in their place, to facilitate new wins.

Speaking of symbols, we’re going all out cookery on this side of things, although I’m fairly certain if we made meatballs with some of the ingredients available on the reels they wouldn’t be the tastiest. 9, 10, J, Q, K and A make up the lower end of the payable, where wins between 0.7 and 0.9x bet are available for 6 of a kind. On the premium end, Big Time Gaming continue to adapt their green, blue, red, purple theme, which is perhaps why we’ve ended up with an Eggplant as the highest paying symbol, rewarding players with 10x bet, again for 6 of a kind. Coming in just lower, we have green peppers, blue chillies, and red tomatoes – crucial in a good meatball sauce, paying between 1 and 3x bet for 6 of a kind.

spicy Meatballs Pay Table

A rainbow wild chef’s hat is available across reels 2-5, substituting for all symbols except Meatball Wilds. There is no scatter symbol in play within Spicy Meatballs, instead relying on 5 consecutive reactions to trigger free spins, which is helped along the way by meatballs available in the pots atop the reels, ready to spring into action once cooked. Big Time Gaming have removed the top reel that we often become used to, instead putting all the focus on this feature.

In any spin, up to 2 meatballs can be added on reels 2-5. Once a meatball is added to the reels, it drops down to the next available space after a reaction has happened, and continues to drop down for each reaction thereafter. Meatballs do not always drop down just one space, so wins involving stacked symbols may lead to meatballs falling off earlier than expected. Meatballs remain on the reel until they reach the bottom and drop off, or until no more wins occur in that reaction. Meatballs begin with the multiplier indicated on the pot (always x1 during the base game), and this multiplier increases by 1 each time they drop down. It is possible for meatballs to be added to the reels between reactions, rather than at the start of the spin. A meatball adding to the reel increases the ways on that respective reel, as it is an extra symbol.

meatballs Work Alongside Reactions to Help Trigger Free Spins

Spicy Meatballs Bonus

Whether meatballs help or not, 5 consecutive reactions in the base game triggers 8 free spins, and each additional reaction adds an extra +1 spin. Free Spins guarantee at least one wild meatball will come into play on every spin, and multipliers do not reset between spins, giving the potential for meatball multipliers to climb upwards of x15. Any multipliers available on the pots in the base game upon triggering free spins also carry over to the feature.

Reactions continue as normal during free spins, and landing 5 consecutive reactions here will retrigger the feature, with 4 extra free spins awarded, + 1 for every additional reaction. Free spins aren’t landing every few spins for fun in this release. We come for the volatility, and stay for the potential – over 55,000x, that is.

multipliers Carry Over Into Free Spins

First Impression

If I could, I’d rate this release 10/10 based on the Norwich-Italian accent alone, but there’s much more in force here than some playful catchphrases. Meatball wilds go a long way, not only towards helping to trigger free spins, but to keep the base game exciting. So few Megaways releases from any provider offer any kind of multiplier within the base game, so the addition of multipliers as meatball wilds drop down continues to boost the base game. With up to 117,649 ways available, and the potential for 2 meatballs in play, alongside regular wilds, it’s easy to see how Spicy Meatballs can produce some meaty wins.

Moving into free spins, the potential we can already see within the base game is elevated. Multiplying wilds are guaranteed on every spin, and multipliers continue to grow, not resetting until the end of the free spins feature, providing an enormous serving of excitement, with wins available in excess of 55,000x bet. Pair this with a solid RTP of 96.57%, up to 117,649 ways to win, and stakes between 0.10 and 20 available to cater to all players, and Spicy Meatballs has all of the ingredients necessary to be… Well, spicy.

*The screenshots taken of games reviewed on this site are taken from Demo Play, as reviews are often written before games are released for real play.