PopRocks Slot Review

The slot has 5 reels and 3 rows with 243 paylines that win both ways. Released in March 2020, this game can be played at online casinos such as Mr Green, Casumo or Rizk.

Theme and basic information

PopRocks looks a little strange at first and also, strangely, pale. That might have something to do with the awfully blurry background, mind you. When looking at this slot, it’s important to note that Avatar UX is based in Hongkong, and as an Asian slot developer actually designs Asian slots aimed at the European market. This was also the case with the first offering, Lilith’s Inferno.

The Asian elements in this game should therefore not surprise. They are most clearly visible in the reel symbols and the frame.

The scene is dark, however, and the transparent reels only let us guess at the castle in the background. The soundtrack is also somewhat Asian, but it invokes more drama than we normally get.

The low value playing card symbols are most Asian looking. They reach from 10 to A. The medium value symbols are gems in green, blue, purple and red. They’re worth between 2x and 4 our stake for 5 of a kind.

The high value symbols are dragons that clutch gems, they’re each worth 10x our stake for 5 on a payline. The highest value symbol only appears during one of the features. It’s a pink crystal worth 100x our stake for 5 of a kind.

Wilds are also part of the game, though you won’t find scatters here as there are no bonus games or free spins as such.

It’s also worth noting that this slot comes with 243 ways to win in the standard setup. However, wins pay both ways, which means we actually get 486 ways to win.

You can play this game from 0.10 to 30.00 per spin.

Cascades, expanding reels and multipliers

PopRocks is certainly unusual in its gameplay and even a little confusing at first. Once you get playing, it won’t be too bad, though.

The PopWins features, which is the first time it appears in a slot, is based on cascading wins. Those we are familiar with, but they work slightly different here. Instead of winning symbols just disappearing to make room for new symbols from above, they pop off the reels instead in this slot and are replaced by two more symbols.

When two new symbols come in for one that has vanished, room must be made and as such, we get expanding reels. Each row can expand up to 7 symbols. This will look strange as each reel will expand at a different rate. This feature does rely on consecutive wins, of course.

On the right-hand side, you’ll notice the current number of ways to win displayed, which increase with expanded reels.

On the left-hand side, we’ll see the multiplier metre. For every 7 symbols that pop off the reels, the multiplier climbs by 1x. It’s only reset when we don’t get further consecutive wins.

Enter the Bonus Mode for massive potential

As long as we do get those consecutive wins, however, the reels can expand up to 7 rows and when all 5 reels are thus expanded, we enter the Bonus Mode. Now, a few things are different. The multiplier on the left-hand side climbs by 2x each time the metre is filled. And we now play with 33,614 ways to win.

Also, popped symbols are only replaced by 1 new symbol instead of two as those reels won’t expand any further.

Don’t forget that the super symbol is only left behind after such a pop, which makes things pretty exciting at this stage.

Verdict: A somewhat pale slot with interesting new mechanics with huge potential

The theoretical RTP (Return to Player) for PopRocks is 96.8%, which is the highest we’ve seen in a while and pretty impressive. At the same time, this slot is very volatile, and you may see a lot of dead spins before the true potential unfolds. And that is advertised with a massive 72,188x our stake.

The slot itself is okay to look at but also somewhat boring and nothing special in terms of theme. This could have been done better, but the features are its strength. These are innovative and interesting. And when this game gets going, it really gets going. The potential cannot be overlooked for those among us who love to chase big wins. As such, PopRocks from Avatar UX is a worthwhile offering, even if slightly forgettable otherwise.