CherryPop

Retro fruit machine meets PopWins game engine on the slot from Avatar UX powered by Yggdrasil Gaming. CherryPop is the next creation to use the dynamic reels mechanic that progressively unlocks the game grid for up to 118,098 ways to win. Extra premium cherry symbols, a gamble wheel and a free spins round with progressive multipliers can lead to wins of up to an insane 58,386 times your bet.

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Slot Details

CherryPop is a video slot with a default 5×3 reel set and 243 ways to win, which is doubled to 486 ways thanks to the pay-both-ways mechanic. Through the newly developed PopWins mechanic, this can increase up to a 5×6 format with 7,776 ways in the base game and 5×9 with 59,049 ways in the free spins, again doubled to 15,552 and 118,098 ways respectively with the pay-both-ways mechanic (more to that shortly).

Wins are awarded for landing three to five matching symbols on adjacent reels from left to right and from right to left. Worth noting is that a 5-of-a-kind is paid one way only. You can delve into retro yet modern fruit machines on desktop or mobile from 0.20 to 20 credits per spin. The game has high volatility with an RTP of 96.20%. Using the Bonus Buy will not lead to an increase in the RTP value.

A generic purple and dark blue background is conveying a tranquil feeling when you load the game which is further emphasized by a soothing soundtrack. Almost the complete anathema to the high volatility of the game. It all changes rapidly once the reels start expanding and ends in a glorious blast of a symphonic orchestra on big wins.

The pay symbols start at the low end with glowing card royals from 9 through to A, awarding 1.2x to 1.6x your stake for a single five of a kind. They are followed by grapes, melons, oranges, horseshoes, 4-leaf clovers, bells and diamonds. Hit five across the reels to win 2.5x to 8x your bet. There is also a super premium symbol represented by cherries which is not included on the default reels and can appear in free spins only, yielding 15x your stake for five. The game has neither wilds nor scatters.

CherryPop Demo Video

CherryPop Slot Features

Avatar UX is making good use of their PopWins game engine after their initial success with PopRocks and WildPops. While staying at the high end of the volatility scale, they do try to balance it for a better appeal to various types of players instead of just hardcore players.

CherryPop is mixing things up again by removing the random wilds and replacing them with a free spins round. To top it all off, the feature can be gambled repeatedly for more free spins. Needless to say, that adds to the volatility of the game. Reason enough to take a closer look as to what is on offer.

At the core of the gameplay is their proprietary PopWins reel mechanic where every spin sequence starts on the default 5×3 reel set with 486 ways to win. It is actually 243 ways but since wins are paid in both directions it amounts to the 486 ways. To score a winner, you will need to land minimum three matching symbols on adjacent reels starting from the left or the right.

All symbols in the combo will literally pop and disappear, only to be replaced by two new symbols in each vacated position, thus increasing the game grid and the number of win ways at every step. The process continues as long as new winning combos appear after a pop, gradually raising the grid to its maximum 5×6 format with 7,776 ways in the base game, which is doubled to 15,552 thanks to the pay-both-ways mechanic. Once fully expanded, popped symbols will be replaced by single symbols only as there is no need for further double symbols.

The aim of the game is to fully expand the grid to its full 5×6 size within one spin sequence. Keep an eye on the reels as each will start glowing once it reaches the maximum height of six symbols. Get them all glowing and it will trigger 5 Free Spins. However, before the start of the round, the game will lead to a second screen with a Gamble Wheel where you can try to win more free spins.

You can now choose to take the 5 spins or gamble them to win up to 16 free spins. Winning the first gamble will get you +3 spins after which you can decide again whether to carry on or start the feature. The number increases to a total of 12 spins should you take and win the second gamble. There is one golden segment marked with +7 spins in the first gamble and one with +8 spins in the second gamble, giving you a bigger boost should you land on them. Losing any of the gambles will instantly end the feature and lead you back to the base game.

The bonus round is played with a 5×6 format as default and scoring wins within a free spin will increase the size up to a maximum of 5×9 with 118,098 ways. At the end of a free spin sequence, the grid will reset to the shortest reel. For example, opening up the reels to 7-7-8-9-7 by the end of a free spin will reset them to 7-7-7-7-7 before the next spin instead of 6-6-6-6-6. Reaching the maximum 9-9-9-9-9 size in a free spin will keep the reels fully expanded for the remainder of the feature.

And there is more. The feature starts with an x2 win multiplier, which will further increase by x1 for each winning pop, no limits. The game will award an extra x3 for fully expanding all reels to the maximum 5×9 format and also increase the increment to x4 for each subsequent pop win within the same free spin.

Lastly, as a first for Avatar UX, they included a Bonus Buy button that will let you skip straight to the main event. The feature may be disabled in some jurisdictions. It will cost you 75 times your base bet and take you to the Gamble Wheel where you can opt to play 5 Free Spins or gamble them for up to 16 free spins. We urge some caution on using the gambles as losing them repeatedly will have a significant impact on your playing balance.

Final Verdict

It is very interesting to see how a studio is developing a game engine, especially one with such a high versatility as PopWins. Each of the three creations emanating from the Avatar UX headquarters brings new elements to the gameplay to make them each stand by their own instead of appearing as simple clones.

Don’t be fooled by the serene appearance of CherryPop as the game is highly volatile that can dramatically take your balance in either direction, basically boom or bust. As for the boom, the maximum peaks at a more than impressive 58,386 times your bet.

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