Popinata

We’ll be the first to admit our expectations coming into Popinata weren’t particularly high. With only 10 paylines, no Scatters or Bonus Games, or a progressive jackpot to work towards, it felt like something RTG was going to rush out the door while working on something bigger and better. However, we were pleasantly surprised to find a delightful, little slot on our hands that plays with the ever famous piñata that pays both left to right and right to left for everything except five of a kind wins, that has a generous re-spin bonus tied to its Wild, and that said Wild appears a lot. Overall a really high quality game from the developers!

And it proves that a great slot isn’t defined by mind-blowing graphics. Despite being released in 2017, there is hardly anything on the playing field that will immediately draw your attention or make your jaw drop. Both the symbols and the animations are rather simplistic in their design, and you won’t see it winning any awards. But the visuals get the job done, allowing you to focus on the core gameplay.

We often like to refer to games like these as slow burners. You have a constant stream of wins, but you’re always losing just a bit more than you’re taking home. Popinata masters this concept wonderfully, as you will constantly see Wilds extending across an entire reel, or a delicious win spread three or four icons. Despite this, it is quite fun! The fact paylines pay both ways instead of just left to right doubles your winning potential, and you can get sizeable wins with a bit of effort.

RTG have also made their Autoplay option quite detailed, allowing you to set the number of spins, if the title should stop spinning in case of a jackpot, if a special feature is activated, if a certain win or loss limit is reached, if you win more than a certain amount of money, or if you win anything at all.

There is no progressive jackpot, and we can understand its absence. Popinata isn’t afraid to give you a big win now and then when it feels you might be getting tired of the slot, and bouncing back close to the original number of money you started with can inspire you to keep spinning more in hopes of another win. But in the end, the house always wins.

Not to say that this RTG release isn’t open to all kinds of players, however. The minimum wager you can set down is $0.01, while the maximum is $2.50. And while the max bet might seem low, it can potentially translate into five of a kind cactus win, which is 250x the wager – at max bet, that’s $625. High rollers will be disappointed, no doubt, but low rollers and casual players will be fans of Popinata, we feel.

With the upbeat music, it’s clear this game is a party – and the icons you can use reflect that. Sombreros, tacos, guitars, bottles, fireworks, spicy peppers and cacti all come together, looking like they’re made out of plush. Piñatas, basicly! But none of them can compare to the crowning jewel of this slot, the mighty Donkey piñata.
The donkey acts as a Wild, and the only special feature in this entire game. RTG’s release rather confidently strides forward in declaring its mascot the only one worthy to carry a bonus, but it is a pretty lucrative one at that, even if it isn’t particularly inspired.

Wilds can appear on the second, third and fourth reel, they can replace all symbols and will expand to cover that entire reel when they occupy it. Once they expand, they also trigger a re-spin, during which the Wild stays in place. If another Wild appears during the re-spin, it also expands and adds another extra turn – but both Wilds stay in place.