Many people in the wider world are aware of the phrase 'you shouldn't judge a book by its cover', and the saying works equally well in the online slot sphere. How many times have we sat down to review some adorable looking slot and ended up savaged? Studios like Hacksaw Gaming or Peter & Sons (amongst others) are well adept at building games with a hefty sting in their tails while looking all sweet and innocent on the outside. With this in mind, Chicken Chase from Pragmatic Play is something of an anomaly. This is a game that started sweet and got softer as the review progressed. Time to brace for a chase.
A quick glance at the animals on Chicken Chase's 5x3 reel set provides all the clues needed to fill in any storyline gaps. Clearly, the chase involves hungry wolves going after a farmer's poultry. The game is set on a classic looking slot farm, all red barn, hay, windmills, and sun setting over majestic mountain tops type thing. Very idyllic, and the cartoonishly drawn critters work hand in hand with the oompah/saloon soundtrack to put players at their ease.
Normally, we'd say don't get too relaxed because the action will heat up soon, but, well, Chicken Chase really isn't that sort of game. Its max win is a doozy, as you'll see, while powering the game is a low volatile math which Pragmatic Play has rated as 2 out of 5 lightning bolts. Operators have the choice of four RTP settings, ranging from 96.48% at the top, down to 94.55% at the bottom end of the scale. Chasing chickens or running from the big bad wolf, however you want to angle it, is possible on any device, while stakes of 10 p/c to $/€100 may be set.
Lining the game grid are 10 fixed paylines for landing winning combinations of three or more of a kind across. At the lower side of the paytable are Bars, strawberries, broccoli, aubergines, and peppers, paying 5-10 times the stake for a five of a kind hit. Next are chickens, turkeys, and roosters as the three premium symbols, worth 30-80x the bet for five of a kind. Even more valuable is the blue wolf wild symbol, pulling in 200x for a line of five, or, wilds land in any reel to replace regular paying symbols.
Features wise, Chicken Chase has a rather unique spin and hold feature which triggers exceedingly often, plus a quickfire pick 'n click bonus feature.
This one's a bit different. When you hit spin and do not land a five of a kind win, a respin is awarded. The game pays after the respin, or if a 5 of a kind winning combo lands on the initial spin. Between the initial spin and the respin, players get two options. One, you can select which reels you would like to hold for the respin. Or, let the game randomly pick the held reels. Respins are free in either case, and players can deselect any reels the game chooses.
Landing 3 or more golden egg bonus symbols triggers the bonus feature. Real simple, four chickens appear on screen and players pick one to win an instant prize. Prizes could be:
And that's it y'all. Chicken Chase keeps things light, breezy, and simple throughout. Little emotional commitment is required, which might be ideal for an undemanding session. The problem is, saying Chicken Chase's rewards tend to the low side is something of an understatement. This is gaming for those who appreciate the dynamics of a low volatile slot, firing off frequent, albeit unspectacular, wins.
It's not hard to see some players being drawn to what Chicken Chase has to offer, however. In some ways, you get two spins for the piece of one, so it might be a hit with players looking to draw out their game time as much as possible. Picking held reels can be kind of fun, and you don't have to pay extra like you do with features such as HyperSpins from Triple Edge/Microgaming, where repeated use can get pricey. Here, it's free. Chicken Chase's hold function might not be as sophisticated or as immersive, but you can't argue with the cost. Memorising the game's win lines might help when picking which reels to hold. Fortunately, there are only 10 of them.
However, you often get what you pay for in life, and when it comes to winning potential, Chicken Chase is about as meagre as it gets. First, the Bonus Round maxes out at 150x, and that's only if you get lucky on a five bonus symbol trigger. Secondly, should Chicken Chase hit 210x the bet in a single game round, boom, that's it, game over. We're assuming the max win frequency is quite high as compensation, but Pragmatic Play hasn't dropped the official stat for us to be able to verify.
We've got a sneaky suspicion there won't be too many degens lining up to do battle with Chicken Chase any time soon. To its credit, Chicken Chase doesn't try to sell itself as a big win, big thrill game, like some lightweight slots try to do. It's undemanding and chases a specific sector of the market that is after a lite, charming style of slot.
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