[Slot review] 9 Masks of Fire HyperSpins — Microgaming

Overview

9 Masks of Fire HyperSpins is a slot Microgaming released on 2 December 2021. The published RTP is 96.49%, volatility is Medium, and the bet range is 0.2 to 60. The hub's theme tags are the same as the original's: Action, Africa, Fire.

The original 9 Masks Of Fire came out on 6 February 2020. The gap is just under two years, and the studio and theme tags are the same. The word 'HyperSpins' added to the name sums up what makes this version different.

Layout and rules

HyperSpins is a feature name used across Microgaming's range, generally referring to an optional mechanic that lets you pay extra to respin a single reel of your choice after a base spin stops, with a separate respin price shown for each reel. This game's hub feature field is empty, however, and how the respin price is set is not in the published specification, so this review describes only the general frame and does not guess at this title's specifics.

As with the original, the format field says only 'Video slot', so the reel, row and line layout is unpublished. The paytable and feature conditions are unpublished too. Whether the two versions share the same base grid cannot be confirmed from the published spec either.

The three fields the re-release changed

Put the published spec next to the original's and the differences sit in three fields. RTP rose 0.25 points from 96.24% to 96.49%, the minimum bet is unchanged at 0.2, and the maximum bet fell from 240 to 60 — a quarter of the original. Volatility is Medium on both.

The RTP rise invites the thought that adding an optional respin mechanic changed how the overall return is calculated, but the studio has not published the breakdown, so this review does not state that as the cause. Those 0.25 points are a difference in a long-run theoretical value, not something a single session would make visible.

Max win is blank in the hub for both versions. Whether the re-release changed the cap, or how the HyperSpins mechanic affects it, cannot be answered from this catalogue's published figures.

Presentation

The cover swaps the original's black ground for an orange field. The blue-eyed mask stares straight out, and the fire behind it never reaches the surface. In a warm frame, the eyes are the only cool colour and pull the gaze. The original's single-mask composition is kept, and one background colour tells the versions apart.

The demo is embedded on this page. How the HyperSpins respin prices are shown, and whether the base grid matches the original, are best settled by opening both demos side by side and comparing their rules screens.