This game is simple at its base level and the medium volatility means it has frequent medium-sized payouts to keep things ticking over. However, the standard RTP of 96.04% combines with a strangely high 40p minimum bet, which will be uncomfortable for lower rollers.

Although Hot Shot Progressive lacks any Wild symbols and doesn’t have a traditional Free Spins round, it does pack a punch with its interesting bonus feature. This is where the magic lies and you’ll want to trigger these bonus games for the best payouts with 10,000x stake jackpot available from the Blazing 7s x 7 Mini Game.

The symbols in Hot Shot Progressive Reels are classic old fruit machine icons. You’ll find single, double and triple bar symbols, lucky 7s, flaming 7s, gold bells and dollar signs. There are also the highly important Scatter symbols, which are Mini Reels, offering individual bonus games corresponding to the jackpots displayed above the reels.

The blazing 7s award 100x stake for 5 of a kind. There is a big drop to the next symbols on the paytable with regular 7s awarding 5x stake for 5 matches and the triple bar and mixed 7s both awarding 2.5x stake for 5 matches. The other symbols in decreasing value are double bar, gold bell, dollar sign, single bar and mixed bars.

Of course, the biggest rewards come from the Bonus Games which are activated by the Scatter symbols. These are also exciting to play with the Mini Reels spinning like a mini slot within a slot.

Hot Shot Progressive doesn’t look great on initial inspection. It appears to be a classic old fruit machine, albeit with 5 reels instead of 3. We like the jazz sound track but because it plays only during the spins, the music cuts out every couple of seconds, giving a disjointed audio experience. The intermittent music, chunky looks and basic symbols aren’t promising – but looks can be deceiving. It’s the gameplay we’re most interested in and once the bonus feature kicks off the action heats up. We love the idea of a ‘game within a game’ and the Mini-Reel Scatters arrive regularly with the bonus reels spinning in their own version of a Free Spins round. If you can hit some jackpot prizes from this innovative feature, it’s all dandy with up to 10,000x stake up for grabs. But if you’re unlucky here, it’s a back to the slow old base game. The bonus feature is great, but it’s really all there is. For a relatively high 40p minimum bet, it doesn’t offer enough to sustain a decent gaming session.