Beat Back the Wolf in Huff n Puff CollectR by ELK Studios

The story of the wolf and the three piggies does not need any introduction. It’s a tale we’ve all heard many times before, so much so that ELK Studios decided it was due for an update. For one, there are four piggies this time, who chase after gems in a manner that’ll be very familiar to fans of the Pirots slot. With a few features and a bit of luck, the piggies will guide you to their secret stash, where a top prize worth 5,000x your bet awaits.

Huff n Puff CollectR certainly looks easy on the eyes, but will it turn out to be as fun to play as it is to look at? Find out in this in-depth review of this ELK Studios slot.

Huff n Puff CollectR Visuals

While the original story of the three little pigs was set before the Industrial Revolution, this slot moves things up to the modern day. You can see this immediately from the backdrop, with a large crane helping to construct one of the houses. Despite that, one of the piggies still went the hay house route. Given how sharply dressed our porcine pals are, there’s really no excuse to be that lazy.

Paying symbols are limited to four symbols: red, blue, green, and purple diamonds. Each icon corresponds to one of the piggies on the reels and comes in multiple tiers. Upgrading diamonds makes them larger and increases how much they award during a win. Special symbols include upgrade icons, jackhammers, Wilds, transform symbols, and saw Scatters.

Huff n Puff CollectR Gameplay and Features

You play this ELK Studios slot on a 6×6 grid with dropping symbols. Scoring payouts works the same as it does in Pirots 4, with piggies moving around the reels and collecting same-coloured gems. New icons drop in after the piggies collect all symbols adjacent to them, potentially resulting in multiple wins in a single round.

Symbol Collection

A meter sits above the reels and tracks the gems and Wilds collected by the piggies. The meter keeps filling as long as piggies can keep collecting icons. Filling the meter will release a pending feature symbol. Up to three can be kept in this state, with all three activating simultaneously after being released.

Nine feature symbols can land on the grid as a result of this bonus round. Each one activates the corresponding feature.

• Scatter
• Super Scatter
• Wilds
• Upgrade
• Upgrade All
• Transform
• Jackhammer
• Hat
• Wolf

Wolf Construction

This bonus round activates when a pig collects the Wolf symbol. The wolf collects symbols column by column, though he’ll skip any jackhammer and transform icons. When the wolf tries to collect a pig, a fight breaks out.

If the wolf wins, the crane multiplier increases by one, and the defeated pig is removed. However, if the wolf loses the fight, the Wolf Construction bonus ends. In both cases, you get the total payout from all the collected symbols boosted by the crane multiplier. If all four pigs are defeated, the wolf will automatically scoop up all remaining icons from the grid.

Upgrade Symbols

Two types of upgrade symbols can appear on the reels. Basic upgrade icons have a dark blue background and upgrade only one gem. Meanwhile, upgrade symbols with a multi-coloured background will increase the level of all four gems simultaneously.

How many gems are upgraded depends on the number displayed by the special icon. One upgrade symbol can enhance the gems one, two, or three levels.

Transform

When a pig collects a transform symbol, it will transform a cluster of gems next to it into the same colour. There’s also a chance that gems turn into other feature symbols.

Jackhammer

Jackhammer places pig tokens in empty grid spaces. Pigs can use these to cross empty spaces one time to reach additional symbols, increasing your odds of winning.

Golden Wheel

When the pigs or wolf have collected all the collectable symbols on the grid, the Golden Wheel feature triggers. The wheel spins and can award free spins, super free spins, Hat Mania, Mega Hat Mania, or a cash prize.

Hat Mania and Mega Hat Mania

Hat Mania grants three spins during which only hats and blank spaces can appear. Three or more hats landing simultaneously will award one extra spin. Whenever a hat lands, it adds or upgrades the frame of the position it is on. The frames go from straw to wood to brick, which will transform into cash prizes at the end of the feature. If a hat lands on a brick frame, it will add a brick frame to another position. Available cash prizes range from 0.25x to 2,500x.

Mega Hat Mania plays out in much the same way as the standard Hat Mania feature. However, it is played on an 8×8 grid instead of a 6x one. Additionally, several mega hats land on the grid before the bonus round begins.

Wolf Demolition

Wolf Demolition can activate when pigs are unable to collect more symbols. The wolf removes up to three pigs and all other icons and drops them back in a different order. This can turn what would otherwise be a guaranteed loss into a win.

Corner Bombs

Bombs are located at each corner of the 6×6 playing area. Each bomb and corner has a different colour that matches one of the pigs. If a pig collects an icon atop a bomb with a matching colour, it will detonate when the pigs can no longer move. This removes the pipe and all pigs and gems in a 3×3 area and expands the grid. If all four explosives go off, you get an 8×8 grid.

The pipes surrounding the grid act as tunnels when a section is removed. Pigs can move through the tunnels if it allows them to collect symbols at the pipe entrance or exit. If two pipeline sections are removed, the corner becomes a well. Pigs can travel between wells if there are collectable symbols atop two or more wells.

Big Tony’s Extra Chance

Like Wolf Demolition, this feature can trigger when pigs can no longer collect any symbols. It will activate up to 4 corner bombs and allow pigs to leave the grid.

Free Spins and Super Free Spins

Three Scatters collected by the pigs will grant five free spins. The grid size, collection meter progress, and gem upgrades are persistent between spins during this bonus round. Hats will appear during the Free Spins feature, allowing you to upgrade frames and score more cash prizes.

If you land a Scatter while this bonus round is being played or trigger the feature with a Super Scatter, you’ll get access to the Saw feature. The saw starts horizontally or vertically adjacent to the pig that collects the bonus symbol and moves in that direction. It will create new frames or upgrade existing ones when it touches them.

Piggy Bank

Each time a piggy coin appears on the screen, it gets added to the Piggy Bank. Each time that happens, the Piggy Bank can activate the Super Wheel or Jackpot Wheel. The former can award bonus rounds: Hat Mania, Mega Hat Mania, free spins, super free spins, or cash prizes. Meanwhile, the Jackpot Wheel can grant cash prizes ranging from 10x to 2,500x.

X-iter

If you’re willing to pay more per round, you can get access to a lot of these features without having to wait for them to trigger manually.

• Bonus Hunt – makes you 3x more likely to trigger free spins. Costs 3x your stake.
• B. Wolf – triggers the Wolf Construction feature. It also guarantees super free spins if the bonus round activates. Costs 25x your bet.
• Mega Hat Mania – guarantees access to the Mega Hat Mania feature. Costs 50x your wager.
• Bonus – activates the Free Spins feature. Costs 100x your stake.
• Super Bonus – awards super free spins and the super saw feature. Costs 250x your bet.

Huff n Puff CollectR RTP and Payouts

The Huff n Puff CollectR slot has an RTP of 96% and a top prize of 5,000x. With so many bonus rounds, we had hoped to see a more lucrative jackpot. This is especially true as this ELK Studios slot has a high variance.