Henry the Ape Slot Review
It’s time to drop fat stacks with the King of the mic in Push Gaming’s latest release, Henry the Ape. Push Gaming continues its legacy of producing innovative and highly volatile slots in Henry the Ape, where players can indulge in Drop the Win, Rewind, and Second Chance mechanics.
The wild features and mechanics of the game fall nicely into the highly-rated animal theme category, joining the likes of Big Bite, Cats of Olympuss, and Boss Bear, which are all equally appealing and share a similar animal aesthetic with multiple, high-end mechanics and features.
This latest release focuses on the super high-paying symbol, combined with a unique mechanic to make it one-of-a-kind. The high-paying symbol we’re referring to happens to be Henry himself – a handsome and rather macho chap with a reputation for dropping the sickest beats.
With a fixed volatility rating of 5/5 (high) and RTP variant of 96.44% (with alternative options for Bonus Buys), Henry the Ape can deliver wins to the tune of 10,000x your bet!
Base Game & Features
Henry the Ape is fitted with a 6-reel configuration, which enables wins to occur when 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 matching symbols land from reel 1 to 6, across 4,096 ways to win. The game holds 10 high and low-paying symbols, with Henry as the top-paying, followed by 2 additional characters, a stereo, a mic, A, K, Q, and J Card Suits.
The fixed payout of each paytable symbol falls between 0.1x and 6x your bet. Lastly, Wild symbols substitute for all paytable symbols, excluding Bonus Scatters. Each wild can reveal a random Multiplier of x2, x3, x5, or x10 when it is part of a winning combination within the base game.
Super High-Paying Symbol
During gameplay, the super high-paying (Henry) symbol appears on all 6 reels and applies a 2-of-a-kind payout, where applicable. When a super high-paying symbol lands within reels 2 & 5, it activates a special Nudge Feature.
The nudge feature causes all super high-paying symbols across reels 2-6 to move down 1 position while the remaining reels spin. This continues until all super high-paying symbols leave the reels.
Second Chance
The second chance feature has an opportunity to trigger when 2 Bonus Scatters are present on the reels at the end of a base game spin. Once the feature is active, an additional Bonus Scatter will be nudged onto the reels, thus triggering the Free Spins mode.
Fat Stacks
In the base game and Free Spins mode, 1-2 stacks of super high-paying symbols can be randomly added to reels 2, 3, 4, or 5. This feature can only occur during a non-winning spin.
Drop the Win
At the end of any non-winning spin in the base game, the Drop the Win Feature may trigger. When this feature is active, super high-paying symbols or wilds can be added onto the reels to complete a winning combination.
Rewind
After any non-winning spin in the base game, the Rewind Feature may activate. This feature guarantees a Respin of the reels to create or enhance a winning combination.
Push Bet & Bonus Buy
Players outside the UK jurisdiction can participate in the following Bonus Buy options:
- Random Free Spins: Awards 3, 4, 5, or 6 triggering Bonus Scatters in the next spin for 179x your bet (RTP 96.30%)
- Super Free Spins: Instantly access the Super Free Spins mode for 425x your bet (RTP 96.22%)
Alternatively, players within the UK and other countries can access the Push Bet feature for an additional 2x your bet per spin. This feature increases your chances of triggering the Free Spins mode, offering a fixed RTP variant of 96.32%.
If the maximum win capacity of 10,000x your bet is achieved during a game mode, the round will end abruptly, and the total max win is instantly applied.
Henry the Ape Slot Free Spins
Land 3-6 Bonus Scatters in the base game triggers the Free Spins mode, awarding the following outcomes:
- 3 Scatters: Awards 8 Free Spins
- 4 Scatters: Awards 10 Free Spins & 2 medium-paying symbols transformed into super high-paying symbols
- 5 Scatters: Awards 12 Free Spins & all medium-paying symbols transformed into super high-paying symbols
- 6 Scatters: Awards 15 Free Spins & all medium and high-paying symbols transformed into super high-paying symbols
In this feature, a special Bonus Meter is applied above the reels. On each reel, the super high-paying symbol can land or nudge with a special Gold Disk, which is collected into the bonus meter.
For every 4th Gold Disk collected, a retrigger of free spins is awarded, along with an additional symbol transformation across all reels. The retrigger rewards are as follows:
- 4 Gold Disks: Awards +5 Free Spins and mid 2 symbol transformed
- 8 Gold Disks: Awards +4 Free Spins and mid 1 symbol transformed
- 12 Gold Disks: Awards +3 Free Spins and high 2 symbol transformed
- 16 Gold Disks: Awards +2 Free Spins and high 1 symbol transformed
Super Free Spins
The super free spins mode maintains the same mannerisms as the standard Free Spins mode, only the triggering spin guarantees 5 Bonus Scatters, whereby all mid-high paying symbols are transformed into super high-paying symbols throughout the feature.
Our Honest Verdict
Henry the Ape speaks volumes through its innovative features and functions, while portraying high-definition visuals, a wild animal theme, and stimulating sound effects. Push Gaming has focused gameplay and surrounding features around the super high-paying symbol, which can fully stack and nudge downwards until out of view, similar to Tiki Tumble.
Unfortunately, these symbols do not act as Wilds, so you’ll want to land multiple stacks in order to receive anything significant in the base game. Having multiple stacks of super high-paying symbols will aid in getting the much-needed Wild symbols to connect and multiply wins, but it comes with its own challenges.
Henry the Ape requires a fair amount of momentum to get it going. In the standard Free Spins mode, no paytable symbols are transformed into Henry, and it only awards 8 Free Spins to collect Gold Disks to progress through the ranks. As seen in previous Push Gaming releases, like Big Bamboo, the standard Free Spins mode can be quite underwhelming.
For a game with a fixed RTP of 96.44% and a max win cap of 10,000x bet, the high volatility rating balances the big payouts against the more frequent smaller wins. Due to the altering RTP variants, it’s always worth checking which RTP is available at your chosen casino.
Overall, Henry the Ape is a great addition to Push Gaming’s extensive portfolio, inspiring players with classic gameplay while incorporating new features that keep the game fresh and exciting.
*All screenshots used in each of our reviews are taken during Demo Play, due to most of our reviews being written prior to the game’s release date.
