Beat the Heat

A Traditional Slot with U-Spin Bonus Game

You’ll find a tall, modern screen and a lot of special effects with the Beat the Heat casino slot. What is unusual here, is that this Bally title is a traditional 3-reel game. Symbols are 7’s, bells and bars. Above the reels is a huge wheel, divided into segments showing cash amounts – some of these are big! This gets used during the decidedly non-traditional bonus game. You’ll find flame effects, rock riffs and spoken prompts to bring this Bally slot to life.

That wheel is part of Bally’s ‘U-Spin’ series. This is touch screen tech, which allows you to spin the wheel by swiping it. You’ll get free spins, which offer you the chance to collect multipliers – which are then used to boost your spin.

27 Ways to Win Setup

While there are only 3 reels, you still have 27 ways to win with Beat the Heat. This is an all-ways setup, with any combination from the left to right hitting all 3 reels a winner. You will sometimes hit 2 wins at the same time, though 3 is not possible – due to the spacing of the symbols. You get all 27 ‘win lines’ for 50c per spin, and increases in 50c increments.

Regular wins are topped by the 7’s. There are red ones and blue ones, and you will also get a prize for 3 mixed. Bars (split into the usual 3, 2, 1 and also a 5-bar) will give you regular prizes too. Look out for the golden bells too.

U-Spin Symbols and Free Spins

Special U-Spin symbols, which show a wheel design, only appear on reel 3. You’ll need to hit one of these on the middle of the 3^rd reel to trigger the bonus game. Your bonus then has two separate parts.

First up, you get 5 free spins. A rock riff starts, adding to atmosphere to the game. The key difference to the game during these free spins is that symbols now have small wheel icons on them. These appear at random on the 7’s. Each time you hit a wheel icon, you will see an animation where this moves upward. It increases a multiplier on the hub of the giant wheel in the top part of the screen.

If you are lucky, your win multiplier can go up to 5x. This is in addition to any regular wins that you accumulate during your free spins.

U-Spin the Wheel

Touch screen technology means you can spin the wheel by swiping it. In case you miss how to do this, an animation of an arm swiping does appear on the screen. There are also voice prompts. This is a huge wheel, bigger than the screen. You only see just over 1/4^th of it. A flaming arrow slows the wheel down, and determines your prize when it stops.

All the prizes are in credits. When the wheel stops you get a further animation where the multiplier (if you got one) is applied. This new total is now added to your wins from the free games. If you are lucky enough to hit a big win – you’ll see a coin fountain animation from the bottom of the screen.

Traditional Symbols on Fire

There is little doubt that Beat the Heat slots have a stunning design. It takes some very familiar slot images like bars and 7’s – and gives them a complete makeover. It is not just about the flame effects, the smoothness of the reel motion, and small touches like the multiplier animations all add to the overall effect.

It is the wheel which really stands out. This is a huge wheel in a tall cabinet – and is hard to miss on the casino floor. While the touch screen tech is not new these days, you’ll still find this dramatic. Having rock guitar riffs while you play certainly helps this slot stand out from many others which have exclusively electronic beeps as a soundtrack.

Spoken prompts and animations do help to make playing easy. If you are unsure of what to do, there is nothing like a disembodied arm to help you along the way!

Will Beat the Heat Bring You a Cool Big Win?

I can see why this is a popular free casino slot. It combines two of the things players love, and does it with smooth production and some drama too. Those factors are free spins, and a wheel bonus. You only get 5 free spins, though these come with win-multipliers for the wheel game. When you spin that giant wheel, you’ll be hoping for a huge win to go with your multiplier.