CritterPop (AvatarUX) – Review & Demo Play

CritterPop: Slot Overview

CritterPop plants the PopWins engine in a cosmic scene of gases, planets and stars, with critters front and centre. It starts on 5x3 with 486 win ways thanks to wins paying both directions. Bets run from 0.20 to 100 per spin, plus an Ante Bet that adds 25% to stake and doubles the odds of hitting free spins. It’s a high volatility slot with a theoretical RTP around 96.08%, and the grid can stretch to 8 rows in the feature for 65,536 ways.

CritterPop Symbols and Paytable

Low pays are 10 to A, worth roughly 1x to 1.5x for five of a kind. High pays are six animals, paying 2x to 6x for five. Tiger and mammoth sit at the top, and their importance rises later when multipliers can latch onto them in the bonus. With the pay both ways system, lines aren’t fixed; you’re chasing adjacent symbol stacks from either side, which suits the PopWins build-up as reels grow and new tiles drop in.

Wilds only appear in free spins and substitute regular symbols, while a round ‘bonus’ scatter triggers the feature when 3, 4, or 5 land. The base set-up feels lively even without wilds, because Pops replace every winning symbol with two new ones, often chaining several wins on a paid spin. Five-of-a-kind pays one direction only, so the sweet spot is strings of four and five across expanding reels, especially when the premium beasts line up on the taller grid.

CritterPop Symbols and Paytable

Symbol	Quantity	Payout
	5	x6
	4	x3
	3	x1.5
	5	x5
	4	x2.5
	3	x1.2
	5	x4
	4	x2
	3	x1
	5	x3
	4	x1.5
	3	x0.7
	5	x2
	4	x1
	3	x0.5
	5	x2
	4	x1
	3	x0.5
	5	x1.5
	4	x0.7
	3	x0.3
	5	x1.5
	4	x0.7
	3	x0.3
	5	x1.5
	4	x0.7
	3	x0.3
	5	x1
	4	x0.5
	3	x0.2
	5	x1
	4	x0.5
	3	x0.2
	Scatter
	Wild

PopWins in CritterPop

PopWins fires each time a win hits. Those symbols pop out and two fresh symbols fill each gap, raising reel height and increasing active ways. In the base game, reels can climb to 6 rows, which equates to 15,552 ways with both-way pays. When all five reels reach 6 high in one sequence, you get 2 complimentary spins on the expanded grid, which is a handy change of pace that can throw up tidy chains without extra cost.

In free spins, Pops can keep pushing to a maximum of 8 rows per reel. On a full 5x8, the cap hits 65,536 ways. Once reels are at their ceiling on a spin, popped tiles are replaced by single symbols rather than doubles, which keeps the engine moving without overfilling. This step-by-step climb is where the slot breathes; gradual growth across several cascades turns modest hits into worthwhile returns when the board widens and premiums stick around.

Free Spins in CritterPop

Free spins land with 3, 4, or 5 scatters for starting grids of 5x4, 5x5, or 5x6 and 2,048, 6,250, or 15,552 ways. Before the round begins, a single spin on the Rewards Reels can drop extras such as more free spins, a higher starting multiplier, larger multiplier steps, 2x2 or 3x3 symbols, random wilds, and special multipliers for the tiger or mammoth. Whatever falls here carries straight into the bonus.

Once in, the win multiplier starts at x1 unless boosted by the pre-roll and rises after every winning cascade, without resetting between spins. Reels don’t snap back to the initial height either; they drop to match the shortest reel reached on that spin, keeping progress in play. Hit all reels at 8 high and you get +2 spins, the multiplier growth steps up by x2, and the grid holds that full height for the remainder.

With both-way pays and PopWins active, medium chains stack nicely, but the real punch comes when the Rewards Reels add wilds or big tiles and the symbol multipliers target tiger or mammoth. That interaction is where I’ve seen rounds snowball, as wins land both before and after the global multiplier applies. The difference between a modest bonus and a heater often sits with those pre-feature picks and how quickly the board climbs across the first few spins.

Bonus Buy in CritterPop

If available in your region, there are three Bonus Buy entries. The standard costs 125x for a start on 4 rows, the Plus option costs 250x for 5 rows, and the Max is 500x for a 6-row start. Respectively, that’s 2,048, 6,260, or 15,552 starting ways. The pricier buys feed better set-ups into the Rewards Reels, which in my experience gives a cleaner shot at early momentum when the grid is already tall and the multiplier can climb.

CritterPop: Slot Verdict

The animals-in-space theme is quirky, yet after a few sessions I stopped noticing and focused on the PopWins flow. The base can feel cyclical, with bursts of Pops and the odd two-spin reward when all reels stretch to 6. The bonus is the main event, and when the pre-roll lands helpful modifiers the round can swing hard. With high volatility, 96.08% RTP and a max win of 20,000x, it’s a solid PopWins outing I’m happy to fire up.