Heart of Rio (Pragmatic Play) – Review & Demo Play

How to Play Heart of Rio

Heart of Rio is straightforward on desktop or mobile. I set stakes from 0.25 to 125 a spin, then let the 5x3 layout and 25 fixed paylines do the work. Wins pay left to right, starting on reel 1. The buttons sit under the reels, with quick access to bet size, autoplay, turbo, and the paytable. I tend to toggle the sound and spin speed to suit the session, then aim for disco ball money hits and the reel 5 collect that ties it together.

Heart of Rio Symbols & Payouts

Low pays are J, Q, K, A in gold. High pays are a coconut drink, a mask, a green dancer, and the purple dancer who tops the card at 32x for five of a kind, with the other picture symbols paying roughly 5x to 7x. The red dancer is the wild, landing on reels 2-5 to substitute for regulars, but not the bonus, money, or collect icons. Wilds don’t carry a value on their own; they’re there to complete lines.

Money symbols are disco balls on reels 1-4 with a random cash value from a predefined set. If a collect lands on reel 5 with them, one of five modifiers fires. Collect adds them up. Extra Credit adds its value to every money icon first. Multiplier applies its multiplier to the lot. Expanding fills any reel showing a money icon with more money icons, then totals. Respin holds the current values, respinning the rest for a second chance at extra disco balls.

Heart of Rio Symbols and Paytable

Symbol	Quantity	Payout
	5	x32
	4	x2
	3	x0.4
	5	x7
	4	x1.2
	3	x0.2
	5	x6
	4	x1
	3	x0.2
	5	x5
	4	x1
	3	x0.2
	5	x4
	4	x0.8
	3	x0.2
	5	x4
	4	x0.4
	3	x0.2
	5	x4
	4	x0.4
	3	x0.2
	5	x4
	4	x0.4
	3	x0.2
	Collect
	Collect
	Bonus
	Wild

Heart of Rio Free Spins & Bonus Features

Three scatters, shown as bongo drums, land on reels 2, 3, and 4 to award 8 free spins and a 1x payout up front. During the feature the usual money collect rules still apply, but there’s a twist. Every disco ball that lands also feeds a prize pot that sits off-screen. I like that it keeps the round ticking over even when a collect doesn’t appear immediately, as the pot can swell across multiple spins.

After the free spins finish, the pot’s total returns to the reels as a giant money symbol covering reels 1-4, and reel 5 gets a single respin. If any collect lands on that last reel, the entire pot pays. Hit 3 scatters again during the feature and you get +8 spins; there’s no stated cap on retriggers. The rhythm suits the samba theme well, with steady build-up and a punchy last shot.

In practice, the money collect style feels quicker than a standard hold and win, since you’re not sitting through fixed respins each time. The flip side is that in the base game you rarely build anything huge without free spins involved. I’ve had finales where the collect refuses to land and it stings, and others where it drops on cue and the pot goes off. That last spin always has my attention.

Heart of Rio RTP, Volatility & Max Win

Heart of Rio runs a 96.50% RTP with medium volatility, rated 3/5 by the studio. Stakes range from 0.25 to 125 per spin across 25 fixed paylines. The headline win is listed at 10,500x, though the single-spin cap on regular symbol wins sits far lower, which is why the feature game and collect pot matter. Across my sessions I saw a mix of small left-to-right pays, money pops, and the odd run that built into something meaningful.

Volatility feels fair for a carnival slot that wants pace without savage swings. You can go a while without scatters, then get a flurry, and the pot mechanic gives the round its punch. I won’t chase the 10,500x claim; it reads more like a top-end lab figure than a frequent outcome, so treat it with a grain of salt. For me, the fun sits in timing the collect and nudging the bet size to suit bankroll.

Heart of Rio Verdict

Heart of Rio borrows its engine from a previous release, but the samba dressing gives it a bit more life. The money collect system creates sharp, frequent interest, while the bonus pot adds a proper sweat at the end. Most spins feel middle of the road, with the excitement spikes coming from expanding or respin collects and that last-shot respin. When I fancy colour, 25 lines, and a chance at a punchy pot, I fire this up.