Just like the original, Hugo 2 is a very well-designed slot game - a rural cartoon railroad forms the backdrop to the reels. The railway theme continues on the reels themselves where you’ll see whistles, a train driver’s hat, a carriage full of stones, a key, gold bars and pouches full of gold coins.
The top standard symbol is the diamond which pays 1.5, 6 or 35 times your total stake if you land 3, 4 or 5 on a line. Hugo the troll is the wild - he replaces everything bar the scatter and offers awards of 2.5, 7.5 and 50 times your bet. Hugo 2 comes with a pair of bonus features:
Troll Race Free Spin feature - land 3 of the beaver symbol on the same spin and you’ll receive 10 free spins. During those free spins, Hugo will race along a series of railway tracks and collect money bags and coins. As soon as he’s collected 4 bags, they’re dropped onto the reels and turn 4 symbols wild for that spin.
Collect 4 coins and they’re dropped onto the reels, each of them offering a 2x multiplier. Keep track of how many you’ve collected via the meter above the reels. The Beaver Cleaver can hit at random here and award another 5 free spins. Land the Beaver Cleaver 2 times to get 10 more free spins. Land it 3 times and you’ll progress to the Skull Cavern Bonus Game feature with 3 lives.
Skull Cavern Bonus Game feature - this can be triggered by landing 3 or more of the Afskylia symbol on the same spin or via the Beaver Cleaver in the free spins. You’ll then head to a new screen where you have to guide Hugo through a dingy cavern.
Pick stones to reveal cash prizes - if he gets knocked off a ledge or squashed, you’ll lose a life. Make it across to the other side and you’ll pick a key and open a chest with even larger potential rewards on offer. You’ll get 1, 2 or 3 lives depending on how many scatters triggered the feature. The rewards on offer are also bigger the more lives you have – having 3 lives will result in your wins multiplied by 5!
Just like Hugo’s first outing, the design in this sequel is superbly done. The images are as good as you’ll find anywhere and there’s a jaunty backing track playing in the background. We landed both the features at regular intervals and enjoyed solid rather than spectacular results in both.
Saying that, this is a highly volatile game which offers you up to 5,000 times your stake on each free spin! You just need to be patient and hope the multipliers combine to 8x. Offering a very solid combination of high spec sound and visuals and a range of extras, Hugo 2 should prove to be as much of a hit as the original version. If you like multipliers with your free spins, Pearls of India by Play ‘N Go is a superb slot game often overlooked.