Fire Stampede 2 Slot Review

The Fire Stampede 2 Slot Game

It’s almost as if it’s a standard that Pragmatic Play doesn’t go wild for its follow-up slots, which is the case for this new release. The design and overall ambience of this game, produced in collaboration with Wild Streak Gaming, is a copy of the original release.

In Fire Stampede 2, you encounter a raging flaming bull on the left-hand side of the screen, while the 6-reel gameboard appears squeezed to the right. However, this time, the background scene has shifted from a rocky wilderness to a lush plain at the foot of a distant mountain range. As for the sounds, they include a relatively calm melody and effects that set a relaxing ambience.

The user interface looks crowded. However, you won’t miss the controls at the bottom of the screen, as they’re vital in configuring your experience.

Symbols and Payouts

The symbols here are well-defined and colourful, appearing distinctly on the reels. They include 6 low and 4 high-paying regular symbols that can generate winning combinations.

Since the Fire Stampede 2 features 1875 ways to win, wins are awarded for left-to-right adjacent symbol combinations, beginning from the leftmost reel. Also, when consulting the paytable, be aware that its values change based on the selected stake.

Now, the low-paying symbols are the playing cards. The 9, 10, and J pay 0.08x to 0.4x, while the Q, K, and A are worth 0.12x to 0.6x the bet, for 3+ OAK, respectively. Then, the high-paying symbols include:

• Cacti - 0.2x, 0.4x, and 1x the bet.

• Eagle - 0.32x, 0.48x, and 1x the bet.

• Gold Nuggets - 0.4x, 0.8x, and 1.6x the bet.

• Bison - 0.4x, 0.8x, 1.6x, and 4x the bet, for 2+ of its kind.

The Fire Stampede 2 also features a wild symbol, which appears on reels 2, 3 and 4. It substitutes for all the paytable symbols in winning combinations.

Fire Stampede 2 Slot Bonus Features

The star of this show is the Connect & Collect feature, which is joined by free spins, random rewards, and a buy option.

Connect & Collect Feature

The Connect & Collect symbol can appear anywhere on reels 1 to 5 in Fire Stampede 2, except in special positions. Manage adjacent Connect & Collect symbols, starting from the leftmost reel, horizontally or vertically, until the symbol chain reaches one of the special positions on reels 3 and 6 to win the respective award. 

If the chain reaches one of the marked awards, all the marked awards will also be awarded. During the base game and free spins, the following symbols can randomly appear on the special positions on reels 3 and 6:

• Respins - only appear on the special positions on reel 3, and trigger a respin round. The round awards 5 respins, where all the Connect & Collect symbols hit in the initial spin remain sticky, while all other positions respin. Every new Connect & Collect symbol that lands also remains in place. Fire Stampede 2 pays for all the connections after the round. If no chain connection reaches the special position on reels 3 or 6 during the respins, you’ll receive a random prize between 3x and 10x bet.
• Money Value - on reel 3, it can award 2x to 20x bet, while on reel 6, it can award 10x to 200x bet.
• Add Wilds - it adds 2-5 wilds on random reels.
• Free Spins - randomly triggers 7 to 25 free spins after all other awards from the current spin have been paid.

• Mystery Prize - it can hit on the 6th reel, revealing a random award whenever it hits. They include 25x (Minor), 200x (Major), 250x, 350x, 400x, 500x, or 4,000x (Grand) the bet. The Minor, Major, and Grand prizes can hit with a x2 multiplier.

• Stampede - randomly adds the highest value symbols on reels 1-5 in Fire Stampede 2.

• Minor - can only appear in the special positions on reel 3, and pays out 25x bet when reached by a connection chain.

Free Spins

The scatter appears on all reels and pays 2x bet for 3 or more of its kind (also triggers the free spins feature). The round begins with all the Free Spins symbols collected, plus 7,10, and 15 free spins for 3 to 5 scatters, respectively, on the triggering spin, if any.

The Connect & Collect feature will function as in the base game. In addition, wilds will have a random x2 or x3 multiplier applied to all winning combinations on the spin. Multiple wild multipliers are multipliable. More free spins, equal to the total value of free spins reached, are awarded when a connection chain reaches more Free Spins symbols.    

Random Awards

At random, Fire Stampede 2 spins, a random number of wilds, Connect & Collect symbols, or the highest paying symbols, can be added to random non-special positions. The game can also randomly award the Grand prize at the end of any base game spin.

Buy Bonus

You can instantly trigger the free spins from the base game by buying them for 100x the current bet. In this case, the triggering spin will hit enough Connect & Collect symbols to form a chain that reaches the special positions on reel 3 and at least one of the positions on the rightmost column, which only has Free Spins symbols.

How to Win at Fire Stampede 2 Slot

Although the gaming field in Fire Stampede 2 appears to have 6 reels and 5 rows, the symbols only pay on the leftmost 5x5x3x5x5 positions. That’s because there are two special positions with special symbols on top and bottom of reel 3and a 6th reel with only special symbols.

In total, the game has 1,875 win ways that award wins for left-to-right adjacent symbol combinations, starting from the leftmost column.

The wagers here range from €0.25 to €250, making it an ideal option for high rollers. A game round starts when you hit the Spin button or use the Spacebar. Alternatively, you can use Autoplay to preselect and gamble several auto-spins.

Fire Stampede 2 Slot RTP & Volatility

The theoretical RTP of this game is 96.51%, which exceeds the industry average. Then, the slot has a high volatility characterised by less frequent wins, and it can pay up to 8.300 times the bet.

Final Thoughts

Fire Stampede 2 may be a new release in Wild Streak Gaming and Pragmatic Play’s catalog, but it looks far from that. Upon close comparison with its predecessor, the Fire Stampede, it retains everything from the past, except for the different background display. Perhaps the original received so much adoration from fans that the duo had to recreate the experience. But I wonder how players who gambled on the original would feel about that.

This slot’s main attraction is a unique Connect & Collect feature, which lets you ride on collecting special symbols through a connection chain to win prizes. And while most of the mechanics and features remain the same as before, the max win has doubled to 8,300x bet. Yet again, it poses the question of how possible it is, considering there aren’t many changes that warrant the significant jump.

In the end, I think it’s a game worth playing for someone who didn’t witness the bison thundering across the canyon. Otherwise, it’s just the same adventure as before.