Huff N’ Puff Slot

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Who would have thought six yellow hard hats could cause such a commotion? Not me, that’s for sure. That was, until I played Huff N’ Puff. If you’ve visited a land-based casino in the last six or seven years, I’d bet money that you’ve played, or at least seen, a Huff N’ Puff slot machine. Why? Because they’re everywhere!

The original Huff N’ Puff slot game was released in 2018 as part of the already successful Lock-it-Link series of games by Light and Wonder. There wasn’t a lot of fanfare at first. It was just another themed Lock-it-Link game similar to Piggy Bankin’ and Cats, Hats & More Bats. But very soon it became apparent that Huff N’ Puff stood out from the others. In fact, it blew them all away (I couldn’t resist!).

Something about the theming, the mechanic, and the animations just hit right, and Huff N’ Puff took on a whole new life of its own. At the time of writing, there are at least ten different Huff N’ Puff-themed land-based slots. It started with Huff N’ More Puff, then Huff N’ Even More Puff, and now we have games like Huff N’ Puff Grand, Huff N’ Puff Money Mansion, Huff N’ Puff High Rise, and the newest release, Huff N’ Puff We’ve Had Enuff!

For this review, we’re going to start at the very beginning, like all good fairytales should. And explain how this unassuming little slot game is well on its way to world domination via six yellow hard hats. It’s not your typical weapon, granted, but it’s working.

For online players, some Huff N’ Puff variations are available to play for real money in the UK and some US markets. You can also play it for free on social casino Quick Hits.

It goes without saying that Huff N’ Puff is based on the old fairytale ‘The Three Little Pigs’.

I’m sure you already know the story, but if not, here’s a recap. The Big Bad Wolf wants to eat the three little piggies for dinner so, they decide to build themselves a house for protection. Each pig chooses a different material; the laziest pig builds his with straw, the middle pig chooses wood, and the cleverest pig uses brick. Wolfie then comes along and tries to blow each house down with his famous saying, “I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down” - hence the Huff N’ Puff slot title.

Spoiler alert - the brick house turns out to be the strongest (who’d have thunk it?!) and the wolf ends up in a fireball after climbing down the chimney instead.

Moving swiftly on, the Huff N’ Puff slot is based entirely on this fable. We have the three pigs, the three different types of houses, and the Big Bad Wolf coming to blow the houses down. Symbols are made up of the pigs, the wolf, and various building materials. While the bonus round is built entirely on the plot – the stronger the house, the more you win. It’s all very clever, really, and captivating, so it’s not hard to see why it's become such a huge success.

On first glance, the original Huff N’ Puff slot game is fairly ordinary. It has a standard game grid, wins come from landing at least two or three matching symbols from the leftmost reel, and there’s a bonus round you can trigger. But it's more about the storytelling, the characters, and the mechanics of the bonus rounds that make it stand out.

Here’s a rundown of the basics:

• Grid: 5x3
• 243 Ways to Win (All Ways Pays Format)
• Denominations: 1c, 2c, 5c, 10c
• Bet Levels: 75c-$50
• One Bonus Round
• Two fixed jackpots: Mini & Minor
• Two progressive jackpots: Major & Grand
• RTP:  87%-96% set by casino
• Volatility: Medium

Although the game stats show a medium volatility, regular slot players will probably tell you otherwise from personal experience. It certainly feels highly volatile, and with every new Huff N’ Puff slot game that’s released, the volatility seems to reach new levels!

What the original Huff N’ Puff does have going for it is good line pays. In newer versions, the pay tables have been nuked so it really is bonus or nothing. But the OG Huff N’ Puff can keep you topped up with nice payouts outside of the bonus.

Right, now is the time to unleash the big yellow hard hats. For something so ordinary and let’s face it, pretty boring, to have created such a stir in casino gaming is bizarre really. But for some reason, those bright yellow hard hats have caught the attention of slot players everywhere. Their simplicity is their secret weapon. Let’s take a look at why they’re so important in Huff N’ Puff.

In the original Huff N’ Puff slot game this is the singular bonus round in the game. It has been adapted, tweaked, and expanded in newer variations, but this is where it all started.

Every hard hat lands with a sharp ‘zing’ sound effect to signal its significance, and when you land six of them on one spin, you trigger the bonus.

On each position, where the initial six hard hats landed, a straw house is formed. You are then awarded six free spins to try and upgrade the houses. On each spin, the aim is to land another yellow hard hat. If it lands in an empty square, it turns into a straw house. However, if it lands in a square that already has a straw house, it upgrades it to wood, and if it’s already wood, it converts it to brick.  

If you land three hard hats in one spin, you get an extra spin as well as all of the houses and upgrades. The aim is to get as many brick houses as you can, or mansions, as they’re referred to, as they provide the bigger payouts. If you land a hard hat on a mansion, then it will upgrade another house instead, so that spin isn’t lost.

Once your spins are complete, it’s time for the Big Bad Wolf’s big entrance. He appears at the top of the screen, walking slowly and purposefully towards the reels until he is looking down at the houses below. He takes a deep breath, and then he huffs and puffs. The first blow clears the straw houses, revealing small wins, and the second blow takes out the wood houses for medium payouts. If you’re lucky enough to have some mansions, then the final blow removes them to reveal the biggest payouts.

The values on each house are usually numerical, but on both wood houses and mansions, they can also be progressive jackpots. Ideally, you want a coin, and it’ll spin to reveal a Mini, Minor, Major, or Grand on it!

Once all the houses have been unveiled, the values are counted up, and you receive your winnings.

As I’ve already mentioned, there is only one bonus feature in the original Huff N’ Puff game. However, it’s worth mentioning some of the features in newer versions of the game so you can see how the design has developed.

• Wheel Feature – This is triggered by landing three buzz saws and can award a progressive jackpot or a hard hat feature.
• Mega Hat Feature – This spins various size hard hats from 4 x 4 to full screen hard hats before the bonus begins.
• Buzz Saw Feature – Buzz saws travel across the reels, creating straw houses as they go. If a second or third buzz saw is on the same row, it upgrades the squares to wood and brick.
• Mansions Feature – This is where every hard hat automatically creates a mansion when it lands, no need for upgrades (this is the one everyone wants!).
• Super Features – In newer games, you can trigger Super versions of the above bonus rounds on expanded reels of 6x5.
• Wolf Feature – Randomly triggered, the wolf will howl to set off the bonus round.

Huff N’ Puff doesn’t have a reputation as a slot that will help you build up points and keep you playing for a long time. Having said that, it’s just good practice to play with your rewards card in. Plus, the original Huff N’ Puff is your best chance out of the whole franchise to stay in the game for longer. You can also pick up complimentary drinks while you play, which is always a nice bonus.

Huff N’ Puff has been a huge success for developer Light and Wonder. Never has a franchise grown so big in such a small amount of time. They have flooded the market with different games and variations. Almost to the point where players are a little bit fed up, if I’m being brutally honest.

With every new iteration, yes there’s excitement, but while the bonus rounds seem to get more impressive, they also seem harder to hit. There is a real danger of over-exposure to these games, where players are just given too much choice.

Going back to the original Huff N’ Puff slot game specifically, it’s actually a really good game to play. With the innovative bonus round, the fun graphics and characters and the decent line pays, it’s a great all-rounder. It's just been a little overshadowed these days. Well, a lot actually.  And because of that it’s becoming harder and harder to find on the casino floor.