Raise your glasses meine damen und herren (ladies and gentlemen), we’re off to Bavaria and Heidi’s Bier Haus, a 6 reel, 6 row, 50 payline game from WMS Gaming. Goodies on offer in this German hostelry include stacked wilds and a bonus round that awards up to 100 free spins initially with sticky wilds. Stakes range from between 75p and £45 per spin.
A traditional German beer hall is the setting here. The classic theme is maintained on the reels which feature an assortment of pretzels, hats, tubas, accordions and cottages. The top standard symbol is Hans who sports a rather fine moustache and pair of lederhosen. The stein of lager is the wild. Joining them are green, purple and red Heidi scatters. They won’t get you any payouts but are instrumental in landing the Free Spins Bonus feature.
First though, there’s the Tapper Bonus feature to consider – this hits at random and sees the busty barmaid turn on the beer taps above the reels. When they open, they’ll turn the whole of that reel wild – you can benefit from up to 6 wild reels if you’re lucky! A new payout is made with the wild reels in position.
The Free Spins Bonus feature is triggered by landing 5 or more of the green, purple or red Heidi scatters on successive reels on the same spin. That will get you a minimum award of 5 free spins. Each extra Heidi that lands on the triggering spin adds another 5 free spins to your total. Land 20 or more Heidi scatters and you’ll get 100 free spins!
If the triggering spin included a red Heidi (which can only land on reel 4), you’ll get to spin Heidi’s Wheel before the feature begins. This offers a chance to win 1 of 4 jackpot prizes, 3 Hans Spins where between 4 and 10 wilds are added or an extra 5, 7 or 10 free spins. In terms of the jackpot prizes, what you want is Heidi which will give you more than 5,000 times your stake!
The free spins round then starts – if there were any purple Heidi symbols on the triggering spin, they will turn into sticky wilds and lock in position throughout the free spins. You can land the stacked wilds from the Tapper Bonus feature during the free spins too. Re-triggers are possible too, allowing the opportunity to land even more free spins. The numbers on offer the same as if triggering in the base game.
With its cartoon visuals and classic oompah soundtrack, a trip to Heidi’s Bier Haus is a jaunty affair. We found it a little frustrating at times. The Tapper Bonus feature arrives regularly but we found the free spins much more difficult to land. They offer some decent opportunities when they do hit, especially if you get a decent number of sticky wilds on the triggering spin. Overall, we’d put the variance here in the high range.
A trip to a German bier keller can be a very enjoyable experience. – the same goes for Heidi’s Bier Haus. It’s an entertaining game and on the higher side variance wise so take it easy. If you’re lucky enough to get sticky wilds in the free spins as well as plenty of wild reels, you could be buying the beers yourself. I suggest you play Bier Haus which is the original video slot from WMS and a land based favourite.
