AvatarUX has been facing difficulties with the spin pace since the beginning, especially when we started focusing on it in our reviews. Some of the previous games have been improved with a turbo option, which could have solved the issue with LolliPop as well. The pause before and after each spin is quite frustrating, which is a shame because the 10th release in the PopWins mechanic series is otherwise quite interesting. The candy visuals may not be the most original, but the StickyPop Respins feature with its unlocking reel multiplier system sets the base game apart in a positive way. The PopWins mechanic expands the grid, reaching up to 7 rows and 33,614 win ways in the bonus round. The hold-and-win style feature includes a clever cash scatter upgrade system, which can potentially lead to wins of up to 13,000x your stake. The premium symbols pay 1 to 4 times your stake for 5 of a kind wins, and symbols pay both ways. The StickyPop feature triggers on each win, making all instances of the winning symbol sticky as the remaining positions respin. This continues indefinitely as long as you keep adding to the win, and reels expand by 1 row per winning combination, up to 5 rows in the base game. When you fill a base game reel with 5 rows, you unlock a multiplier. Each filled reel adds 1 to the multiplier within the same respin sequence. At the end of the respins, your total win is boosted by the sum of the unlocked multipliers, which can reach up to x6. The Bonus Round is triggered when you land 3, 4, or 5 scatters in the same respin sequence, and you have the option to gamble for taller starting reels and extra lives. If you lose, you are taken back to the base game. The gamble feature plays out in 2 stages, with the best possible result being 5 starting lives on a 5×5 starting grid. The hold-and-win style Bonus Round includes scatter cash symbols and hearts, as well as blanks that have no effect. Both types of symbols become sticky when they land, and scatters have cash values ranging from 1x to 500x your stake. Hearts increase the number of respins by 1 or 2. Both symbol types also add 1 row to relevant reels, up to a maximum of 7 rows. A fully expanded 5×7 grid offers 33,614 win ways, and the expanded reels do not reset in the bonus round. The Scatter Upgrade system is also active during the bonus round. When a certain number of a specific scatter type becomes sticky, all instances of that scatter type are upgraded to the next prize tier. Only 2 of the 1x scatter are required for an upgrade, while 7 or more of the 100x scatter upgrades all scatters to the top-tier 500x scatter. All scatters on a fully expanded reel double in value, and the scatter upgrade trail on the left keeps track of the progress. For players in eligible jurisdictions (excluding the UK), there are 2 Bonus Buy options available. The regular upgradable bonus round can be purchased for 75x your stake, while the Bonus Buy Max option can be purchased for 500x your stake. The Bonus Buy Max option gives you a 5×5 starting grid with 5 respin lives, which is the best outcome from the gamble feature. We didn’t experience anything particularly exciting in the base game, but we did see a few PopWins. We purchased the bonus round 1 minute into the 2:29-minute highlights video and had some luck in the gamble feature. Overall, the PopWin mechanic has a decent pace this time, but AvatarUX still struggles with the game pace calibration. There is an awkward delay between hitting the spin button and the reels actually spinning, and the spin button remains inactive for even longer after each spin. While pace may not be everything, it is certainly an important aspect of the game, and we found ourselves repeatedly pressing the spin button in frustration. This issue should have been resolved long ago, as it is a simple and obvious fix. It’s disappointing that such a small issue overshadows the enjoyable features of the StickyPop multiplier system and the scatter upgrade bonus round. The game has a solid potential of 13,000x, indicating that AvatarUX has made progress compared to their earlier releases.
