AFTER THE SPIN
Jumping Wilds carry the numbers. The frog gets the helicopters. Here’s how the two progress systems work, and what the first reviews picked up.
Welcome to AFTER THE SPIN. We look inside our games once the first reviews land: what we built, what reviewers picked up, and what deserves a closer look. First up: Bullfrogzilla.
We put a giant frog beside a miniature city. Asking it to keep a low profile was probably optimistic.
Bullfrogzilla is a monster-film slot from EXCO Game Studio, played on a 5×5 grid with 35 paylines. During Free Spins, Jumping Wilds carry collected multipliers between spins, while Charge symbols power the Bullfrog’s level progression.
That leaves you following a moving number while the frog and its helicopters compete for your attention.
Our founder, Fredrik Elmqvist, describes the action-game feel as intentional. Incoming events and charging are part of the rhythm we chose. The first reviews also gave us plenty to think about once the smoke cleared.
What the Bullfrogzilla reviews picked up
Bigwinboard praised the visual identity but found the mechanics crowded and short on tension. Adam Secker at Fruity Slots liked the accumulating Wild values, with concerns about the wait between bonuses and modest ordinary returns.
NovNetco appreciated the difference between base-game multipliers and bonus accumulation, while questioning bonus frequency and buy costs. Martin K. at AboutSlots liked the board-like presentation and old-school film atmosphere. He wanted the monster’s scale to register more strongly and found Wild/multiplier alignment frustrating, with bonus intensity depending on successful pickups.
Those observations concern different parts of the game. Making a pickup easier to see would help readability. It wouldn’t, by itself, answer a concern about how often the features combine into a satisfying win.
How Bullfrogzilla’s Jumping Wilds carry multipliers
Jumping Wilds remain throughout Free Spins and attempt a one-cell move between spins, horizontally, vertically or diagonally. A new Jumping Wild starts without a multiplier.
When a newly placed Multiplier Cell lands on a Jumping Wild’s position, the cell’s value adds to the multiplier that Wild carries. The accumulated value travels with it into subsequent spins. Walking onto an old cell isn’t the pickup rule.
For example, a Wild carrying 4× collects 10× and becomes 14×. It takes that 14× on its next jump. The carried number contributes to qualifying winning combinations; it doesn’t award a 14×-stake payout on its own.
Ordinary Multiplier Cells and generated extra Wilds reset after the spin. The Jumping Wild’s collected value stays with it, without leaving a trail or generating extra Wilds.
So, amid the wreckage, keep track of that Wild and the number it’s bringing along.
Two Jumping Wilds, two carried values: ×7 and ×3 in this frame. The Charge symbol feeds the frog’s separate progression.
How Charge symbols level up the Bullfrog
Collecting four Charge symbols during Free Spins powers the helicopters, raises the Bullfrog one level and awards three extra Free Spins. Collection stops at 16 symbols, with Level 4 the maximum. Each new multiplier pool applies from the following spin.
Level 0 already includes 10×. At Level 4, a generated Multiplier Cell can reach 50×. That’s the value a new cell can have, separate from a Wild’s accumulated total.
The Wild carries what it’s collected. The frog changes the pool for future placements. Both developments need to be visible while the city is having a thoroughly bad afternoon.
The Wilds in this frame carry ×3 and ×62. The frog and helicopters have their own progress to show.
Why the build feels more gradual
Fred considers Bullfrogzilla a more gradual build than Apex Dregs or Ministry of Like. He also points out that a couple of 10× pickups can build carried values quickly, including across several Wilds.
That describes a possibility. A busy screen can still end in a disappointing round, and waiting doesn’t make a bigger win due.
Charging and progression can happen without a winning line. Players need to see what each event changed while the monster is making a spectacle of itself.
What we want to make clearer
Two improvement priorities stand out: showing Jumping Wild pickups and carried values more clearly, and making the frog’s charging and level progression easier to track.
There’s room for a gigantic frog and a readable number in the same city.
Which would you make easier to follow first: the Wild’s carried value or the frog’s next level?
Full reviews: Bigwinboard · AboutSlots · Fruity Slots · NovNetco
18+ | Gambling involves risk. Play responsibly.