Slots Like Hellapenos: An Expanding Devil Symbol Worth Up to 64x
Thunderkick built Hellapenos around an unusual 3-3-4-4-4 reel layout, three shorter columns on the left growing into three taller ones on the right, paying out across 100 fixed lines at a default RTP of 96.19%. The devil-and-chilli theme runs on two wild mechanics that work together: chilli-pepper Multiplier Wilds carrying a 2x multiplier apiece, and an Expanding Devil symbol that can only land on reels 3 to 5 but covers the whole reel and substitutes for everything except the scatter once it lands in a winning combo. Stakes run from £0.10 to £100, the game plays high to very high volatility depending on which tracker you check, and the ceiling sits at 5,000x your stake. If the idea of hunting compounding wild multipliers across an oddly shaped grid appeals, there’s a decent spread of slots like Hellapenos worth lining up against it.
Where to Play
18+ only. T&Cs apply. Please gamble responsibly.
How the Game Works
Reviewed by Brian TaylorPublished: July 2026
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Hellapenos drops you into a cartoon underworld built more for laughs than scares, all grinning devil totems, cracked lava floors and a bar stocked with hot-sauce bottles instead of anything more sinister. Thunderkick leans hard into the pepper pun that gives the game its name, and a jazz-inflected soundtrack keeps the whole thing feeling like a rowdy speakeasy rather than a horror theme, which fits the studio’s usual habit of taking a dark idea and playing it for personality instead of dread.
The 3-3-4-4-4 grid takes a spin or two to read properly since it doesn’t match the symmetrical 5×3 or 5×4 layouts most players are used to, but once it clicks the shape does some of the design work for the wild mechanics on its own. Reels 3 to 5 are the taller ones, and that’s also the only place the Expanding Devil is allowed to land, so the extra rows give it more room to matter and more symbols to convert whenever it triggers.
This is a game for players who enjoy watching multipliers stack rather than chasing a steady drip of small wins. The base game can run quiet for a stretch between Multiplier Wilds showing up, so anyone after frequent little payouts may find the pacing frustrating, but if the appeal is waiting for two or three wilds to line up on the same spin and seeing the total climb, Hellapenos plays to that instinct well.
Symbols and Paytable
The paytable follows Thunderkick’s usual two-tier split. Card royals from 10 through Ace make up the low end and pay the smallest amounts, while a run of potion-bottle symbols in green and purple sit above them as the mid-tier group. The devil head is the highest-paying regular symbol on the reels, and the chilli-pepper Multiplier Wild substitutes for it and everything below in any winning line, before its own 2x or stacked multiplier is applied to the win. Thunderkick’s in-game info screen is the place to check exact per-symbol payout values, since specific stake multipliers for each tier weren’t confirmed to the same precision across our sources for this title.
Bonus Features Explained
Multiplier Wilds
Chilli-pepper Wild symbols can land anywhere on the grid during both the base game and free spins, and each one carries a default 2x multiplier. Land more than one on the same spin and Thunderkick multiplies rather than adds their values together, so three separate 2x wilds combine into an 8x total (2 x 2 x 2) applied to any winning line they help complete.
Expanding Devil Symbol
The Expanding Devil can only appear on reels 3, 4 and 5. When it forms part of a winning combination it expands to cover the entire reel and substitutes for every symbol except the scatter. If the expansion happens to cover a Multiplier Wild, the Devil also picks up that x2 multiplier, and when several expanded Devils land together with multipliers attached, Thunderkick’s own published figures put the combined ceiling at up to 64x on a single spin.
Random Wilds
There’s a secondary way Multiplier Wilds can show up beyond landing naturally. When reels 1 and 2 display stacked symbols, the game automatically drops 1 to 3 extra Multiplier Wilds onto reels 3 to 5, giving the Expanding Devil more targets to work with on that same spin.
Free Spins
Landing three Scatter symbols across reels 3, 4 and 5 triggers the free spins round, which opens with 7 spins and keeps the Expanding Devil permanently active for the whole bonus. Landing an Expanding Devil on a given reel during the round locks that reel active for the rest of the round and adds 3 extra spins, and this can happen once per reel, so a full run of retriggers can add up to 9 spins on top of the starting 7.
Bonus Buy
Players outside the UK can pay 70x their current stake to skip straight into the free spins round, and taking this route lifts the effective RTP slightly to 96.31%. UK gambling regulations don’t permit direct feature-buy purchases, so this option isn’t available on UK-licensed sites, and the free spins here can only be reached by landing three scatters during ordinary play.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- The 3-3-4-4-4 grid across 100 fixed paylines gives Hellapenos a genuinely different shape from the usual symmetrical layout
- Two separate wild mechanics, the chilli Multiplier Wilds and the Expanding Devil, work together so multipliers can compound quickly even outside free spins
- The reel-locking retrigger system in free spins rewards a hot run with real extra spins instead of cutting the bonus off at a fixed number
- A 96.19% default RTP sits close to the UK online average even before the Bonus Buy variant is factored in
- The comic-horror art direction and jazz-tinged audio give the theme more personality than most devil-themed slots manage
Cons
- High to very high volatility, with sources disagreeing on the exact label, means dry spells between meaningful wins are common
- Bonus Buy entry isn’t available to UK players under current gambling regulations, so that shortcut into free spins is closed here
- The 5,000x max win ceiling is solid but sits below what some rival hell-themed multiplier slots offer
- The non-standard grid can take a spin or two to get used to if you’re used to symmetrical 5×3 layouts
- The Expanding Devil only ever appears on reels 3 to 5, so reels 1 and 2 can feel comparatively flat by comparison
Game Screenshot
Demo Play
Hellapenos is widely available to play for free in demo mode at UK-facing casinos that carry Thunderkick’s catalogue, and Thunderkick’s own site also runs a playable demo build. It’s a useful way to get a feel for how often the Expanding Devil shows up before committing any real stakes, though demo credits obviously don’t reflect how a real-money session with your own bankroll will play out.
Expert Take
What stands out about Hellapenos next to Thunderkick’s other releases is how much of the win potential is tied up in a symbol that can only ever appear on three of the five reels. That constraint could easily have made the game feel lopsided, but the taller four-row columns on reels 3 to 5 give the Expanding Devil enough room to actually matter, and the reel-locking retrigger system means a good free spins run can genuinely snowball rather than just running out the clock on a fixed spin count. It isn’t going to challenge Thunderkick’s very biggest releases for volatility or ceiling, but it’s a well-built mid-tier slot with a theme that has more character than most devil-themed titles manage.
Similar Slots to Try
Another Thunderkick hell-themed release, this one trades the pepper pun for a three-headed hound and pairs 9 to 243 ways with expanding wilds and free spins at a near-identical 96.15% RTP.
Pragmatic Play’s heaven-and-hell split grid runs a similar expanding-wild-with-multiplier idea, reaching up to x100 per wild and a much higher 15,000x ceiling than Hellapenos offers.
Thunderkick’s own Day of the Dead cascader swaps paylines for clusters, but the same appetite for snowballing multipliers carries over, with its Mucho Multiplier trail climbing as high as 1,024x in free spins.
Pragmatic Play’s compounding-wild Megaways release gives a similar escalating-multiplier feel to Hellapenos’s stacking chilli wilds, just delivered through a shifting reel count instead of a fixed grid.
About the Developer
Hellapenos comes from Thunderkick, the independent Stockholm studio founded in 2012 by a group of former NetEnt developers. The company has stayed independent since launch, with Jan Lunde as CEO and an in-house team of more than 80 people designing and building every release itself rather than outsourcing development. Thunderkick holds supplier licences with the UK Gambling Commission, the Malta Gaming Authority and Sweden’s Spelinspektionen, alongside market entries added for Romania, the Netherlands and Germany between 2020 and 2021, and its RNG fairness is certified by QUINEL. The studio operates through two named entities, Thunderkick AB and Thunderkick Malta Ltd, and Hellapenos sits among its more recent theme-driven releases, having launched in December 2023.
Other Thunderkick games worth trying after Hellapenos, all reviewed on SlotsLike, are Riders Of The Storm, Sword of Arthur and Grand Melee.
A storm-chasing Thunderkick release on a 5×3, 243-ways grid, pairing free spins with expanding wilds at a 96.15% RTP.
One of Thunderkick’s newer releases, built around a multiplier that keeps climbing without resetting between spins.
A tournament-themed release from Thunderkick’s recent slate, built around a sticky respin mechanic rather than expanding wilds.
Hellapenos Key Stats
Hellapenos slot information last reviewed: July 2026
| Hellapenos Slot Info | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Hellapenos |
| Provider: | Thunderkick |
| Developer Rank: | 16 out of 49 Thunderkick games |
| RTP: | 96.19% (recorded as 96.18% on one extraction of Thunderkick’s own page; the Bonus Buy variant, not available to UK players, runs at 96.31%) |
| RTP Category: | Medium-High |
| RTP Rank: | Above UK average |
| Feature Description: | Multiplier Wilds (2x, stacking up to 8x from three wilds), Expanding Devil Symbol (reels 3-5 only, combined multipliers up to 64x), Random Wilds, 7 Free Spins with reel-locking retriggers (up to +9 spins), Bonus Buy (non-UK). |
| Feature Categories: | Wild Multipliers, Free Spins, Bonus Buy |
| Reels: | 5 |
| Rows: | 3-3-4-4-4 (non-standard) |
| Paylines: | 100 (fixed) |
| Volatility: | High |
| Volatility Rank: | High to Very High |
| Min Bet: | £0.10 |
| Max Bet: | £100 |
| Max Win: | 5,000x stake |
| Release Date: | 6 December 2023 |
| Slotslike Rank: | 745 out of 4,200+ games (View Top 100) |
Slots with the Same Features
This game falls into the following bonus categories: Wild Multipliers, Free Spins and Bonus Buy.
Thunderkick’s own 100th release runs a close cousin of the same idea, with Multiplier Wilds worth 1x to 5x stake on the middle three reels that combine their values when more than one lands together.
A different grid entirely at 6 reels and 4,096 ways, but Thunderkick built it around its own stacking multiplier wild mechanic, giving it a similar escalating feel to Hellapenos’s chilli wilds.
This 5×3, 35-payline Thunderkick release pairs free spins with expanding wilds and increasing multipliers, the same three ingredients Hellapenos leans on, just wrapped in a cat theme instead of a devil one.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the Expanding Devil feature work in Hellapenos?
The Expanding Devil symbol can only land on reels 3, 4 and 5. When it’s part of a winning combination it expands to cover the whole reel and substitutes for every symbol except the scatter. If the expansion covers a Multiplier Wild it also picks up that wild’s 2x multiplier, and combined multipliers from several expanded Devils on the same spin can reach up to 64x.
What is the RTP of Hellapenos?
The default build runs at 96.19%, though Thunderkick’s own game page has been recorded showing 96.18% too, most likely a rounding difference between sources. The Bonus Buy version, where available outside the UK, runs slightly higher at 96.31%.
What is the maximum win on Hellapenos?
5,000x your total stake. There’s no separate coin-based jackpot figure attached to Hellapenos, so that multiplier applies directly to whatever you’re staking per spin.
Is Hellapenos high volatility?
It’s rated high to very high depending on the source, with no single official star rating published by Thunderkick to pin the label down further. Expect real swings between quiet spells and the bigger multiplier-stacking spins.
What are the best slots like Hellapenos?
Beat The Beast Cerberus Inferno is the closest match for theme and studio, since it’s another Thunderkick hell-set release with expanding wilds. Angel vs Sinner offers a similar expanding-wild-with-multiplier idea from Pragmatic Play with a much bigger ceiling, Esqueleto Explosivo 3 gives you Thunderkick’s own cascading take on stacking multipliers, and Muertos Multiplier Megaways delivers the same escalating feeling through a shifting Megaways reel count.
Can I play Hellapenos for free?
Yes, a free demo is widely available at UK-facing casinos that carry Thunderkick’s catalogue, and it typically runs the standard 96.19% build, so it’s a fair way to see how often the Expanding Devil and Multiplier Wilds actually show up before staking real money.
Who makes Hellapenos?
Thunderkick, the independent Stockholm studio founded in 2012. Hellapenos launched in December 2023 and sits among the studio’s more recent theme-driven releases alongside titles like 3 Wildos and Sword of Arthur.
Our Verdict on Hellapenos
Hellapenos earns its spot as one of Thunderkick’s more interesting recent releases because the Expanding Devil actually respects the shape of its own grid rather than being bolted on. Confining it to the taller reels 3 to 5 gives it room to do real damage when it lands, and pairing it with the separately-triggered chilli Multiplier Wilds means the base game has more than one route to a decent multiplier stack. The reel-locking retrigger system in free spins is a nice touch too, rewarding a hot run rather than cutting it off after a fixed number of spins. It won’t suit anyone chasing a steady trickle of small wins, the volatility is genuinely high, and UK players don’t get the Bonus Buy shortcut into the bonus round that some other markets do. If the compounding-wild chase across an oddly shaped grid sounds appealing, Beat The Beast Cerberus Inferno and Esqueleto Explosivo 3 are the next Thunderkick titles worth trying.
SlotsLike rating: 7/10