Wheel of Fortune Hawaiian Getaway Slots

If an idyllic getaway to Hawaii is not in the cards, don’t despair. You can have almost as much fun virtually in the Wheel of Fortune Hawaiian Getaway slot game

Have the time of your life enjoying a plethora of special features like wild and scatter symbols and the Big Kahuna respin, free spins, bonus wheel, and pointer frenzy features.

Wheel of Fortune Hawaiian Getaway basics

Wheel of Fortune Hawaiian Getaway is an online video slot by IGT, the same renowned casino gaming manufacturer that brought you the original Wheel of Fortune slot game and many other sequels, like Wheel of Fortune Triple Extreme Spin. Wheel of Fortune Hawaiian Vacation was released in 2018. It consists of 5 reels, 3 rows, and 25 fixed paylines.

What every slot game the lineup has in common–and don’t be surprised if there are more to come–is that it is based to some degree on the Wheel of Fortune TV show. Wheel of Fortune, which first aired back in 1975, long before any online slots existed, remains one of the most popular and longest running TV shows of all time. It has spawned more than a dozen slots with the same theme-based title.

Each Wheel of Fortune slot has its own distinctive features while staying true to the popular theme. Many major land-based and PA online casinos carry some versions of the many Wheel of Fortune slot games.

An online slot that makes you feel like you’re in Hawaii

Hawaii is a popular destination for the live shows aired on TV. It works equally well as the setting for the slot game Wheel of Fortune Hawaiian Getaway.

The game window has an ornamental bamboo frame while a beach in the background and relaxing Hawaiian music enhance the vacation vibe. However, any remote chance that the music might lull you to sleep is immediately quashed when six or more bonus scatter symbols land, followed by the loud announcement “Wheel of Fortune!”

Prizes and jackpots galore

Keep your eye on the prizes because this game is filled with them. You can’t win any trips or cars like on the TV show. But you could walk away with a bundle of cash, including any of five fixed jackpots! You’ll see them displayed over the game window in their corresponding colors: blue, purple green, silver, and gold.

Wheel of Fortune Hawaiian Getaway bet size, RTP, and volatility

Playing the Wheel of Fortune Hawaiian Getaway slot game can be a lot cheaper than taking a real vacation in Hawaii–or maybe not. This is a game that will appeal to virtually any size bettor from all but the smallest stakes players to high rollers. You can also play Wheel of Fortune Hawaiian Getaway in demo mode for no cost at all.

The default bet is 50 coins, and you must also play with all 25 paylines working. However, you can choose from a wide range of bet sizes simply by adjusting the coin value up or down. The minimum coin size is only a penny while the maximum is $10.00. This makes the minimum bet per spin 50 cents and the maximum $250.

Small stakes players need to be careful

The minimum bet of 50 cents, as small as it is, is still larger than the minimum for many other online slots. Small stakes players with limited bankrolls need to be very careful since this slot comes with a return to player (RTP) that is barely average. The published RTP is reported as ranging from 93,32% to 96.15%, with an average of 94.30%. Many Pennsylvania online slot games have a higher RTP.

Big wins are still possible since the RTP is a long-term projection based on many playing sessions. Therefore, how you fare in any individual session may differ markedly from this theoretical estimate in either direction. However, you can’t necessarily count on Lady Luck to be with you early on. So it is important to select a betting stake that will carry you through the negative swings, too.

Wheel of Fortune Hawaiian Getaway has medium volatility. So some ups and downs in your bankroll over the course of your play can be expected. During the base game, especially, the payouts usually don’t occur frequently enough, nor are they even large enough in most instances, to cover your bet size.

In fact, if you compare the paytable for this game with those of other online slots, you will see that even the payouts for five regular symbols in a row are relatively small. So your bankroll will probably move in a downward direction initially. Of course, that can change very quickly once you trigger one of the multiple bonus features. However, even then, your winnings in the bonus might not be enough to fully offset the deficit.

Don’t keep pressing your luck–if you’re ahead, quit while you’re a winner

If you score a big win, or at least a large enough win to put you ahead after you have been down, my advice is to lock in your profit immediately and end the session. If you continue playing, you face a strong likelihood of giving at least some and maybe all of your winnings back.

Wheel of Fortune Hawaiian Getaway symbols

Wheel of Fortune Hawaiian Getaway contains a total of nine regular symbols plus a wild symbol and scatter symbol.

All of the symbols except the scatter symbol can appear stacked.

Regular symbols

The five higher paying symbols each depict a different feature that’s associated with Hawaii. In descending order of value, they include the following:

• Surf: showing a surfer riding a wave
• Hula: depicting a dancing girl
• Tiki: the traditional statue
• Aloha: showing a beach
• Lava: lava with a volcano in the background

The four remaining lower paying regular symbols consist of the playing cards Jack (J) through Ace (A).

Winning combinations are formed in the same way as in most online slots. You need three or more matching symbols to line up adjacently on consecutive reels starting with the reel farthest to the left. The following paytable shows the payouts for 3, 4, or 5 of a kind for each of the nine regular symbols.

Wheel of Fortune Hawaiian Getaway paytable

No. of Coins paid out for different winning combinations

Special symbols

Wild symbol

The wild symbol is an intricate tile decorated with bamboo stacks with the word “WILD.” It can appear on every reel except reel 1 and can substitute for any other symbol except the bonus scatter symbol to help form or add to winning combinations. Unfortunately, the wild symbol on its own does not produce any payout in this game.

Bonus scatter symbol

The scatter symbol displays the words WHEEL BONUS SCATTER in big letters. The O in the word BONUS is depicted as the game’s iconic Wheel of Fortune.

If six or more bonus scatter symbols land simultaneously anywhere on the reels (not three as in many other online slots), you win 1x your bet immediately. You will also trigger the Wheel Bonus (see below).

Wheel of Fortune Hawaiian Getaway special bonus features

These special features are not only what make this game great fun to play, but also what add up to your best opportunities by far to score big payouts. There are a bunch of them, so pull up a comfortable chair and keep reading.

Big Kahuna respin feature

Three or more adjacent reels with a full stack of the same higher paying regular symbol either in the base game or the free spins bonus (described below) will trigger the Big Kahuna respin feature.

In addition to any triggering wins, you’re awarded an immediate respin with only the higher paying regular symbols appearing and a 2-5x multiplier. During the respin, each reel comprised of the triggering stacked symbol is reconfigured to display a single jumbo version of that symbol

The Big Kahuna respin feature can be retriggered up to 2x if at least one full stack of the same symbol lands adjacent to the jumbo symbol.

In the best case scenario. The whole screen will be transformed into one mega-size 5X3 symbol. If it happens to be the surfer symbol, you will win 62.5x your stake!

Bonus wheel

Six or more bonus scatter symbols anywhere on the reels in the base game will trigger 1 free spin on the bonus wheel, where you’re guaranteed to win something. The prize depends on where the pointer lands–either a specific prize amount multiplied by the coin size for the triggering bet or one of the following:

Free spins bonus

This prize consists of 10 free spins. But the free spins Bonus can be retriggered multiple times (up to 120 free spins) if six or more bonus scatter symbols show up again.

Jackpot bonus

If the bonus wheel lands on the jackpot bonus, you get to spin the jackpot wheel. Depending on where it lands–Blue, Purple, Green, Silver, or Gold—you will win 20x your bet, 50x your bet, 200x your bet, 500x your bet, or 1,0000x your bet, respectively.

Pointer Frenzy jackpot

If the bonus wheel lands here, you have won the Mother Lode. 3-6 additional pointers are randomly assigned, and you win all of the indicated prizes!

The bottom line

Wheel of Fortune Hawaiian Getaway is a highly enjoyable online slot game provided you go into it with the realistic expectation that you will probably not win a fortune.

In two of three playing sessions in demo mode, once with $10 bets and once with $15 bets, I triggered the Big Kahuna Bonus. However, neither of those bonus wins was enough to completely erase my earlier deficit in the base game.

My best session by far came when I triggered the the bonus wheel feature on a $15 bet and it landed on the pointer frenzy jackpot. I got 7 Pointers, adding up to a whopping $907.80 win. After subtracting a $486.90 deficit from the base game, it still left me with a net win of $486.90.

Wheel of Fortune Hawaiian Getaway is the type of game where you probably have to bet big to have a decent shot to win big.