If you want a nice getaway from your day-to-day life, then a trip to Hawaii is probably the best option. The island's sun-kissed beaches have inspired many slot games, and ELK Studios has decided to take us there once again with the Hula Balua online slot. The game whisks us away to a tropical island and pulls us in even more with a selection of bonuses and good winning potential. Let’s pull up a sun lounger and learn more in this Hula Balua online slot review. 

As we mentioned in the introduction to this Hula Balua review, the action takes place in Hawaii, with the reels situated on a private beach. A little cabin is occupied by Elmo the Sloth, a returning character from the Tropicool 2 slot, who makes appearances at different points in the game. 

This slot is all about embracing the chilled-out atmosphere of the island, with a beautiful waterfall running in the background as you spin the reels. The graphics are excellent, with a cartoonish flair that looks great on mobile and desktop. The symbols consist of a selection of fruit, giving the game a slight mobile-game aesthetic. This is all complemented by a relaxing soundtrack that helps further set the mood. 

The bright colors and laid-back design of Hula Balua make the slot perfect for mobile play. The game has been optimized to run on both smartphones and tablets and is supported on iOS and Android operating systems. 

The Hula Balua slot takes place on a 6x6 game grid and uses a scatter pay mechanic like the one made popular in Pragmatic Play’s Gates of Olympus. Players need to have eight matching symbols anywhere across the reels to land a win. 

Whenever a win is formed, the symbols are removed from the reels, and new ones fall into their place. This continues happening until no new winning combinations can be created.

The stake for the game is adjusted using the coins icon in the bottom corner of the grid. The minimum stake in the slot is $0.20, and the maximum is $100, which is a fairly average betting range. 

ELK Studios enjoys loading its slots with engaging bonus features, and it has cut no corners with the Hula Balua online slot. 

One of the first bonuses you might encounter is the Sticky Redrops feature. This triggers any random spin, and when it does, a symbol is selected to become sticky. All instances of that symbol are then locked to the reels. Each additional symbol you land will cause another drop. The Sticky Symbols can be boosted in size up to 2x2 or 3x3. 

Big symbols can also be formed by matching symbols landing in a square or rectangular shape on the grid. These will then display multipliers based on the number of symbols that formed them. These multipliers are then applied to any wins on the grid. 

Elmo the Sloth makes an appearance for one of the bonuses. The Elmo Wild Drop feature sees him appear out of his house and move a reel to the left. He then adds a random number of Wilds to the grid. 

Finally, there is a free spins bonus, which is launched by landing three or more scatters. Three, four, five, or six rewards six, eight, ten, or 12 spins, respectively. It is also possible to trigger the Super Bonus Spins round by landing Super Bonus Symbols. During this round, each spin has guaranteed big symbols and multipliers. 

ELK Studios has also added the X-iter buy bonus feature to the game, allowing players to buy their way into the bonus round at different levels. 

The Hula Balua slot game has an RTP of 94%, which is disappointing and is below the industry average. It makes up for this elsewhere, though, serving up a maximum win of 25,000x your stake and a medium/high volatility model. 

The Hula Balua online slot is a really fun and engaging slot from ELK Studios. While the low RTP may be a little disappointing, the game makes up for this with a fun selection of bonus features and a good maximum win. The combination of big symbols, multipliers, tumbles, and free spins makes for some really engaging sequences that can serve up some nice wins at top online casinos.