Ugga Bugga (NTC33): how the ten-panel grid and HOLD buttons work
An odd one in the NTC33 lobby: ten 3-reel panels on a bamboo frame, one spin, then HOLD. Here is what happens on screen and how LINE BET turns into BET.
Cartridge label
- Layout
- 10 panels of 3 reels (2 columns x 5 rows)
- Line bet shown
- RM0.05
- Total bet shown
- RM0.50 (10 x line bet)
- Special button
- HOLD under each reel of the first panel
Controls
- PAYTABLE
- Shows the prize list
- BET ONE
- Steps the line bet up
- BET MAX
- Sets the top bet and spins
- SPIN
- Plays the round
- HOLD
- Keeps a reel of the first panel for the next stage
Ugga Bugga does not look like any other slot in the NTC33 lobby. Instead of one set of reels, the bamboo frame holds ten small three-reel windows, arranged as two columns of five, on parchment-coloured panels hung with jungle vines.
What you see at the start
Most of the grid is empty on the first spin. Only the bottom-left panel fills with symbols: in the hero shot, two pairs of drums and a WILD tile with a bird on it. The nine other panels stay blank for now.
Down the left side, under the yellow Ugga Bugga logo, are three wooden signs: LINE BET (RM0.05), BET (RM0.50) and WIN. Along the bottom: PAYTABLE, BET ONE, BET MAX, SPIN, and the coin value with minus and plus (RM0.01).
The HOLD step
After that first spin, three HOLD buttons appear under the reels of the bottom-left panel. You choose which of those reels to keep.
In the Playtech original, the reels you hold are copied into all ten panels, and the reels you did not hold spin separately in every panel. Each panel then pays as its own single-line game. The NTC33 screenshots match that: in the shot below, all three HOLD buttons are lit in yellow, and every one of the ten panels shows the same flower basket, orange mask and straw hut.
That also shows the trap. Holding all three reels just copies a losing combination ten times. Hold what already looks like part of a win (a WILD, or two matching symbols) and let the rest spin.
Why the bet is ten times the line bet
Ten panels means ten lines. LINE BET is what one panel costs, and BET is ten of them, so RM0.05 a line becomes RM0.50 a round. BET ONE nudges the line bet up, and BET MAX goes straight to the top, so read the BET sign rather than the line bet before you spin.
Symbols spotted on the reels: drums, a flower basket, an orange tribal mask, a straw hut and the WILD. The PAYTABLE button has the values.
See the NTC33 overview for more games in this lobby, or get an NTC33 game ID to try the hold mechanic yourself.
Press start
Want to play it on NTC33? Get a game ID through our partner link, then set a spending limit before the first round.