The figure: 96%
The rules inside the 100HP client give Hotline Money a return to player of 96%, and the studio prints the same number on its own game panel. Those are the two places it appears, and both belong to the provider.
HotLine by Spribe and Hotline by NetEnt are different games with their own figures. The 96% on this page belongs to Hotline Money by 100HP.
What the number describes
A return figure is a long-run average. It describes what proportion of everything staked comes back to players across a span of rounds so large that no individual session registers on it. The 100HP rules say as much: RTP works over the long run, and in a short session the result can be much higher or lower.
The figure is therefore a long-run measure. The run you are about to take and the step you will stop on are yours to decide. Two players reading the same figure can have very different nights, and both nights sit comfortably inside it.
It is useful for comparing games and of little use as a guide to the next twenty minutes.
The figure in numbers
A 96% RTP means that across a very large number of rounds, 96 of every 100 units staked come back to players. Staking 1 000 USD in total over that span returns 960 USD on average. The rules give a single figure for the whole game, so the same 96% covers Easy and Hard alike, and it is the number to use when you compare Hotline Money with other instant games.
Limits that sit beside it
The demo’s Game limits panel lists a minimum bet of 0.1 USD, a maximum bet of 150 USD and a maximum payout of 10 000 USD. The pre-bet screen adds a top multiplier per mode: x2031.63 on Easy and x54515.98 on Hard. Your casino lobby lists the limits that apply to your account.
What this game includes
Hotline Money is Provably Fair, and the check belongs to the game itself. It has three stages and you can run it yourself.
Before you play, the outcome of the round is fixed and a fingerprint of it is shown to you. The rules put it the same way: the result is generated randomly before the round starts and does not depend on the player’s actions. You hold that fingerprint while the outcome stays hidden.
While you play, the sealed outcome stays fixed. You choose door A or door B at each step, clear opponents, and either press Withdraw or keep going towards the boss. None of it changes the answer that was locked before you started.
When the round closes, the client releases the string it withheld. With that string, the round’s own reference and the fingerprint you kept, you can recompute and compare.
A match confirms that the round you played is the round that was sealed, which is the whole purpose of the check. Take a round you can check and run it once.
What the check adds to a percentage
A long-run average describes a very large number of rounds, most of which you will never play. A round check describes the round you just played.
If a result surprises you, the check gives you a definite answer. Running it once is enough to see how it works.
The check is the same in a desktop browser, in an installed app on an Android handset, and behind a home-screen icon on an iPhone, because verification is part of the game client.
One habit worth forming
Copy the fingerprint before the round starts. Everything else is recorded against the round and will still be there afterwards, but the fingerprint only counts if you held it before the outcome. Screenshot it or note it down for the length of a session.
If a run then ends in a way you did not expect, you can check it and get a definite answer.
Risk, set your way
Easy and Hard form the risk dial. The in-game rules sum it up in one line: the higher risk level offers larger multipliers and a greater chance of defeat. The pre-bet screen shows the largest result each mode can reach, x2031.63 on Easy and x54515.98 on Hard, so you can pick the profile that fits the session.
The rest of the page describes the run and the parts that travel with every screen. To try the check, play a round and verify it yourself.