
Stake.US recently launched a new crash-style game called Pump, with the unique feature that players can choose their own volatility level.
In it, players pump up a balloon and choose when to end play to collect their prize or keep pumping in the hopes of getting a higher multiplier. Pump with care, though—the balloon could pop at any moment, resulting in a loss.
Before each round, players can select a Difficulty Level, which affects how fast the prize multiplier increases, but also how likely the balloon is to pop.
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I played Pump until I popped
Okay, not really. But I did give Pump a hearty try, and it’s in line with other crash-style games at sweepstakes casinos. The differentiating factor for Pump? The player is more “in control” than in a typical crash game. In Pump, you click “Pump” to start the game. The red balloon—which admittedly looks a little risqué when it’s deflated—hangs limp and immediately inflates after the first pump. It also shows a multiplier based on your volatility selection.
After each pump, you have a decision to make. Do you click “Cashout” and leave with the multiplier showing on the balloon? Or do you risk another pump for a higher multiplier? The next possible multiplier is always listed at the top of the game screen, so you can decide if another pump is worth it. The balloon is more likely to pop the higher you go.
Customize your Pump experience
Pump is a simple game—pump the balloon, end the game when you wish to collect, and try to do the latter before the balloon pops and leaves you with nothing.
Stake.US has injected some customization elements into the game to make it a fit for anyone who wants to give it a go. In “Manual” mode, you choose whether to pump or collect after each successful go. You can also choose between four “Difficulty” levels, which change the game’s volatility. These are easy, medium, hard, and expert.
Don’t let those labels fool you; there is no skill involved in Pump whatsoever. Instead, these levels indicate how likely the balloon is to pop on any given pump and the multipliers you get for each pump without a pop.
For example, the multiplier on “Medium” starts at 1x. On your first successful pump, it moves up to 1.11x, then to 1.27x on your third, and 1.46x on your fourth. “Hard,” however, has a 1x multiplier, then 1.23x, 1.55x, 1.98x, and upward. You can use these levels to cater your experience to your play style. If you prefer each pump to have more risk but also more reward potential, give Hard or Expert a go. For more frequent but smaller wins, try Easy or Medium.
Pump has Autoplay
If you ant to play multiple consecutive games of Pump without manually clicking each time, you can use Autoplay. It allows you to toggle various options, such as:
- Play amount
- Difficulty
- Pumps per game
- Number of games
- Stop on Net Gain
- Stop on Loss
You can even choose to increase or decrease your bet after a win or loss. Pump also lets you stop Autoplay, readjust your parameters, then resume without starting your Autoplay games over.
More on crash games
Pump falls into the crash game genre. Traditionally, these games feature aviation or space flight themes, rather than balloon inflation. The gameplay tasks players with deciding whether to carry on or collect and end the game before a random “crash” (thus the name) happens.
According to Bonus.com, the concept originated in 2014 under the name MoneyPot and was aimed at crypto investors, simulating the bubble-and-crash pattern of many cryptocurrencies. In the last 10 years, Crash has evolved and spread to multiple sweepstakes casinos and expanded to encompass new formats or play styles, such as Pump.