Each week, CasinoBeats takes a look at the latest slots the online casino industry has to offer. This week’s selection includes ELK Studios’ intriguing insects, Tiki treasures from Stakelogic and the wrath of Thunderkick’s dragon.
Buggin – ELK Studios
ELK Studios latest slot release contains wild features galore as players spin the reels on a 7×7 board that uses cluster-pays of five or more identical symbols. While offering a maximum win of x10,000, the game has medium-high volatility with an RTP of 94 per cent.
Wins are formed in this slot when identical symbols appear in adjacent clusters of five or more, with payouts being provided for clusters as big as 12 symbols.
Throughout the game, cascading wins occur causing winning symbols to disappear after providing their payouts, making way for new symbols to drop in from the top of the board.
While most symbols will appear as standard 1×1-sized symbols, there is a chance for giant 2×2 or 3×3 symbols to appear, acting as four or six individual identical symbols, respectively.
Additionally, all winning combinations that disappear are guaranteed to leave one wild symbol behind.
If two wild symbols contribute to the same winning cluster, they will combine after the payout is provided. Merged wilds will gain a x2 multiplier, which increases if this wild ends up merging with other wilds.
Two wilds with multipliers merging will cause the multipliers to be added together and presented on the single merged wild.
Collecting wins on the same spin can activate the bonus wild meter that sits above the reel set, with three consecutive wins activating the first of five wild features.
After three wins, one of five random wild features will be selected to appear after the next cascade.
These wild features include:
- Big wilds that expands one randomly chosen standard symbol on the board and enlarges it to be either 2×2 or 3×3-sized
- Multiplying wilds that add a multiplier value to all wild symbols on the board that haven’t contributed to a win
- Random wilds that replace between two and four standard symbols with wilds
- Removing wilds that remove all the lowest-paying symbols from the board
- Upgrading symbols that transform low value symbols to their high value colour counterparts
Furthermore, one of the five spaces on the wild meter will contain a keyhole embellishment. If enough wins occur on the same spin to reach this section of the wild meter, a special wild redrops feature will be activated, awarding a free respin with guaranteed wild features.
Tiki Tiki Hold ‘n’ Win – Stakelogic
Stakelogic transports players to a beachside paradise in its latest Tiki-themed slot title, presenting a 5×4 reel grid which also uses cluster-pays, but with four or more identical symbols.
Players can obtain a maximum win of x10,000 in this highly volatile slot release which uses an RTP of 96.05 per cent.
Daniela Fricchione, Head of Account Management at Stakelogic, said: “Tiki Tiki Hold ‘N’ Win whisks players away from their day-to-day lives and invites them to spend some time on a beautiful remote island in the South Pacific.
“Tiki-themed slots have always been a huge hit with players, and we wanted to put our own twist on the theme with Tiki Tiki Hold ‘N’ Win.
“We took everything players love about the genre and turned it up to eleven, packing the slot with dynamic bonuses and some huge winning potential. It is one of the most colourful and action-packed games in our portfolio, and we can’t wait to see how players react when it hits online casinos.”
Gold coins can drop into play displaying monetary values between x1 and x50 the player’s bet. Landing five or more coins on the same spin will trigger the Hold ‘n’ Win game mode, in which the coins’ values can be won.
Additionally, treasure chest symbols can land on the fifth reel, collecting all values from coins across the reels and awarding them to the player.
Bonus Tiki mask scatters can also appear, triggering the fortune wheel feature when three or more land on the same spin.
Landing three scatters activates the standard fortune wheel, while four scatters trigger the mega fortune wheel and five activates the epic fortune wheel.
Furthermore, wild W symbols are available, substituting for all symbols other than the coins, treasure chests and Tiki mask scatters. Landing wilds in winning clusters can also provide wins from x1 to x200 the player’s bet.
Winning clusters are formed when four or more identical symbols land adjacent to one another. The highest wins for each symbols’ cluster will be provided for clusters of 15 or more symbols.
Additionally, all winning clusters that are formed will trigger the respin feature, causing the winning symbols to stay sticky on the board while the rest of the reels respin.
If winning symbols drop in to add to the initial winning cluster, they will bring a multiplier with them, starting at x2 and increasing by a value of one with every subsequent respin.
In the Hold ‘n’ Win game mode, players are given three spins to land as many gold coins on an empty reel set as possible. Each symbol that appears will reset the number of spins to three.
Once all three spins have been completed, players will receive the accumulated value of all gold coins and treasure chests that have appeared on the reels.
When four coins land adjacent to one another, they will merge and transform into a treasure chest to create more space on the board. These treasure chests will not perform their collect features as they do in the base game.
Moreover, if four treasure chest symbols land adjacent to each other in a cluster during this feature, they will also merge, creating more space on the board while adding all of their individual values together.
From the standard bonus wheel, players can win between eight and 15 free spins or access to the Hold ‘n’ Win game mode. Access to this wheel can be bought for x100 the player’s bet.
The mega bonus wheel offers between eight and 15 free spins, but with more chances to win the 15, as well as access to the Hold ‘n’ Win game mode. This wheel can be bought for x120.
Lastly, the epic bonus wheel offers between eight and 15 free spins, with even more chances to win the 15 spins. This wheel can be bought for x150.
Beat the Beast: Dragon’s Wrath – Thunderkick
Thunderkick’s latest slot saw players face a fearsome dragon as free spins and roaming wilds are on offer in this 5×3 reel slot with nine-paylines and a maximum win of up to x11,111 the player’s wager. This slot is also highly volatile, with an RTP of 96.18 per cent.
Mike Collins, Product Owner at Thunderkick, commented: “Beat the Beast makes its triumphant return with Dragon’s Wrath, our sixth entry in the series that takes the action to all-new heights with a thrilling bonus round.
“With Dragon Emblems multiplying winning chances in the base game, alongside Roaming Wilds making win multipliers up to x150 possible during the free spins round, this is a fantastic return to a franchise that players around the world continue to love.”
Dragon orb scatters can appear, which also act as wild symbols by substituting for all symbols in the game. Each scatter wild will also depict a multiplier value of x2.
Landing three dragon orb scatter wilds on the same spin will activate the free spins game mode.
For this free spins feature, each scatter wild that appears will become a roaming wild. These roaming wilds will stay sticky on the reels in between free spins, moving to new positions on every spin.
Each time a roaming wild contributes to a win, one free spin will be added to the counter. Additionally, the contributing wild’s multiplier will be added to one random roaming wild that is present on the reels.
Players can buy access to this free spins feature for the price of x125 their stake.
Rise of Zeus – Belatra Games
Belatra Games took players up in the clouds for its latest slot, showcasing a 5×4 reel grid with 25-paylines and a maximum win of x10,000 the player’s bet. With an RTP of 96.02 per cent, this title is highly volatile.
Sergey Chernyavski, Belatra Games CCO, commented: “Players will love the chance to experience the power of Zeus and the allure of ancient mythology in this enthralling new slot game. The two in-game features add an extra layer of entertainment as players attempt to reach the summit of Mount Olympus.”
When a gold Zeus scatter drops into play without triggering the free spins feature, it will spin through the standard paytable symbols, choosing one to become enhanced.
This chosen symbol will then become sticky for everywhere that it appears across the board, as free respins occur until a win is formed by any symbol. All wild symbols that appear on the board with the golden Zeus scatter will also become sticky for these respins.
When one or more wilds contribute to the same winning combination, they will apply a multiplier to the payout, depending on how many wilds contributed.
One, two, three, four or five wilds on the same payline will multiply the winning payout by x2, x4, x8, x16 or x32 respectively.
In the free spins feature, a golden Zeus scatter is guaranteed to appear on every spin, activating the sticky spins feature.
Collecting three scatters throughout the free spins game mode will add three spins to the counter, with a maximum number of 15 spins available.
All wilds that appear in the free spins will remain sticky on the board for the duration of the game mode.
Additionally, throughout the base game and free spins, a giant Zeus feature can occur, causing one or more wild symbols to be thrown onto the board.
Players can buy access to the free spins feature for the price of x100 their stake.