We are travelling to unexplored frontiers of space with Monster Pop, a five-reel video slot that benefits from cluster pays. Plenty of odd creatures will be waiting for us on this strange planet and on the reels. Do not be afraid, because they are friendly and will help you land wins up to 1921.12 times the bet in a single spin. Playable from $0.25 per spin, the 2020 release offers Monster Cloner, Oracle Eye Wilds, and Flaming Sphere Free Spins, which offer up to 17 freebies at once.
If you think that life is easy on a new planet, think again, since there are several rules you need to obey if you want to survive here. The Betsoft product features 5 reels, 4 rows and benefits from Cluster Pays, meaning that you need to land clusters of four or more matching icons, horizontally or vertically adjacent, in order to start winning payouts. Every spin will cost you 25 coins, but the coin value can be changed, so you can wager as low as $0.25 and as high as $26.25 per single spin.
As for the visuals, gamers will have the impression they are in an animated video for children. Colourful design, little monsters that are always smiling, and an odd soundtrack that can be heard in the background. There are eight different monsters that are populating the reels, the one that resembles a Star is leading the pack. Wild is the Oracle Eye and it will substitute for all other regular symbols. The Monster Cloner is in charge of expanding the reel grid, while the Flaming Sphere is Scatter that triggers the Free Spins feature.
The Monster Cloner icon can appear on any spin and once it does, it has the ability to expand the game area, up to the maximum of 13x13, adding a new row or a reel or even both at the same time. Once the grid is expanded, the Monster Cloner will add Wilds on the new cells, helping you land bigger wins. If you land a losing spin, the monsters on the reels can get angry and develop a Cloner Bomb, which will spread the Monster Cloner around the reel gird, or they can switch places and create a winning spin.
As for the Free Spins feature, a player can trigger it by landing three or more Flaming Spheres on the reels, guaranteeing you 7 free spins. Also, for every Sphere landed, gamers will get 1 extra freebie, so the least you can get is 10 and the maximum is set at 17. The best part of the story is that the reel expansion in the Free Spins feature does not reset after every spin like in the base game.
Even though we are not that big fans of aliens and monsters from outer space, we are willing to make an exception this time, because we really feel that BetSoft has done a very good job with Monster Pop. Great visuals, very good gameplay, and plenty of extras that can keep you busy for quite a while. Our personal favourite is the Free Spins feature since the grid expansion does not reset after a spin, so you can play the game with a max of 13x13.
