Big Time Gaming made a real revolution with the release of the Megaways video slots back in the days, and, as a result of the release of this revolutionary game engine, which gave players a chance to benefit from up to 117,649 ways to win, the good people of BTG decided that it was time to release something fresh and original.
Until now, there are around 100 video slots that work on the Megaways game engine. The next step was to create the Megaclusters video slot. In this text, we will try to explain how the Megaclusters video slots function and predict whether they will be as popular as the Megaways games.
How Does a Megacluster Video Slot Works?
Most of you probably had the pleasure of playing the Star Clusters Megaclusters video slot, released by Big Time Gaming earlier this year, being the first Megaclusters video slot that saw the light of day. We will use it as an example to show you how the revolutionary new game engine functions.
First of all, you start with a 4×4 reel grid, with 16 Megaclusters, and spin the reels, trying to create a winning cluster of 5 or more horizontally or vertically adjacent matching symbols. Once that happens, every winning symbol will be replaced by 4 smaller icons that will take their place, thanks to the Reactions feature.
If another winning cluster is made from the smaller icons, the winning symbols will be destroyed and replaced by new symbols of the same size, giving you another opportunity to land a winning cluster and to increase your wins. Just like in the Megaways video slots, the Reactions will continue until there are no more winning symbols on the reels.
If all cells on the reels are included in the winning symbols, you will get an 8×8 reel grid. After a non-winning spin, the reel grid is reset back to 4×4 and you get 16 Megaclusters, just like in the beginning.
The Function of Two Wilds in Megaclusters
In Star Clusters Megaclusters, players have two Wilds that can appear on the reels. The regular Wild will substitute for all icons on the reels but the Gold Wild. The Gold Wild replaces all symbols in a winning cluster. The function of the Gold Wild is to increase the Gold Wild Multiplier.
Every time a Gold Wild is a part of the winning cluster, it will increase the Gold Wild Multiplier by 1x. The win multiplier starts at 1x and it can go up indefinitely. The sad part of the story is that the Gold Wild Multiplier is reset after each non-winning reaction. But, if you manage to trigger the Free Spins feature before the Gold Wild Multiplier is reset, it will be carried over to freebies and continue to rise.
How to Trigger the Free Spins Feature?
Unlike in other video slots where you need to land Scatters in order to trigger the Free Spins feature, in Star Clusters Megaclusters you need to land a certain number of successive winning clusters so as to activate the Free Spins feature.
Land at least 5 successive winning clusters and you will get 2 free spins for your trouble. If more than 5 successive winning reactions are landed, you get more freebies. Every additional winning reaction after the fifth one will get you an extra free spin. If, for example, you land 10 successive winning clusters, you will get 6 free spins.
As we have mentioned before, if you had any Gold Wild Multiplier active in the moment when you trigger the feature, the multiplier will be carried over to the Free Spins feature. Every time you boost the multiplier to 10x, 20x, 30x, and so on, you get 2 extra freebies.
When it comes to the reel grid during freebies, you play on an 8×8 reel grid, meaning that you get more Megaclusters, but that is only the beginning. The winning clusters will make the cells split further, and you can end up playing with 256 symbols in total, which can secure you more wins.
The multiplier will not reset after a non-winning spin before the feature ends, which is also a very good thing. The possibility to hold the multiplier even after a non-winning reaction has been received very well among gamers who are trying out this new concept.
Megaclusters Video Slots Have a Bright Future
Yes, we are positive that Megaclusters video slots will have no trouble at all finding their place under the sun. The new BTG concept has already attracted a wide range of gamers, especially those who adore the Megaways video slots, and we are certain that, soon enough, there will be tens of new Megaclusters games players will enjoy.
We love the fact that, after a winning reaction, all the winning symbols will be turned into 4 smaller icons, which immediately secures players bigger probabilities for landing a successive winning cluster. What we do not like is that, after a non-winning reaction in the base game, the entire reel grid resets, and you need to do everything all over again.
The neat combination of Megaclusters, Reactions, Avalanches, and potential increasing win multipliers give players a chance to really win big in a single spin. If you are lucky enough to boost the win multiplier, you can expect hefty payouts.
Another important thing to state is the innovative Free Spins feature. Once triggered, you get a bigger reel grid that can expand further, giving players up to 256 icons on the reels. The win multiplier does not reset and will contribute to every win, as well as add more free spins when you boost them to a certain point. The bad side of the story is that you get only two freebies for 5 successive reactions, but the good part is that you can trigger the feature quite easily.
Taking everything under consideration, we firmly believe that Megaclusters video slots will be a huge success in years to come.
