Starburst Galaxy

Starburst Galaxy is the latest iteration of NetEnt’s iconic Starburst slot, which originally launched in 2012. While the first Starburst was a simple yet wildly popular slot, its successor Starburst XXXtreme was everything but simple. This one is said to bring a fresh, feature-packed experience to players.

For now, the game looks promising. Starburst Galaxy takes the essence of the original and catapults it into a modern gaming arena, mixing updated visuals and audio with a rich set of mechanics that drastically differ from its predecessor. Fans of the original Starburst will find a nostalgic nod to the past, while new players can revel in the game’s new features and entertaining gameplay.

Starburst Galaxy starts with a 5×5 gaming grid, foregoing classic paylines with a cluster-pay mechanic. Hence, to achieve a win, players must land at least three identical symbols adjacent to each other, touching either horizontally or vertically. Once the features start rolling in, the number of icons in rows/reels can potentially expand up to 7, ending with a 7×7 board.

The slot’s volatility is medium-high, catering to a wide range of players, with a maximum RTP of 96%. There are also two other RTP variants, each lower than this one (94% and 88%).

Bets range from $0.20 to $28 per spin in the base game, while additional options are available via the “Elevate” Buy Bonus feature.

Any winning combination triggers the Avalanche mechanic, where winning symbols disappear, allowing new ones to fall into place. The process continues until no new winning combinations are formed. Also, not to cause confusion: though this is often called a cascade in slots, or cascading wins, NetEnt trademarked Avalanche as their own special name for a cascade.

The cluster slot Starburst Galaxy is playable on any device for only $0.20 per spin. However, the highest possible bet that players can place per single round is $28. Why such a low betting limit, it’s not clear, but it is what it is.

Low-paying symbols in the game include a set of purple, blue, orange, green, and yellow gems. They are immediately followed by the high-paying symbols. Their payouts range from 2x to 20x the bet for a 5-symbol combination. However, once the grid expands to 7×7, the highest payout you can get is up to 250x the bet for the highest combinations.

Lastly, the game boasts a maximum payout of 25,000x the bet, achievable through feature combinations and the expansion of the grid setups.

Starburst Galaxy introduces several features that set it apart from its predecessors:

Wild Symbols

Whenever a non-Wild win occurs, winning icons disappear and a Wild symbol appears at the center of the vanished combination. However, if two winning clusters intersect, two Wilds are added to the grid – unless they are to share the same position. In that case there’s only one.

Feature Generator

Winning pushes the feature generator. More specifically, consecutive wins in the base game progress the Generator. After every 5 consecutive wins, one of the following modifiers is randomly awarded:

• Destroy: 1 random symbol type is randomly chosen to be removed from the grid.
• Random Wilds: Between 3 and 9 regular icons are replaced by Wild symbols on the reels.
• Expanding Wilds: All Wilds on the grid at the moment automatically expand into vertical stacks of 3, thus covering the entire reel.
• Line Transform: Fills a randomly chosen row or column with the same symbol entirely.
• Upgrade: Upgrades all instances of a  symbols to higher-value ones.

Galaxy Star and Galaxy Meter

The modifiers are triggered one by one. Reaching the fifth and last modifier activates the Galaxy Star feature.

With this feature, you will see the grid expand to 7×7 and place a 3×3 Wild on the reels.

Winning icons go away, you get a payout, and 4-8 Wilds appear on the grid. Each winning combination on the new grid contributes to the Galaxy Meter. And after every 50 wins, the Galaxy Star feature is retriggered.

Mega Star and Multiplier Collect Meter

Landing 3 Scatters triggers the Mega Star feature. When this happens, a 2×2 Wild is placed on the grid once all of the possible Avalanches pass.

Mega Star is activated before the Feature Generator. Moreove, when it begins, Multipliers may appear attached to Scatters carrying values from x2 to x25. These Multipliers then are added to the Multiplier Collect Meter, which applies to all wins during the special feature round.

Elevate Feature

Players can boost gameplay with the following options:

• Bonus Boost: Increases the chance of reaching the Galaxy Star feature for 3x the bet.
• Mega Star: Guarantees a Mega Star activation for 10x the bet.
• Boosted Mega Star: Activates Mega Star and the Multiplier Collect Meter for 50x the bet.
• Galaxy Star: Guarantees the Galaxy Star feature for 100x the bet.
• Galaxy Star Bonanza: Activates Galaxy Star with all modifiers and multipliers for 500x the bet.

The Elevate Feature is a Buy Bonus feature, offering 5 different options to buy a feature.