Another month has flown by and once again here we are to preview the latest slot releases. June 2020 is going to be a massive month with some top class reel action on the cards, but there is no question which is the biggest title in this little list – Big Time Gaming have turned their considerable talents to making a Mega- version of a grid slot, called … Megaclusters™ and it looks superb! We’ll also be reviewing Quickspin’s new quirky vampire slot, NetEnt’s noire thriller and two slot adventure-heroes making comebacks in games by Play n Go and ELK Studios.

What’s It About?

Big Time Gaming’s Megaways™ games have created a revolution in online slots in the four years since Bonanza arrived on our screens. The expanding reels format may be everywhere but BTG have never rested on their laurels and they continue to innovate all the time. So, it’s hardly a surprise that as they turn their attention to the grid slot, cluster-pays format that something totally new is forged. Star Clusters is a bright and cheerful affair with a color palette similar to their Opal Fruits game, and it boasts an expanding grid that creates more and more symbols with each win.

This is a high variance game, though not perhaps as risky as some of the Megaways™ series and it’s packed with wilds, free spins, multipliers and delivers a top payout of 23,000x!

What Features Does It Have?

As you would expect from a Big Time Gaming slot, Star Clusters is full of turbo-charged action. The main feature is the expanding grid. When clusters of more than 5 symbols land and a win is triggered, those symbols break up into four more smaller ones. If they form clusters, the winning symbols drop off the grid and new ones come in to replace them. Look out as well for Gold Wilds that come with multipliers. The action hots up when you score 5 consecutive wins, setting up a free spins round. Here the grid expands to 8×8 and each time your multiplier reaches 10x 2 more spins are added, with no limit!

Star Clusters Megaclusters™ By The Numbers 

• Reels: 4×4 grid expanding to 8×8
• Paylines: Grid Slot
• RTP: 96.54%
• Variance: High
• Top Payout: 23,000x
• Stakes: Minimum 20p

What’s It About?

NetEnt have evoked an era of femme fatale’s, private detectives and smoking guns in the backstreets of LA in their latest low-variance thriller, Cash Noire. It certainly has a slightly sleazy feel to it, with a dimly lit office space and smoking dame framing the 5×4 reels. The game is notable for a kind of gamified mechanic where players must reveal clues to open up the free spins round where they can make their way around the city, picking up wins as they go, enhanced by multipliers and mystery symbols too.

Cash Noire is a game that will appeal to a broad range of players thanks to its low variance and engaging gameplay. It won’t compete with Star Cluster’s blockbuster top payout but it is a fun slot nonetheless and definitely one to try this summer.

What Features Does It Have? 

This slot runs at a fairly slow pace – like all low variance games. Expect smaller payouts in frequent doses, and lots of features too. This is an avalanche reels game so after each win the winning symbols will be removed from the reels and new ones will drop in to replace them. On each spin there is also a Crime Zone of three or more spaces on the reels. Land symbols in here to unlock clues that can trigger your free spins round. Once in that bonus round it’s all about unlocking more multipliers by hitting those Crime Zone spaces again to light up locations on the city map. Up to 10x multipliers are available, driving wins of up to 5,000x.

Cash Noire By The Numbers

• Reels: 5
• Paylines: 1,024
• RTP: 96.06%
• Variance: Low
• Top Payout: 5,000x
• Stakes: Minimum 20p

What’s It About?

NetEnt have evoked an era of femme fatale’s, private detectives and smoking guns in the backstreets of LA in their latest low-variance thriller, Cash Noire. It certainly has a slightly sleazy feel to it, with a dimly lit office space and smoking dame framing the 5×4 reels. The game is notable for a kind of gamified mechanic where players must reveal clues to open up the free spins round where they can make their way around the city, picking up wins as they go, enhanced by multipliers and mystery symbols too.

Cash Noire is a game that will appeal to a broad range of players thanks to its low variance and engaging gameplay. It won’t compete with Star Cluster’s blockbuster top payout but it is a fun slot nonetheless and definitely one to try this summer.

What Features Does It Have? 

This slot runs at a fairly slow pace – like all low variance games. Expect smaller payouts in frequent doses, and lots of features too. This is an avalanche reels game so after each win the winning symbols will be removed from the reels and new ones will drop in to replace them. On each spin there is also a Crime Zone of three or more spaces on the reels. Land symbols in here to unlock clues that can trigger your free spins round. Once in that bonus round it’s all about unlocking more multipliers by hitting those Crime Zone spaces again to light up locations on the city map. Up to 10x multipliers are available, driving wins of up to 5,000x.

Vampire Senpai By The Numbers

• Reels: 5
• Paylines: 1,024
• RTP: 96.06%
• Variance: Low
• Top Payout: 5,000x
• Stakes: Minimum 20p

What’s It About?

Anyone who has spun on Play n Go’s high variance classic, Book of Dead, will be familiar with the character of the adventurer, Rich Wilde. This Indiana Jones-type character is now on his fifth adventure, this time with his daughter, Cat Wilde, as they investigate the ancient Greek myth of Medusa and the famous Shield of Athena. The shield was used by Perseus to destroy Medusa by reflecting her fatal stare back on her. Here the shield is a high paying symbol that pays out 500x for five on a line.

This is a basic high variance slot with very simple gameplay. It’s one for the high-risk out there, and not for the feint-hearted.

What Features Does It Have?

Stripped-back gameplay means there are only a few features to look out for in Shield of Athena – it’s all about wilds, free spins and re-spins. The wilds come in the form of Rich Wilde who subs for all other characters as well as being worth 500x for five on a line. Re-spins are triggered by landing Shields that transform into wilds and lock for the duration. Meanwhile, free spins are triggered by landing three or more Cat Wilde scatters. Up to 12 are awarded, with re-spins on offer simultaneously, and free spins re-triggers also on the cards if you can land more scatters in the round. It’s simple but effective. Don’t expect too many wins, but when they come there is always the chance of one of those epic sequences where everything goes in your favour!

Shield of Athena by the Numbers

• Reels: 5
• Paylines: 10
• RTP: 96.25%
• Variance: High
• Top Payout: 10,000x
• Stakes: Minimum 10p

What’s It About?

Another cult hero of the slot world is adventurer Kane, brought to life by ELK Studios and star of several top slots including Ecuador and Voodoo Gold. He is usually chasing down nuggets of the shiny stuff deep in the jungles or swamplands of southern America, but here we find him looking for what must be oil under a rocky mountain range. As ever from ELK the graphics and gameplay are of a high quality. And this is high variance action too. The best wins will come in the bonus rounds where colossal symbols, wilds and free spins combine to drive up to 5,000x payouts.

What Features Does It Have?

Aside from the massive symbols (up to 4×4) in the base game and bonus rounds, there are two interesting features to look out for before hitting the free spins. When a giant symbol lands with free spaces underneath it, it turns into a revolver cylinder. Symbols from rows beneath fill the chambers, turning it into a giant wild when they are all filled. Look out as well for a compass symbol that lands and points either up and down or left and right. Whichever way it points, the symbols on that line turn wild. There is also a free spins round with expanding reels and sticky wilds.

This is an all-action slot with some wicked gameplay features – Kane is on a roll and high-risk fans will love it! Just beware of the high variance settings!

Black River Gold by the Numbers

• Reels: 6
• Paylines: 4,096
• RTP: 96.1%
• Variance: High
• Top Payout: 5,000x
• Stakes: Minimum 20p