Crystal Catcher

Crystal Catcher Slot Review

Slot Provider: Push Gaming

RTP: 96.3% | Variance: Medium | Maximum Win: 5,000x

Our Score: 6.8

Play at Grand Ivy Casino
QUICK LINKS: Game Information | Where To Play | Full Review | Testing Notes | Tips For Players | About The Developer

WHY YOU CAN TRUST THIS REVIEW: The information and opinions on this page are the result of an comprehensive process of information gathering and live game testing by the gambling experts who work at allslotsites.com. Find out more here.

About Crystal Catcher

Reviewed by:

Published Date: 18th July 2024

How We Review Slot Games

We test and rate all slot games across 5 criteria, assigning a score out of 10 for each and an overall score that is an average of the 5. To build an accurate assessment of each game we gather information from the supplier and play in real play or demo mode. Find out more.

Crystal Catcher by Push Gaming invites you on a mining adventure with some crystal-obsessed beetles. It’s default RTP of 96.3% and medium variance makes this a sound choice for players of all budgets. It has a cluster pays mechanic and is played on a 7×7 grid. When Wild Beetles land they fly over the grid to pick up instant win prizes and bonus symbols, growing their multipliers as they go and leaving more wilds behind in each spot they visit.

The maximum win is 5,000x and the minimum bet is just £0.10.

Crystal Catcher Game Information

  • Release Date: 24.07.23
  • RTP: 96.3%
  • Variance: Medium
  • Maximum Win: 5,000x
  • Progressive Jackpot: No
  • Reels: 7
  • Rows: 7
  • Minimum Stake: £0.10
  • Theme: FantasyGemsMining
  • Features: Free SpinsHold and WinInstant PrizesMultipliersWilds
  • Format: Cluster Pays

Testing Notes: Here’s What Happened When We Played Crystal Catcher

IMPORTANT: To give you an accurate assessment of the games we review our writers play 200 spins. Whilst this is a useful tool to help us review games and to give an example of what might happen when you play, keep in mind that 200 spins is only a very small sample and cannot be used to accurately predict what might happen over another 200 spins. The outcome of all slots play is always random.

Boom Or Bust? Our Session By The Numbers

Test spins and results analysis by Mark Wadie.

Results from 100 spins with real money on Crystal Catcher at Casumo.

  • Stake Size: £0.1
  • Start balance: £1,025.60
  • End balance: £1,012.73
  • Win Rate: 25.2% (63 winning spins in 250)
  • Biggest Win: 20.8x
  • Free Spins Round: 0

I found Crystal Catcher a little hard to follow, but before we get into the gameplay, a word on the numbers. The win rate came in at 25.2% which is good to be fair. That meant roughly 1 in 4 spins produced a win of some kind. However, they were always small in value, with very few clusters exceeding 5 or 6 in size. That meant the balance burned down faster than I expected from a medium variance slot.

In terms of gameplay, it’s really just about waiting to land Wild Beetles at the same time as either Crystals, Instant Wins or Bonus Symbols. However, this was a much rarer occurrence than I expected, bearing in mind that is the headline act. I counted just 10 wins (less than 5%) including the Wild Beetles, and no free spins rounds or instant win (coin) prizes. That made the whole session feel a bit flat. It’s also a little confusing watching the 2 beetles do their thing, carrying different multipliers. It doesn’t feel that intuitive.

Crystal Catcher Win
A 20.8x win from the Crystal Catcher feature

Of course, cluster pays games are all about waiting for the big moments and based on this one’s configuration you can see how a run of lucky cascades where lots of crystals drop and wild multipliers keep on growing and propagating around the grid could produce something spectacular. It just wasn’t to be on this day. The problem for me is that the base game and design aren’t enough to carry Crystal Catcher when you have a poor run like that.

Read on to find out more about the game profile and how those features work.

What We Liked

  • Innovative way to unlock bonus round
  • Medium variance is unusual for Push Gaming slots
  • Instant prize symbols worth up to 500x
  • Fun animations of flying beetles

What We Didn't like

  • Low RTP at some slot sites
  • Relatively low max win at 5,000x
  • Complex gameplay is hard to follow at first

Crystal Catcher Review Scores

  • Theme and Design 6
  • RTP and Variance 8
  • Maximum Win 6
  • Symbols and Paytable 6
  • Features and Gameplay 8

What Our Reviewer Says ...

"An interesting cluster pays slot with innovative ways of propagating multiplier wilds across the grid, but showed a plodding pace in testing that put us off!"

Overall Score: 6.8

Theme & Design

Our Score 6

Deep Underground Go Mining For Crystals

It’s clear that Push Gaming has taken great inspiration from their previous release Fire Hopper. With that being such an extremely high volatility slot, it’s nice to have an option that feels similar in layout and gameplay but has a much lower variance. Anyway, in terms of design, you’ll find a crystal mining theme where you’re invited to follow a crystal-collecting beetle deep down into a cave. Some lanterns glow on the walls, illuminating beams above and glimmering crystals, the game’s play symbols. 

Crystal Catcher by Push Gaming
Crystal Catcher – mining for crystals

The grid is certainly the focus and the pay symbols are pretty, but there’s nothing particularly innovative about this design.

RTP and Variance

Our Score 8

What is RTP?

RTP (Return to Player) refers to the amount a game will pay out in cash prizes expressed as a percentage of all the money wagered on that game. For example, a 96% RTP means a game will pay out £96 for every £100 wagered. This is an average number and will vary from one session to the next.  Read more here.

What is Variance?

Variance refers to how far a game will deviate from its RTP over time. High variance games deviate a lot and produce uneven win distributions and unexpected windfalls. Low variance games provide a more stable and even distribution of wins. Read more here.

This game has the option of six different RTP values, which are chosen by the operator, but the default is 96.3%. This is pretty generous and combined with medium volatility will suit both players on a budget and those who are a little more risk-averse.

Other RTP rates for this game are 88.3%, 90.3%, 94.3% and 95.3%. You can check for yourself which RTP rate your slot site has chosen by browsing the game rules page within the game before you spin. We recommend playing at MrQ which runs the game at the optimum 96.3% rate.

Maximum Win

Our Score 6

What Is Maximum Win?

Maximum win refers to the maximum amount a player can win from one spin. It is expressed as a multiple of the stake. For example, where the maximum win is 100,000x, from a £1 stake, the maximum win would be £100,000.  

The max payout of 5,000x your bet is alright. It’s not a groundbreaking amount of money, but for the RTP and fairly friendly volatility on offer, you can’t expect to climb into the tens of thousands. If you’re looking for a much higher payout then Fire Hopper is the opposite end of the spectrum, with its max win of 50,000x your bet and high volatility.

Symbols and Paytable

Our Score 6

Crystal Catcher is played on a 7×7 grid with a cluster pays mechanic. This means that instead of regular paylines, you can make wins anywhere on the grid as long as you match 5 or more symbols that are connected to one another either horizontally or vertically.

Crystal Catcher Paytable
The paytable with 100x for 16 or more top paying premiums

There are 6 pay symbols as well as a wild symbol, a scatter symbol, and a crystal symbol which we’ll investigate shortly. The pay symbols aren’t split into low and premium, but do each have slightly different values. At the lower end are the purple, blue and green crystals which award 0.2x the bet for 5 symbols up to 12.5x the bet for 16+ crystals. The higher paying symbols are the pink orange and red crystals, these pay 0.5x the bet for 5 symbols, up to 100x the bet for 16+ symbols.

Features and Gameplay

Our Score 8

Crystal Catcher has some interesting features that help to give this slot the wow factor. Let’s take a look at how they all work in detail.

Cascades Follow Every Win

Like many cluster pays slots, Crystal Catcher uses cascades to build win sequences. When a winning cluster is formed the cascade mechanic begins. All of the symbols that are part of the winning cluster are removed from the reels and new symbols cascade down into their place. This enables you to make more winning combinations. The cascade continues until no more winning combinations are made. 

Wild Symbol

The wild symbol in this game is the beetle, which substitutes for all regular pay symbols to help build clusters. There are 2 types. The normal beetle has a multiplier of 1x attached to it and that value increases by 1x each time it moves across the grid in the Crystal Catcher feature explained below. The golden beetle is left behind when the normal beetle moves position.

Crystal Symbol

If you land a wild beetle and a crystal symbol at the same time then the Crystal Catcher feature begins. The crystal isn’t a pay symbol, it only starts the Crystal Catcher round. 

Crystal Catcher Feature

This is the main event.

The crystal catcher round begins either as above with a crystal symbol and a wild beetle landing at the same time, or if a wild beetle lands as the same time as an instant prize symbol. The wild beetle files off to collect the crystal or instant win prize. As it does, it leaves a gold beetle behind each time. And each time a wild beetle collects a prize or crystal, it’s multiplier grows by 1x. Multipliers are then applied to any win the wild beetle forms part of.

Remember, each win triggers a cascade too, so more symbols are dropping onto the grid, potentially creating more clusters whilst all this is going on. Ideally you want as many beetles on the grid as possible, all contributing to cluster wins with their multipliers in play as well.

Crystal Catcher Feature
Wild Beetles fly between positions, spreading wilds as they go

Instant Prize Symbol

You can land instant prize symbols which will be collected if you land a wild beetle at the same time. Prize values range from 1x the bet up to 500x the bet. Each time a beetle picks up an instant prize, the beetle’s multiplier is applied to it. Once the win is paid, the multiplier increases by 1, leaving a golden beetle behind. 

Free Spins

There is also a free spins round triggered by landing a BONUS crystal symbol and a Wild Beetle at the same time. That gets you 7 spins where multiplier values are retained from one spin to the next so they can just keep growing bigger and bigger.

Ante Bet

If you find the going too hard a the normal game configuration, then for an extra 20% of your bet, you can activate the ante bet feature. This causes more wild beetles to land, increasing your chance of activating the crystal catcher feature.

The Final Verdict

Crystal Catcher has a very clever, if slightly confusing, collector mechanic which keeps gameplay fresh. The theme is colourful and crisp, without being distracting. Plus, the medium volatility and friendly RTP of 96.3% is great for players who like a little less risk from their slots. 

The 5,000x max win is a little disappointing. However, there’s potential to scoop some fairly decent wins thanks to the multiplier mechanics and persistent beetles. Overall, if you like crystal collecting (and aren’t scared of a few insects), this game is a solid choice.

Useful Tips When Playing Crystal Catcher

Remember, online slots are games of chance, there is NO strategy that can improve your odds of winning. However, reading our review and following these tips will help you get the most out of your time playing this slot game.

1. Look For Wild Beetles

The best stuff happens when Wild Beetles land at the same time as instant wins or cystals. This triggers the catcher and adds wilds and multipliers across the grid.

2. Play Low Stakes To Avoid Burn Out!

Despite its medium variance billing in our test session this game showed itself to be slow at times with only very small wins.

3. Instant Prize Coins Can Produced Big Wins

Like other Push slots, those coins can produce instant wins of great value – up to 500x! You need to land one at the same time as a wild beetle to collect it.

4. Play At Our Recommended Slot Sites

We have chosen the sites on this page because they all scored high in our reviews and they are licensed by the UK Gambling Commission. That makes them fair and safe places to play slots.

Who Made Crystal Catcher?

  • Name: Push Gaming
  • Established: 2010
  • UK License: 54984
  • Total Games: 30 +
  • Known For: High variance grid slots, smart artwork, high max win slots
  • Popular Slots: Big Bamboo, Mad Cars, Razor Returns, Fat Rabbit
Find More Push Gaming slots

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