Xterminate

Xterminate Slot Review

Slot Provider: Thunderkick

RTP: 94.12% | Variance: Very High | Maximum Win: 25,000x

Our Score: 8.4

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About Xterminate

Reviewed by:

Published Date: 20th February 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.

Xterminate is an online slot from Thunderkick set against a backdrop of civil disobedience where rioters rise up against their oppressors. This is a scatter pays slot with avalanche wins and a powerful progressive multiplier feature triggered on EVERY win. There is no free spins round but there are bombs to help clear the grid and trigger second-chance avalanches on non-winning spins, as well as charged sticky wilds.

Thunderkick post a warning about the volatility of this slot at the start of the game which is an indicator of just how crazy it will be. Suitably it comes with a 25,000x max win and 10p minimum bet. Xterminate is available in the UK from 27th March 2024.

Xterminate Game Information

  • RTP: 94.12% | 87.14%
  • Variance: Very High
  • Maximum Win: 25,000x
  • Progressive Jackpot: No
  • Reels: 6
  • Rows: 5
  • Paylines: Scatter Pays
  • Minimum Stake: £0.10
  • Theme: Action and Adventure
  • Features: Avalanches, Wilds, Progressive Multiplier

Testing Notes: Here’s What Happened When We Played Xterminate

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

I played 250 spins on Xterminator on Thunderkick’s test server prior to release to test the game. This is what happened.

NOTE: This was free money in demo mode.

  • Stake Size: £1
  • Start balance: £5,000
  • End balance: £5,278
  • Hit Rate: 9.6% (24 winning spins in 250)
  • Biggest Win: 216x

So it took 15 spins to see the first win on Xterminate and that set the pattern for the full 250 spins session, which finished with a hit rate of 9.6%, which is close to 1 win in every 10 spins! Few games have a tighter than that, apart from maybe Tombstone RIP. That gives you an idea of what you are dealing with here. Of course the flipside was that when the wins arrived, they were generally good. There was one 2x, but that was by far the lowest. I recorded a 144x and the biggest, a 216x, alongside several in the low 20s.

Xterminate Bomb Feature
A bomb about to clear the grid in testing

Compared to an NLC game this is far, far simpler, and that’s the appeal. It’s really just avalanches with that progressive multiplier feature. And it SNOWBALLS, big time. You can jump from 2x to 250x in seconds, and then further.

A 216x win on Xterminate slot
A 216x win in testing

A quick word on the features – the bombs seemed to accompany every good win and were really useful in blasting apart the grid to set up a new avalanche. But I rarely saw a charged wild. That might have been unlucky, but they didn’t seem to offer much for me.

In conclusion, from that short session, I get the feeling this will be a very popular slot. Next to the simple gameplay, a tense atmosphere adds to the immersive experience whilst the sounds affects and visuals as bombs go off and avalanches drop completes the drama.

Now read on for more details about how Xterminate works.

What We Liked

  • Ominous soundtrack and superb visuals build a suitable atmosphere for the scary volatility
  • Progressive Xterminate multiplier is very powerful and can escalate quickly
  • Excellent 25,000x max win
  • Charged Wilds remain on the grid to be used several times over in wins
  • Low 10p minimum stake

What We Didn't like

  • Very low hit rate and high variance means its a balance burner!
  • No free spins round
  • Low RTP rates

Xterminate Review Scores

  • Theme and Design 10
  • RTP and Variance 7
  • Maximum Win 8
  • Symbols and Paytable 8
  • Features and Gameplay 9

What Our Reviewer Says ...

"One of Thunderkick's best releases in a long time. A brilliant mix of theme and gameplay where crazy volatility matches the scenes of anarchy beyond the reels!"

Overall Score: 8.4

Theme & Design

Our Score 10

Anarchy On The Streets As A Baying Mob Rise Up …

Whilst the theme of Xterminate appears to be riots, anarchy and kicking back against some kind of controlling societal force, Thunderkick have chosen not to give us a narrative of any kind. Never mind, because sometimes it’s more fun to fill in the gaps yourself. The urban setting of the game, and the wild scenes behind the reels show a riot in full affect with fires raging and a baying mob waving flags and screaming defiance. The paytable includes both instruments of rebellion like baseball bats and spray paint cans, and also a robot-like head with red laser eyes. So perhaps this is rebellion against an army of AI robots, a glimpse into the future.

Xterminate by Thunderkick
Xterminate – rioting on the streets in this anarchic slot

Whatever is going on, Thunderkick are out on a limb here with a game theme that is unlike anything they have done before. To me it’s more like something Hacksaw Gaming or Nolimit City might produce. But fair play, because its top quality with superb visuals and an ominous, slow building electro soundtrack behind the scenes. Top marks!

RTP and Variance

Our Score 7

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.

Thunderkick’s Xterminate slot has two RTP settings, both of which are disappointingly low. The optimum setting is just 94.12%, which we hope is not a sign of things to come from this game provider. The lower setting is the very unappealing 87.14% which is to be avoided at all costs. Not many online slot sites will try to run a game at that rate but some do, so beware. You can easily check the RTP before you start spinning by hitting the ‘i’ link (top right) and scrolling through the info screens until you find the Return to Player.

I recommend playing at Casumo or Barz Casino (from White Hat Gaming) which mostly run slots at their optimum rate.

The volatility in Xterminate comes with a warning that it is HIGH – ‘brace yourself, this game is not for the faint of heart’ – is what it actually says. I don’t recall seeing that warning on a Thunderkick slot before and they certainly mean it as testing showed. Expect a rough ride with the potential for some crazy moments, and some dead periods too.

Maximum Win

Our Score 8

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.  

In keeping with that high volatility, Xterminate comes with an unusually high potential for a Thunderkick game at 25,000x. You can find more games like this in our article on slots with the highest maximum wins.

Symbols and Paytable

Our Score 8

Xterminate is played on a 6×6 grid and as a scatter pays slot it pays out for 8 or more identical symbols landing ANYWHERE on a spin.

Xterminate Paytable
The paytable with 7x for 12 or more premium symbols

There are 9 pay symbols to match with. The 5 low payers are the cards, 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace. These are valued at from 1x for 8 or 9 10s up to 3x for 12 Aces. The premiums are the symbols of anarchy – spray paint can, spikey baseball bat, gas mask and robot head. These are valued from 2x for 8 or 9 spray cans up to 7x for 12 robots.

There are wilds in this game too which substitute for all pay symbols to complete wins. They remain on the reels until their lives are used up, as explained below.

Features and Gameplay

Our Score 9

Xterminate has an unusual format which feeds into its volatile maths model as we will find out. Important things to know are that there is NO free spins round; but there are avalanche wins, and they always trigger multipliers. Here is how it works:

Avalanche Wins and Xterminate Multiplier

First of all, Thunderkick have applied the basic Avalanche Wins mechanism to the game. So, after every win, winning symbols are removed from the grid, remaining ones drop down to fill the gaps, and new ones drop down from above to fill any remaining spaces.

Meanwhile, after the first win from a spin, the win value is displayed above the grid as the Xterminate Multiplier. This progressive multiplier is then applied to every subsequent win in the sequence of avalanches that follows. And it can grow fast, because each win in the sequence is also added to the Xterminate Multiplier. It’s like a progressive multiplier on steroids and will make sense once you start playing.

Exploding Bombs Cause More Avalanches

Watch out for the bomb symbol. This can land anywhere at any time but only becomes active when no winning combinations occur. When this happens the bomb explodes to remove ALL pay symbols, EXCEPT the most common ones (by number, or by value if there are the same number of two symbol types). Charged Wilds and other bombs are also protected in the explosion.

What does this mean? It means on a losing spin where a bomb is present, then you get a second go as the explosion causes an avalanche.

Charged Wilds With Extra Lives

The final element of this deceptively simple slot is the Charged Wilds. These wilds act as any wild does by substituting for any pay symbol to complete a win. But they also come with a random number of lives set between 1 and 3.

Each time a Charged Wild is used during an avalanche win, it loses a life. And it remains on the grid, effectively a ‘Sticky Wild’ until its lives are used up. Then it disappears in the subsequent avalanche.

Bet+ Options To Improve Your Odds

If the super high volatility in this game is grinding you down then you do have the option of the Bet+ feature to improve your odds. There are 3 settings here

  • At 2x your base level stake you can choose the Win Boost that will double your odds of winning on each spin. This will increase the RTP to 94.25% from the default RTP rate.
  • At 5x your base level stake you can choose the Win Boost Plus that will increase your odds of winning by FIVE times on each spin. This puts the RTP up to 94.35%.
  • At 10x your base level stake you can choose the Guaranteed Wild mode where you are GUARANTEED a win on each spin. This puts the RTP up to 95.45%.

The Final Verdict

Make no mistake, Xterminate is only for those who love high risk-high reward gaming, but what a superb slot for those who just want to get down to playing for the big prizes without complex features and triggers to worry about. The game has been distilled down to a simple essence where the hit rate is frustratingly low, but the pay-off is the chance to build a massive multiplier win without having to first unlock a free spins round. What’s more the gameplay is perfectly matched with the dramatic high-tension theme. Even if Xterminate doesn’t achieve mass popularity it will surely become a cult classic and spawn a host of extraordinary big win videos. Of that there is no doubt!

Useful Tips When Playing Xterminate

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. Set Your Stake Level Low

The volatility warning that greets you when you open up Xterminate tells you that you need to set that stake to a low value and exercise good bankroll management as you prepare to take the game on. It will burn your cash in no time so beware!

2. Check The RTP Setting

It’s very important that you check the RTP setting before spending money on this game. Its not worth playing at the low end – just 87.14%. If the game info page displays that number, find an alternative slot site to play at.

3. Watch Out For Charged Wilds

During the game, charged wilds are very useful in helping to build big win sequences where your Xterminate Multiplier can really grow. They can stay on the grid for as many as 3 consecutive avalanches.

4. Play At Recommended Slot Sites

We chose the sites on this page because they are licensed by the UK Gambling Commission which means that they are fair, safe and secure. All the games on these sites have been tested and audited and your money and personal details are protected.

Who Made Xterminate?

  • Name: Thunderkick
  • Established: 2012
  • UK License: 40165
  • Total Games: 55
  • Known For: Quirky, eccentric slots with fun features and distinctive designs
  • Popular Slots: Pink Elephants 1 and 2, Flame Busters, Birds on a Wire
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