What are Megaclusters Slots?
Yuriy SheremetThe iGaming industry is known for always finding new innovative ways to make their games more fun, appealing and rewarding for its clients. They are also always at the forefront when it comes to adopting new ideas and technology and incorporating them into their online casino 2024 games. This constant effort has seen game developers strive to come up with the latest and best features that will give them an edge over their competition. Slot games in particular have seen the adoption of many innovations over the years such as megaways, cascading reels, second screen bonuses and cluster pays which have now brought forth megaclusters. Keeping up with these innovations can be daunting, however, this article will try to answer the question, “ what are megaclusters slots?”
Megaclusters slots
Renowned Australian software developer Big Time Gaming, known for their mega ways innovation, garner a lot of attention when they are making a new release, and are among the people pushing Australian gaming forward. This is especially because of their track record when it comes to new innovative and immersive gaming experience and features. Big Time Gaming have outdone themselves yet again and developed Megaclusters slots which are believed to be the next revolutionary feature in slots gaming. A megaclusters slot much resembles a cluster pays slot as the games core is built around the same principles. However, Big Time gaming took the existing cluster pays feature and decided to do something unique with it. While cluster pays have a fixed grid, which could be 5 by 5 or 6 by 6, BTG designed a game engine based on the idea that if a certain symbol’s position is part of a winning combination, it is divided into 4 smaller symbol positions. The recurrence of this feature is what makes a megaclusters slot. Megaclusters slots are a brand new way of gaming that may seem complex and confusing at first, especially for novices, but are quite welcome and lucrative for existing casino enthusiasts
The first Megaclusters slot and how Megaclusters work?
Big Time Gaming released their brainchild in form of the first ever Megaclusters slot in June 2020 calling it the Star Clusters slot. While this game features a new concept it still possesses a User Interface and symbols that are characteristic of BTG. The Star Clusters slot game while quite volatile has a lenient math model and a high RTP of 96.54% which is acceptable by many players. This game’s performance, being the pioneer of the megaclusters feature, will determine the success of this new idea in the online gambling industry, even as players discover the secrets of slot machines.
In the Star Clusters slot game, the megaclusters slot starts off with a 4 by 4 grid. When the player gets a winning combination, a cluster of 5 winning symbols usually arranged either horizontally or vertically, the winning symbols explode or the player gets an additional feature. As this happens each winning symbol breaks down into 4 mini symbols causing the playing field to expand. This phenomenon will keep occurring until the 4 by 4 grid becomes an 8 by 8 grid with 64 symbol positions. With continued winnings the grid will grow to a 16 by 16 grid with 256 symbol positions. When no more wins can be formed on the reel, the game resets back to the initial basic game with a 4 by 4 grid. Players then get to repeat the cycle by getting more winning combinations.
Features of Megaclusters slots
Avalanche
The avalanche feature is activated when the players gets a winning combination of 5 and they explode and disappear off the reel. Just like an actual avalanche, the new symbols cascade onto the grid to replace the vanishing ones. This feature makes the game have a higher pay out within the same round and it keeps occurring until no more win can form and the game resets.
Win Multipliers
The megaclusters slot game may feature two wild symbols that substitute other icons on the grid and increase pay out occurrences. The special wild symbol usually brings a win multiplier that begins at 1x and consequently increases by a unit every time it occurs in a winning combination. There is no limit to the multiplier and it will keep increasing until the game resets to the basic game.
Free spins
In the Star Clusters slot game, five consecutive avalanche wins can yield free spins that can make the game reels expand or offer other bonuses. One such bonus is seen when the special multiplier offers other free spins when it hits 10x. This generally gives a player higher chances of making a big win.
Pros and Cons of Megaclusters slots
Pros
- The games completely unique engine is designed to give players an increased probability to collect pay-outs after each win as the winning symbols break into more symbols
- Megaclusters come with lucrative in-game features such as avalanche wins, special wilds with multipliers and free spins.
- Megaclusters slots are guaranteed to give huge pay outs due to the combination of lucrative features and megaclusters.
Cons
- The initial 4 by 4 grid set up is quite basic and it can be frustrating to keep going back to this setup when the megacluster wins stop.
- The complex setup of the game and the many in game features make it difficult for players to keep track of their wins.
- The constantly changing grids make it hard to see megaclusters especially when playing on a small screen on smartphone.
Megaclusters or Cluster Pays slots
Slot/pokies game enthusiasts are normally hooked on slot machines, as they are very addictive. In this case, they will find themselves at crossroads over which is better to play, Megaclusters or Cluster Pays slots. While both variations are able to roll out large clusters of wins, the megaclusters lot outdoes the cluster pays slot by breaking down the symbols to form more symbols and consequently giving even more chances at making winning combinations. The megaclusters feature is still a fairly new innovation and therefore has a lot of room for improvement. This means that over time as more megaclusters slot games are released, we are bound to see more appealing features and modifications made to this slot game. With this improvements, megaclusters will eclipse cluster pays slots by a great degree. This however is not to say that cluster pays are not a viable game as not everyone usually gets behind change and innovation. Megaclusters are ideal for people looking for a new cluster pays experience or the next step in cluster pays slot games.
Conclusion
Megaclusters slots are still a very new concept at this time but their potential is undeniable. Many however believe that this innovation from Big Time Gaming could surpass Megaways, which was also a BTG innovation. This new mechanism that allows players to unlock more symbols while forming matching clusters has been received quite amicably. The potential behind this mechanism could see other developers follow suit and this could open doors for even more diverse megaclusters slots.
Yuriy Sheremet – Expert in mobile gaming and esports among shooters and MOBA games.
At EGamersWorld, Yuriy, as in 2020 when he joined the portal, works with content, albeit with adjustments to his area of responsibility.