Star Clusters 2: Slot Overview
At the time it was released, Big Time Gaming‘s Star Clusters slot gave players a glimpse of a possible future of online gambling. That was back in 2020, five years ago, does time fly or what? Since then, the breaking of winning symbols down into smaller winning symbols, Megaclusters action, hasn’t exactly blown the top off the gambling industry, though it has resurfaced on a few occasions. Now, Big Time Gaming has designed Star Clusters 2, a sequel that keeps the core gameplay intact while mainstreaming a lot of the supplementary features such as wild multipliers and free spins.
Playing Star Clusters was like tripping through dimensions, piercing the vale of reality to see what lies on the other side. Star Clusters 2 offers more of the same, except it transports players to an immaterial realm for AI entities, rather than organics. A streaming Tron-esque grid leads to an infinity that can never quite be reached, while a celestially infused beat track keeps your ears busy. Star Clusters 2 provides a glimpse of the future, as seen through a retro lens, like a wire frame afterlife for defeated video game characters to spend their eternity in.
In the base game, Star Clusters 2 begins each spin with a grid laid out in a 4×4 formation. In free spins, the starting size is 8×8. When 5 or more matching symbols are connected horizontally and/or vertically, a winning cluster is created and various effects trigger, as will be seen soon. The betting menu lets players pick a stake of 20c to $/€20 per spin, and there are three RTP variants, maxing out at 96.63%. As for volatility, BTG has designed a highly volatile math model.
Star Clusters 2’s pay symbols consist of 7 different gems. They award players 0.1x to 0.8x the bet when 5 symbols make up a cluster or 88x when 25+ to 15+ OAK hit – fewer are needed the higher up the paytable you go. Wild symbols substitute for adjacent symbols except Gold Wilds and scatters. Gold Wilds substitute anything adjacent except scatters and land with a random multiplier of x2 to x100. Multipliers of all wilds in a winning cluster are added together and used to multiply the cluster win.
Star Clusters 2: Slot Features
Further features in Star Clusters 2 include a reactions system, free spins with an unlimited Wild Multiplier value, and bonus buys.
Reactions
When a winning cluster is formed, each of the winning symbols is replaced by four smaller symbols. When wins occur with the smaller symbols, they are removed and symbols of the same smaller size drop down from above to replace them, filling all empty positions on the grid. Reactions repeat until there are no more wins and the grid resets to its default size.
Free Spins
Scatters only appear on the grid from reactions. Hitting 4 or more scatters in the base game awards 10 free spins, plus 1 free spin for each scatter beyond the fourth. Free spins have an unlimited Wild Multiplier, which starts at x1 and increases by +1 when there is a reaction. The current Wild Multiplier value is added to all wilds when they are part of a winning cluster. The bonus round can be extended by hitting scatter symbols. Landing 4 scatters awards players with an extra +4 free spins, plus 1 free spin is granted for each scatter beyond the fourth.
Feature Buy
Star Clusters 2’s feature buy lets players instantly activate the bonus round. The two options are 10 free spins at a cost 60x the bet or 18 free spins costing 160x the bet.
Star Clusters 2: Slot Verdict
Megaclusters has arisen in slots like Relax Gaming‘s Kluster Krystals, as well as BTG’s own Cyberslot, Diamond Fruit, and a Megapays version, but it’s not a mechanic that has really taken off, especially considering Megaways‘ domination, and has largely remained dormant for years. For whatever reason, Big Time Gaming deemed the time right to dust off the feature and give it another go. Possibly to help give it a broader appeal, the studio has used more conventional side features. For instance, instead of having to hit 5 or more consecutive reactions to trigger free spins, they are awarded by simply landing enough scatter symbols. Instead of a rising multiplier in the base game when Gold Wilds are part of wins, Golden Wilds now land with multipliers already attached, quite big ones too, streamlining the process.
The progressive, quest element has been removed to make way for a more traditional hit scatters and get free spins system. Put another way, gone is the feeling of having to push a boulder to the top of a hill before letting it roll down the other side to cause mayhem. Both approaches have merit, but some players may prefer being awarded a batch of 10 free spins rather than making do with 2, which was the base amount in the previous slot. As before, the process of replacing initial winning symbols with four new symbols provides unique thrills, though the game might be better experienced on a larger screen rather than squeezed onto a mobile. The wild multiplier feature in free spins is clever as well, and since any winning cluster increases its value, not just wins with Gold Wilds, sizable multipliers can accrue. Not always, but even with a big multi on the board, it was interesting to see how ineffectual wild multipliers could be at pumping out big wins.
Star Clusters 2 is no weakling, though, and its 34,500x max win figure is evidence of its potency. As a sequel, it offers a nice evolution of the Megaclusters mechanic, but whether the more traditional side features help push the game from niche to mainstream, time will tell.
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