Well this one is likely to divide opinion. That is so unlike
BTG slots!
Things I'm not sure about:
The very busy screen.
It has to be said it is a bit surprising how quickly you do get used to it, even in the bonus where it goes proper mental as you are really just looking out for the gold stars (more of that in a mo). However, it will be interesting how many that puts off.
The change in effective play from base game to bonus.
Normally with BTG slots you know where you are. Generally the bonus works in a very similar way to the base game just with enhancements like max megaways, increasing multiplier, collecting symbols. However with Star Clusters it throws a spanner in the works. The initial task of getting multiple cascades to get the bonus is replaced with the requirement of clusters which include a gold star. It takes some getting used to.
Many cascades in the bonus will be worth tiny amounts
As a result the fact the multiplier can be 10, 20, 30x, it is no good unless the gold star plays so you're left with the odd sensation of potentially having big multiplier and often piddly wins. In this respect it actually quite reminds me of Raging Rhino. You can have all the wins you want but in reality unless you hit the double gold star cluster they are more often than not going to be small. That said, a decent amount of gems with a single decent multiplied gold star can still kick out a nice win and to get to a decent multiplier you will often have hit one decent win along the way.
Things I quite like
Relatively more action than many BTG slots.
Yep, I do quite like BTG slots but even I struggle at times with the bonus frequency (for reference I have had on average 1 bonus in just under 450 spins on a wide range of BTG slots over the last 8000 or so spins, which can be a real grind). OK, so the bonus will often not pay much but it does look like you won't often go over 100 spins without seeing at least 2 free spins. How often do you go into a DOA2 bonus thinking you'll get more than 10-20x?
"From out of nowhere!"
As you can also often start the bonus on 4-6x it is possible to have one significant hit with just this (Raging Rhino again). Let's be honest, if you're going to get screwed for a lot of your bonuses, at least have them come in at a significant rate. It feels like there is the scope for a big win to drop even if the multipliers are not huge. Also can occasionally link single gold star wins to boost the multiplier and get extra spins. It is tough to do though, the penalty for getting so many shots at it.
Applying a reel/maths model to a slot style many thought was not possible/incredibly difficult?
Ok, on this I stand up to be shot down. The scourge of drop style grid slots such as Reactoonz, Moon Princess and the likes is that, well, from a display point of view they are not really random at all. Certainly Reactoonz and Moon Princess do not do very good jobs of covering up pointless actions such as swapping symbols for useless ones, putting wild symbols in useless places, and they do it a lot. Yep, they are effectively "bingo" slots. This actually looks like it has some reel/maths model behind it so as a result does not dangle as many fake outs as those mentioned above. Seriously do Play 'N Go just go out of their way to wind the player up? I'm sure when I play for real money I'll probably get wound up by the bonus stopping on 9x again or the lack of a gold star when the multiplier is up at 21x but it doesn't feel quite as deliberately forced. Wow, look at that, a whole paragraph without using the word rigged..... damn it!
I generally make a habit these days of putting 20 slots I like, of various volatility, on a random wheel and play 100 spins on each. Can see this one being included on it.
PS. Sorry for the lengthy ramble.
216.5x tough cluster pays this one, ouch!
