The Five Best Starburst Mechanic Slots

In 2013, Sweden’s online gaming juggernaut, NetEnt, released a space-themed spinner called Starburst. The unassuming game made its way onto online casinos worldwide in November of that year, and at that time, no one could assume that it would become the smash hit that it did. Various experienced online gamblers have different theories as to why this game became so popular. Yet, no one knows for sure, really. Some speculate that this is due to its straightforward nature and tie-ins with many lucrative online casino bonuses. That may be the most reasonable explanation, as this is a rather unspectacularly low-variance game with a default RTP of 96.09% and a max win of x500.

The most unique thing about this spinner was its respin feature, where when Starburst Wilds appear on the middle three reels, they expand to cover their column and activate a respin. So, nowadays, when a slot has a wild that sticks, expands, triggering a respin, that has largely become known as the Starburst mechanic, and over the past decade, dozens of games have appeared on the Web from a wide range of providers that have sought to emulate Starburst’s look and gameplay. Below, we tell you about five we think are worth testing out in your gaming sessions titles that take gameplay cues from NetEnt’s famed creation, Starburst, a slot that still ranks well today virtually everywhere.

Blazin’ Bullfrog

In Chinese culture, frogs are synonymous with wealth, and statues of three-legged ones are used as Feng Shui decorations. In the online gambling sphere, somewhere in the neighborhood of two hundred spinners have these sorts of frogs implemented in their gameplay in some way. Blazin’ Bullfrog is a Play’n GO brainchild unleashed globally in October 2021.

Here, we have a medium variance title with a default RTP of 94.2% and wager sizes that start at $0.1 and end at $100. Hitting a frog scatter on the middle three reels in this slot pops up the Blazin’ Re-Spin feature. In that mode, this token turns wild, expanding and remaining stuck onto the 5×3 grid. It is vital to note that you cannot retrigger re-spins in this game. The max prize in Blazin’ Bullfrog is x1,215, hittable, one in every one hundred million spins.

Werewolf – The Hunt

We do not think we have ever reviewed a slot with a Werewolf motif, despite knowing that close to a hundred of these games exist. Werewolf – The Hunt, by renowned US and Israel-based game provider Spinomenal, will be our first foray into this genre. We should mention that this is a Spinomenal series and that The Hunt is a 2023 entry that debuted in January of this year, boasting a max win of x1,000 on a whopping top bet of $500. The RTP here is 96.1%, and the number of betways is fifty.

The Hunt utilizes the traditional 5×3 grid where, whenever a countdown wild hits, this slot activates a respins mode, with the triggering wild staying along for the ride on the next spin. These substitution tokens can only hit on the first, third, and fifth reel, and this game also has werewolf wilds that can step in for any other symbol. So, it strays a bit from the customary Starburst mechanic, but we like this game, so accept this cheat from our side. You also get mystery tokens, a free spin round, and a wheel feature in this atmospheric horror romp by Spinomenal.

Suncatcher Gigablox

Suncatcher Gigablox by Yggdrasil makes no bones about drawing massive inspiration from Starburst. It looks super similar to NetEnt’s renowned spinner, and its soundtrack and effects attempt to mimic the ones in Starburst. The difference here is that it implements the Gigablox mechanic, which unexpectedly drops large symbols. Hence, in Suncatcher, each spin can create a Colossal Gigblox from a random number of reels.

Naturally, wild respins happen in Suncatcher Gigablox, with wilds stretching to cover their column, giving away a respin with them reminding sticky. Like in Starburst, you also get ten betways that pay both ways in this spinner, which tries to jazz up the famed game with something extra.

Solar Wilds

Here is another blatant Starburst copycat. This time, it comes from All41 Studios. The Tallinn-based company founded in 2018, which partnered with Microgaming in 2019, released this game in 2021, in March of that year. It has very similar specs to Starburst, with its RTP of 96.27% and ten betways that pay in both directions. That said, it has a medium variance, and the max exposure of Solar Wilds stands at x1,000, meaning the top prize here is $100,000 since the highest wager is $100. We are sure some will find this disappointing. Still, those readers must remember that this is a medium variance spinner.

Visually, we like this slot better than Starburst. We say that even though it feels a bit flat, with its symbols lacking depth. The respin mechanic here is the standard Starburst one, with wilds expanding, remaining sticky, and summoning a respin. There is no other bonus feature aside from that one in Solar Wilds.

Jungle Stripes

For years, Betsoft was recognized as a top sector provider responsible for the sphere’s most impressive 3D slots. Nonetheless, in the late 2010s, it looked like this company was losing some of its shine due to dozens of rising competitors. Now, it appears that it again has retaken its industry position. Jungle Stripes is a 2021 Betsoft creation, distributed in an era when this brand was trying to shed its 3D label and compete with game suppliers like Pragmatic Play.

The variance level in this reel spinner is medium. Its RTP is a surprisingly high 97.03%, paired with a hit frequency of 21.87. The action in this jungle-theme title plays out on a 5×3 grid with ten both-pay betways. As with most of the other games we listed, the betting range here ends at $100 and starts at $0.1. Presentation-wise, this is maybe the best product featured in this article, and when a Jungle King (tiger) wild hits on the middle three reels, it shall expand, giving three respins at most. You can also win up to ten free spins in Jungle Stripes en route to trying to attain its maximum reward of x500.

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