Ever since Evolution acquired NetEnt, everyone has been anxious to know what this means for future releases from this iconic developer. The cheerful and cute, Reef Raider, can be seen as either a hint in that direction, or as a ‘last gasp of air’ and a tip of the hat to the Swedish giants’ Cluster Pays engine roots. Either way, you’re dealing with a highly entertaining mid-range grid slot that comes with a solid8,500xpotential.
Surrounded by colorful coral reefs, the7x7 seabed gridis framed by segments that make up a Treasure Trail. Consecutive Avalanche Wins moves the eye-patched, golden-hook Pirate Crab around this trail, triggering up to 4 modifiers on his way, as well as the Bonus Round in the end. The math model is solid, but it still caters mostly to casual players, and this is a solid production that sticks out in a visually pleasing way.
You win by landing clusters of 5+ matching symbols anywhere on the grid, and the top-tier symbols are worth between 25 and 150 your stake for 25+ matching symbols in a cluster. You can landmultiplier symbols of x2, x3, x5 or x50also, and these will multiply any cluster payout if adjacent either horizontally or vertically to the winning cluster.
TheAvalanche featurekicks in whenever a winning cluster has been formed, and all winning symbols are thus removed from the grid. A wild symbol is always generated in one of the empty positions left behind, while existing and new symbols drop down to fill the gaps. Wilds step in for all regular symbols, and are removed if part of a winning cluster. The Avalanche feature repeats as long as you keep winning.
You’ll see aneye-patched Pirate Crabon the left-hand side, and consecutive Avalanche wins fire at the grid frame segments to turn them from grey to pink. This marks advancement on theTreasure Trail, and every 3rd consecutive win allows thePirate Crab to move to a corner modifier trigger. These are as follows (in chronological order):
If you manage to charge at least15 Treasure Trail segmentsin the base game, the Pirate Crab reaches his final destination. This triggers theBonus Round with 9 free spinsat minimum, as every extra charged segment above 15 awards +2 extra spins on top of the original 9.
During the bonus round, you win +1 extra spin when charging 15 segments, plus 1 extra spin on top of that for every 3 segments charged above the minimum of 15. Of course, the Pirate Crab will walk around the Treasure Trail to trigger the same modifiers as in the base game, in case you had any doubt about that.
You’ll see a Mystery Overlay pattern beneath the symbols forming a cross at the center of the grid.Mystery symbols (chests)land at these overlay positions on every spin, and the mystery symbols always turn into the same matching symbol. Regular mystery symbols can also land, and this creates new overlay positions if at least 1 symbol lands adjacent to the initial overlay pattern. Whatever overlay pattern you get stays in place for the duration of the feature.
Our 4 and a half minute highlights video starts with a lengthy Treasure Trail crab walk that takes us all the way to the bonus round. The feature starts at 1:59, but you get to see all the modifiers in action before that. Simply hit the play button below, and enjoy the feature rich show.
We like how Reef Raider pays homage to some of NetEnt’s earlier grid slot classics, and this is a great alternative for those who want more light-hearted action in the genre. The eye-patched Pirate Crab walking around the grid is quite adorable, and the 4 modifiers come with fun animations even if their impact is not always all that hard-hitting.
The bonus round can seem hard to trigger, as 15 consecutive avalanches is not something you’ll usually see very often. However, you will pull off such “miracles” on a regular basis due to the math model setup, and getting there is half the fun. The 8,500x potential is solid for a medium volatile release, but it can be a bit annoying when the bonus round doesn’t deliver.
Pros
Cons
Finn and the Swirly Spin- is a charming NetEnt grid slot with an innovative touch. It plays out on a 5×5 cluster pays ‘spiral grid’, and you can look forward to 4 randomly triggered modifiers. These modifiers all get their own dedicated bonus round tier, and the 5,000x potential is solid for a low/medium volatile game.
Finn’s Golden Tavern- is a follow-up adventure with Finn the Irish leprechaun from NetEnt, and it plays out on a 5×5 cluster pays grid. You can look forward to avalanche wins, 2 randomly triggered modifiers and a bonus round with a progressive multiplier that increases per 5 wilds you land.
Aloha! Cluster Pays- was the NetEnt release that introduced us to the cluster pays engine, and it’s a medium volatile and colorful tropical island adventure where you can win up to 2,000x your stake. This is most likely to happen in the bonus round, where all the low value symbols drop away until only premiums are left.
Reef Raider
