Extra-terrestrial aliens and exploding planets are the main attractions in Stars Awakening. Powered by Playtech and available on desktop, tablet and mobile devices it’s a 5 reel, 20 payline video slot that comes with re-spins following every winning spin as well as giant 3×3 symbols and stacked wilds. Stakes start at 20p and go up to £2,000 per spin.
The empty black of deep space forms the backdrop to the reels – the lower value playing card values all feature a cheeky looking alien. The higher value symbols are a range of brightly coloured planets. You’ll see purple, blue, green, yellow and red orbs in play. The best of these is the red planet which offers payouts of up to 25 times your stake per payline.
Every time you land a winning combination, you’ll trigger the Supernova Scatters feature where you’ll be awarded a respin – symbols transform into scatters on those respins. On the 1st respin, the purple planet pays scatter style. On the 2nd respin, the blue and green planets are also wild. On the 3rd respin, all 5 higher value planets become scatters. This gives you the chance to get scatter style payouts multiplied by the number of that scatter on each reel for more wins.
Helping your winning chances is the Giant Spin feature- giant 3×3 symbols can land at random on any spin. Also boosting you hopes of creating a winning combination are stacked wilds. These can land anywhere on reels 2, 3 and 4 and substitute for scatters.
That’s about is far as features go – you won’t find a traditional free spins round here, or any pick me round or other bonuses. All of the action comes with the respins in the base game. Thankfully, they arrive regularly so you won’t find a shortage of action here.
Planets blowing up may be explosive but you wouldn’t say that about the volatility here. You can expect a nice balance between the size and frequency of wins. The variance sits snugly in the medium range. There may not be any free spins on offer here but the fact that there’s a respin on offer following every winning spin means there’s plenty of action.
Playtech video slots are usually well designed and Stars Awakening matches those expectations – it’s not particularly flashy but the imagery is neat, crisp and clear. This won’t be a video slot for players looking for a range of expansive feature rounds as the gameplay focuses on the base game.
There are plenty of thrills on offer though thanks to the giant symbols and stacked wilds. Throw the respins with scatter pays into the mix and the simple space adventure that is Stars Awakening becomes a very playable one. If you like space themed games, Playtech’s Space Invaders (which is based on the popular arcade game) is worth trying.
