Have you noticed that classic online slots with the usual reels and paylines are slowly falling out of fashion?
Don’t get us wrong – there will always be an audience for the good old fruit machine. However, here at CasinoBloke, we test hundreds of online slots every year. The current market trends are clear – many new releases are moving away from the traditional slot machine layout and into more innovative systems that used to be considered “niche”.
It’s not a big surprise – after all, there are already thousands and thousands of classic slots out there. When it comes to new releases, being able to stand out from the crowd is crucial. And Cluster Pays are one of the features that online slots use to stand out.
So what are Cluster Pays slots, and how do they work? The answer is right there in the name. Instead of paylines, players are hoping to hit clusters of matching symbols.
Of course, there’s a lot more to it than that. In this article, we’ll discuss how Cluster Pays slots work and the pros and cons they offer over traditional paylines. We’ll also provide you with a list of some of the latest and greatest examples of top Cluster Pay slot games.
Cluster Pays slots are a unique type of slot game that eliminates traditional reels and paylines and instead calculates wins based on clusters of symbols. They’re typically found in online casinos, though physical cluster pay slot machines also exist.
To understand the crucial difference between Cluster Pays and regular reels, you have to first understand how slots work in the first place. In their most well-known form, slots win whenever multiple symbols of the same kind appear on several vertical reels. However, these symbols also have to be located along one of several possible horizontal paylines. In most cases, wins are calculated only for matching symbols on adjacent reels, starting from the first one on the left.
Cluster Pays slots do not have paylines. In fact, they don’t really have reels in the traditional sense. Although it may not seem like a big difference from the outside, Cluster Pays slots simply feature a grid on which symbols can appear.
To win Cluster Pay slots, players have to match symbols of the same kind into groups, or clusters. Symbols can be connected horizontally or vertically, which means two symbols can contribute towards the same cluster even if they’re one above the other. However, there is always a minimum of how many symbols you need in a single cluster to win. Typically, this is around 5 symbols, but that figure varies from game to game.
Also, closer pay slots have degrees of success, which means you win more for larger combinations. For instance, a cluster of 10 matching symbols will pay significantly more than a cluster of 5 symbols of the same kind.
In some ways, cluster pay slots draw inspiration from another form of digital entertainment – puzzle games. If you ever played something like Candy Crush or Bejeweled, you’ll know exactly what we mean. Those games are all about grouping symbols into clusters. You can think of Cluster Pays as a combination of slots and Candy Crush.
In and of itself, the Cluster Pay system in slots used to be unique enough that it was enough to make a game stand out. However, that’s no longer the case. To be frank, casino games with models such as Cluster Pays have been popping up for years now. Most of them need additional features to spice things up and help them stand out from the crowd.
With that in mind, here are some additional features common to slots of this type.
One of the most common questions we get boils down to the following:
Are Cluster Pays slots good?
The short answer is yes, they are. More precisely, Cluster Pay slot games are no better or worse than their more-traditional counterparts. It all varies on a game-by-game basis and often comes down to personal preference.
Our point is that there is nothing inherently “good” or “bad” about these types of game features. They’re different, sure, but whether you’ll enjoy that or not depends on your personal tastes. In the long run, any betting game’s profitability comes down to its RTP. If the RTP is at least 95% (but ideally over 96%), it’s a good slot in terms of bang for your buck.
The more important question here is whether Cluster Pays slots are fun. And they can be very fun if done well. If not, however, they can feel a bit contrived and unnecessarily padded. We’ll go through a few pros and cons to illustrate.
Last but not least, here are some recommended games for with Cluster Pays.
The world of online slots is arguably the most creative and innovative part of the gambling industry. Cluster Pays slots are a perfect example of this capacity for growth. Although they offer a very different experience from usual slot gameplay, they’re still loyal to the core features that make slots so popular in the first place. Check out any of the games we recommended above. Who knows, they may help you gain an entirely new perspective on online slot machines.
The team behind CasinoBloke consists of casino experts united in their desire to spread knowledge to a wider audience. The aim is, and always has been, to help even the most inexperienced players gain their footing in this exciting industry. The enthusiastic members dedicate time and energy to the creation of potent and insightful content. With years of experience in various fields of this industry, our expert authors know precisely what to look for while searching for casino quality.
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