Oxygen 3

Oxygen 3: Slot Overview

After already surfacing twice before, ELK Studios' Oxygen series is taking another, third gulp of air. Logically titled Oxygen 3, this, like its predecessors, is a slot designed for gamblers who get a kick out of spreading multiplier values on individual reel positions around a gaming grid like a weed infestation, in a similar vein to the Pragmatic Play hit Sugar Rush. While floating ponderously around the deep, the studio has constructed a new and somewhat sombre back story to give part three in the Oxygen range a distinctive personality, to go with its revamped set of features, which includes a mix of returning and new gaming components.

Oxygen 3 finds itself under the surface of the water, but unlike the previous two games, this one is located in a more thought-provoking situation. The setting is Coral Creek, offering a 'scattered vision of the future that somehow slipped into the past.' It's not a very encouraging vision, at least, for those of us who call dry land home. It looks as though the ice caps have well and truly melted, and the sea has risen to catastrophic levels. Clues to this watery future lie in the submerged monorail, and game info that talks about ruins of an advanced civilisation, a 'future city lost to time.' But, whatever. It's all good news for creatures who live in the water, like the critters lining Oxygen 3's gaming grid, giving the game both a sad apocalyptic vibe, as well as a goofy cartoon one, all at once.

All three Oxygen releases are cluster pays slots, played on a 6x7 gaming grid. To create a winning combination, at least 5 matching symbols must be connected to each other horizontally and/or vertically. On the volatility side, Oxygen 3 has a rating of 7 out of 10, putting it at the higher end of the spectrum. In terms of RTP, ELK has reintroduced a 96% setting, which was a nice surprise. This value applies whether betting between $/€0.20 and $/€100 per spin or when purchasing features through the X-iter.

Oxygen 3's pay symbols are 3 pieces of coral, 3 fish, and an octopus. The largest winning clusters are 32+ in size and pay 20x-250x the bet. In addition, symbols of 2x2, 3x3, or 4x4 may appear on any symbol drop. Big symbols count as the number of 1x1 positions they cover. Oxygen 3 also has an Avalanche mechanic, which removes winning symbols (or if they are special wilds, they are activated to explode later), causing new symbols to enter from above to refill the reels. Avalanches repeat as long as new winning combinations appear.

Oxygen 3: Slot Features

Bubbling out of the tank are Oxygen Bubble multipliers, Multiplier Strikes, Clam features, various wild features, a bonus round, a super bonus round, and X-iter feature buys.

Multipliers & Multiplier Strike

The first time a symbol explodes on an empty position, an empty Oxygen Bubble is formed. Each time a symbol explodes on a position with an Oxygen Bubble, the multiplier on it is doubled. The activated Oxygen Bubble counts as x1, and Oxygen Bubbles are not affected by gravity. The Multiplier Strike feature places clusters of Oxygen Bubbles with multipliers onto the grid before the symbol drop. The Multiplier Strike can trigger on any drop or bonus drop.

Clam Features

The Clam symbol is wild. If it's part of a winning combination, it triggers one of these three modifiers after the win evaluation:

• Squid - Generates a wild on its current position, then moves to a new position. It repeats this process until it leaves the grid.
• Pearl - After the win evaluation but before gravity, the Pearl feature selects a payout symbol on the grid. Each symbol of this type, as well as feature symbols, becomes sticky (feature symbols are persistent even if they contribute to winning combinations). Redrops then take place as long as more wilds or more pay symbols of the selected type land, or the grid is full of selected symbols and/or feature symbols. At the end, a win evaluation takes place, and sticky symbols are released. Only one Pearl can be present at a time.
• Starfish - Rotates to point in a horizontal, vertical or diagonal direction, then removes pay symbols along that direction. Any feature symbols along the direction are activated. At the final position, the Starfish increases the multiplier value. This repeats until the Starfish transforms into a wild.

Wilds

There are three further wilds - regular wilds, Blaster Wilds, and Exploding Wilds.

• Wilds - Substitute for all regular pay symbols. Wild only wins have the same value as the highest pay symbol.
• Blaster Wild - Activates when part of a win, or when affected by another Blaster Wild, or an Exploding Wild or Starfish. Converts all pay symbols in an X or plus-shaped pattern from the Blaster Wild, converting them to matching symbols. Symbols converted by a previous blast and affected by a second blast are converted to wilds.
• Exploding Wild - Activates when part of a win, or when affected by another Exploding Wild, or a blast from a Blaster Wild or a Starfish. It triggers an explosion after wins, removing pay symbols within two cone shapes, up and down, or left and right.

Bonus Round

Hitting 3 bonus scatters awards 10 free bonus drops. The round has an Oxygen Meter that fills for each winning combination. When full, the meter empties, triggers, and upgrades a cluster of multipliers on the grid. Oxygen Bubbles are persistent between spins in the bonus rounds. If the bonus round triggers, and one of the three bonus scatters is a super scatter, the super bonus game is awarded. What's different in this feature is that when the Super Oxygen Meter triggers, it upgrades a large cluster of multipliers on the grid. Meter progress in both bonuses is persistent between drops. Hitting 2 or 3 bonus scatters awards +3 or +5 drops, respectively.

X-iter

The X-iter feature buy has the Bonus Hunt for 2.5x buying a game round with more than 3 times the chance of triggering a bonus or Mega Hunt at 5x for more than 6 times the chance. Clam Chowder costs 25x, and it guarantees 3 Clam symbols on the grid. The bonus game may be bought for 100x or the super bonus for 250x the stake.

Oxygen 3: Slot Verdict

Oxygen 3 is another lively yet strangely sombre addition to ELK Studios' portfolio. However, whilst thoughtful on one level, and appreciably so, this is not a game that dwells on mental ruminations to entertain, but delivers another dose of rising position multiplier action, made popular thanks to slots like those in Pragmatic Play's Sugar Rush series - Sugar Rush, Sugar Rush 1000, as well as others helping prop the form up too, such as Nolimit City's Duck Hunters, and of course, ELK Studios' previous contributions. The first Oxygen release was a breath of fresh air (yip, pun, sorry), and while Oxygen 2 was another fun romp in the water, it wasn't as thrilling as the original, before bringing the series to the current bubble, Oxygen 3.

For the most part, Oxygen 3 is about as good as the previous two releases, but it's hard to call it a major advancement. The beating heart of the game remains the Oxygen Bubble system, and around it, ELK Studios has played with the supporting features. It was slightly disappointing not to see the Collector and Dealer feature again, as they were, from memory, some of the most potent parts of the first game, though the Multiplier Strike has stuck to all three so far like a stubborn barnacle - as have explosive wilds. The new cling-ons are the Clam features, which throw something new into the mix, as does the bonus rounds' Oxygen Meter, charging up on winning combinations before triggering an effect in the time-honoured cluster pays tradition.

All in all, Oxygen 3 is not going to be as critical to gamblers' lives as actual oxygen, but there are good things to discover down here amidst the sunken civilisation. Winning potential remains steady at 25,000x, the RTP is surprisingly up, and the new features should please players who enjoyed what the series has done so far, and they help make Oxygen 3 another playable example of this position multiplier style, constructed to ELK Studios' sensorially pleasing standard.