Nuclear Tumble

Nuclear Tumble: Slot Overview

Casino game maker Relax Gaming has gone nuclear, literally, when designing the current addition to its popular range of Tumble-titled slots. The name this time is Nuclear Tumble, and while it focuses on one of the most powerful forces of nature used by humankind, there is also a big emphasis on cash symbols and the collection thereof. In an intriguing twist, cash prizes are not awarded by a collect symbol, but end up in players' pockets when gravity drags them to their lowest possible point on the grid. Make no sense? Do join us to find out more if intrigued, not forgetting to bring your personal Geiger counter and Hazmat suit along.

Game info was minimal at the time of review, so the main clues to go off were those provided by the demo itself, and that was a little bit puzzling. There's a bear with big muscles wearing overalls, huge fruits and vegetables lying about the place, run-down buildings, while in the far distance, cooling towers spill vapours into the hazy-looking air. At a guess, a nuclear disaster has occurred, the human race has been wiped out, and nature is reclaiming the planet. The real fallout occurs in bonus rounds, which sees radioactive material light up the screen, kind of pretty in some ways, deadly in others. Nuclear Tumble tells an unusual story as it goes about tumbling stuff that might happen one day; who knows, hopefully not.

At the start of each spin, there can be up to 25 stone blocks on the 6x6, 46,656 ways to win grid. All winning symbols, plus orthogonally adjacent stone blocks, are destroyed, causing symbols to tumble down and fill the gaps for another chance to win. This repeats until there are no more wins. Players may stake $/€0.20 to $/€200, while a highly volatile math is in charge of the tumbling, and the default RTP is 96.1%. 

Clubs, spades, diamonds, and hearts are joined on the paytable by blueberries, apples, aubergines, tomatoes, and a bear as the paying symbols. Card suits pay 0.2x for a 5 OAK hit, and the others are worth 0.3x to 1x the bet when landing 5 matching symbols in a win. Radioactive wilds may appear as well, on all reels except the leftmost, to replace any regular paying symbol.

Nuclear Tumble: Slot Features

In this section, we cover special symbols, Meltdown Mode, free spins, and SuperCharge feature buys. 

Special Symbols 

Stone blocks may reveal a coin, exploding bomb or one of the three scatters when they are destroyed. Exploding bombs destroy all non-cash prizes in the same row and column as they are in when there are no more wins. Cash prize symbols are awarded when they reach the bottom row and are removed when this occurs. Cash prizes destroy any stone blocks beneath them.

Meltdown Mode 

If all stone blocks are removed, when there are no more wins, Meltdown Mode triggers, clearing all symbols in view except for cash prize symbols, and a new tumble occurs, with an increased chance of more and bigger cash values.

Free Spins 

Players win 6 free spins when 3 or more scatters are collected. If at least one super or ultra free spin symbol appears alongside the 3 scatters, then 6 super free spins at progression level 2, or 10 ultra free spins at progression level 3, respectively, are triggered. Before free spins start, there is an option to gamble to a higher level. This may be repeated until ultra mode is won or the gamble is lost.

During free spins, collecting 4 cash symbols progresses the feature, increasing the cash symbol values and awarding 1 extra free spin. Cash values range from Bronze at level 0 of 1x-5x up to Gold at level 4+ of 200x-2,500x the bet. If a blocker with extra free spin is destroyed, then +1 free spin is awarded, then the extra free spin symbol is removed.

Supercharge Feature Buys & Enhanced Bet

Activating Bonus Reels from the SuperCharge menu increases the chance of triggering a bonus for 10x the bet, removing paying symbols from the reels. Golden Spins cost 15x to make all cash prize values golden, while Meltdown Mode can be bought for 30x or 175x for Golden Meltdown with only gold cash prizes. Players may buy 6 free spins for 50x, 8 super free spins for 100x, or 10 ultra free spins for 200x. From there, it's even possible to buy golden versions of free spins, super free spins, or ultra free spins with only gold cash prizes for 400x, 750x, or 1,500x the bet, respectively. Lastly, activating the Enhanced bet doubles the stake to increase the chance of Meltdown Mode and free spins. 

Nuclear Tumble: Slot Verdict

Despite the unique theme, Nuclear Tumble is a recognisable continuation of Relax Gaming's Tumble-titled series of slots. If you like connecting cascades, smashing blockers, linking wins, and escalation possibilities, the Tumble series is famous for this sort of stuff. All of which Nuclear Tumble manages to fit onto its reels, while shifting the focus to collecting cash prizes rather than regular winning combinations, despite the large number of ways to win. And yet, while there are plenty of opportunities for some consecutive tumbling, dead/low energy spins were common as well, so maybe don't expect Nuclear Tumble to be smashing everything in sight at all times, and it can be a tease, for example, when bigger cash prizes are hanging there, just one row away from being awarded.

On the more exciting side of the coin, Nuclear Tumble is able to string consecutive tumbles along, making it a potentially entertaining choice for players who favour this style. It didn't seem to reach the insane levels of continuity found in, say, Cluster Tumble, though that one was extreme. Exploding bombs contribute to the process quite well, though, and Meltdown Mode might be helpful in filling the grid with active symbols and dropping cash to the bottom row. Speaking of which, if dropping cash to the bottom row is of key concern in the base game, that goal is amplified in free spins. Not only do you collect the dough when it occurs, but collecting enough cash symbols levels the game up, leading to more spins and higher-value prizes - the bigger the better would be good, too, in order to help Nuclear Tumble go ballistic and push towards its cap of 5,000x

Add it up, and Relax Gaming has made an enjoyable tumble slot that may tease, or maybe reward, while stringing wins together and smashing blocks out of its way. It's quite different to others the studio has done, so it might take a bit longer than usual to work out if it's a fit or not, but for players who warm to its ways, there is a fun if radioactive slot for them to tumble their way through here.