Astro Rumble

Astro Rumble: Slot Overview

Rev your engines, players; we're about to hit the race track in search of glory in Astro Rumble from Hacksaw Gaming partners Bullshark Games. This is no regular driving a fast car around a track-type race, though. Instead, Astro Rumble takes place out there, in the vast inky universe on an as-yet-undiscovered planet against an entity that isn't even human. As well as keeping one tentacle on the wheel, one on the accelerator, Astro Rumble is a game which likes to activate Pots, which spray symbols and modifiers across the grid, during its base game, as well as two bonus rounds.

Astro is a word that relates to stars and space, so it's no surprise to find ourselves a long way from Earth when playing Astro Rumble. We're not out here to explore the furthest reaches of the galaxy or make diplomatic contact with alien species, though. Thematically, Astro Rumble is based on a 'high-speed space race', which explains the purple alien dude in his alien hot-rod and the race track background. Maybe, just maybe, if the human race can avoid destroying itself, one day we will be out there in friendly competition with our extraterrestrial brothers and sisters, though would something as frivolous as racing be beneath an advanced alien species? Something to ponder while listening to some rather slinky tunes.

The gaming area is made up of 5 reels equipped with 4 rows each, as well as 14 paylines, while above the grid are three Pots that are linked to Nitro symbols, wilds, and multipliers. Gamblers may wager 10 c to $/€100 per spin, and a handful of feature buys offer alternative ways to have a bet. Bullshark Games has designed a medium-high volatile math model and two RTP configurations - 96.39% is the preferred option, 94.3% is the lower one.

Astro Rumble's regular symbols are four playing cards with clubs, diamonds, spades, and hearts on them, paying 1x the bet for 5 OAK. The premiums are stopwatches, med kits, yellow items, green energy boosters, and Nitro symbols, awarding 5 to 20 times the bet for 5-of-a-kind. The wild symbol replaces any paying symbol and pays 20x for a line of 5 wilds.

Astro Rumble: Slot Features

The aim of Astro Rumble is to fill and activate Pots of Nitro symbols, Pots of wild symbols, and Pots of multipliers. There are also two bonus rounds to moon shot for and four feature buys.

Pot Features

• Pot of Nitro symbols - The number of symbols in the red Pot determines the minimum number of Nitro symbols that will land on the spin. All three Pots have a possible value ranging from 2 to 10.
• Pot of Wild symbols - The value of the purple Pot determines how many wild symbols will be added to the reels on each spin. If a wild lands on top of another wild, it adds +1 to the Pot of multipliers. Wilds cannot land on scatters.
• Pot of multipliers - The value in the gold pot determines how many win multipliers will be applied to random symbols on each spin. If more than one multiplier lands on the same position, the values are added together. When a symbol with a multiplier is part of a win, the multiplier is applied to the win. Possible multiplier values are x2 to x100.

Cosmic Boost

The Cosmic Boost may activate in the base game, activating one, two, or three Pots. Scatters do not appear during the Cosmic Boost.

Rocket Race

Hitting 3 or 4 scatters awards 8 or 10 free spins, respectively. One Pot begins with a random value of 2, 3, 4, or 5, and all three Pots are progressive. All Nitro and wild symbols that land during free spins are added to their respective Pots, and symbols with multipliers that land during the round add +1 to the multiplier Pot at the end of the spin. Hitting 2, 3, 4, or 5 scatters awards a further +2, +3, +4, or +5 free spins, respectively.

Galactic Rush

Landing 5 scatters in the base game triggers this feature with 12 free spins. Galactic Rush behaves the same as Rocket Race, except all Pots begin with a random initial value.

Feature Buy

From the bonus buy, players can activate BonusHunt FeatureSpins at 3x the bet to make each spin 5 times more likely to trigger free spins or Cosmic Boost FeatureSpins at 50x to guarantee at least two active Pots. Rocket Race can be bought for 100x or Galactic Rush for 300x.

Astro Rumble: Slot Verdict

Astro Rumble is the first time Bullshark Games has stepped off Terra to design an online slot, and the results were mixed: a bit of good, a bit of not-so-amazing. Interestingly, the slot reviewed just before this was ELK Studios' Pirots 4, and while the two games supply completely different gambling experiences and aren't really in direct competition with each other, the difference in build quality was apparent. Astro Rumble's music was nice, the visuals adequate, the theme on the creative side, but perhaps Pirots 4's intergalactic voyage spoiled us because ELK Studios' off-world slot made Astro Rumble feel a bit unpolished, a little unrefined by comparison.

But that's not to say there isn't an entertaining slot here to try. Despite a 10,000x max win being technically achievable in any mode, the base game was a lot less exciting than the bonus rounds, and the base phase really relies on the random Cosmic Boost feature to activate Pots to get stuff done. The 14 paylines acted a little weird at times, for instance, when there were a bunch of Nitro symbols and/or wilds in place, but little actually managed to connect together to form wins. Free spins are the superior mode since Pot collection persists, and whatever is in the Pots gets jammed on the grid on each free spin. What also added suspense to bonus rounds was the way grid positions are framed to indicate where Nitro symbols are going to be placed as the reels spin, increasing tension when they're grouped closely together.

From there, it's a matter of linking as many Nitro symbols with or without wilds as possible, and hopefully, a bunch of multiplier values are thrown in for good measure. And hey, it might happen, and even if Astro Rumble doesn't set the firmament alight, it's an interesting space game with some interesting grid insertion mechanics.