Chomplings

Chomplings: Slot Overview

One thing we share with practically every other critter on this rock is the need to feed. Whether you're vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, fruitarian, or eat whatever you can get your mouth around, it doesn't matter; our bodies need fuel to run on. So, it seems, do creatures on other worlds. At least, they do in the minds of Print Studios, which has designed an unusual slot going by the name of Chomplings. In this realm, Chompling characters traverse a gaming grid eating stuff, sometimes other Chomplings in acts of cannibalism, similar in manner to ELK Studios' Pirots slots, with an injection of Print Studios flair.

In a far-off corner of the galaxy, where stone blocks float through a nebula, can be found the world of the Chomplings. Just to be clear, Chomplings are cute little beasties that have a, some might say, unhealthy obsession with consumption. Despite the exotic characters and the unusual world they find themselves in, perhaps the strangest thing is that out here, untold light years away from planet Earth, an alien species gets its boogie on to such funky muzak. Not knocking the tunes in any way, but they were a little out of place in this alien land. Or do they fit? This is a cute game, after all. Let's have a think as we digest.

Chomplings is played on an 8x8 grid populated by symbols, Chomplings and walls dividing the grid into regions. It's the Chomplings' job to move around where they can and devour everything they can sink their teeth into, including each other. They can move orthogonally but not through walls. On each spin, a win amount is shown next to a progress bar. The progress bar is filled as symbols are consumed on the grid. When the bar is full, the current win times the current win multiplier is paid out. Then, the bar resets and a new win amount is displayed. Possible win amounts are 0.1 to 100 times the bet.

As well as three feature bet buys, which are optional, players must choose their required stake from 20 c to $/€50 per game round. Chomplings is a better fit for players who prefer high volatility, and when regular betting, the game's default RTP clocks in at 96.1%.

Chomplings: Slot Features

On the Chompling's quest to eat, they can bump into things like regular gems, premium gems, and feature symbols. If a wall blocks a Chomplings' path, they may stomp the ground to try and knock it down. All Chomplings have the chance to remove a wall after clearing a region.

Chomplings may even eat each other, powering up their headgear, one charge per consumed Chompling:

• Wingrid can fly to another position when a region is cleared.
• Rocky hammers down any wall when a region is cleared.
• Zuck snorts gems from far another region.
• Gemma upgrades all regular gems to premium - if only premiums exist, their values are increased.

Gems come in 6 flavours, as regular or premium. Premium gems fill the progress bar by a greater amount. Other symbols on the board include these, which take effect when consumed:

• Multiplier Rocks - increase the win multiplier by a fixed amount of up to x100 or double it.
• Egg - hatches 1 Chompling.
• Egg Pile - hatches up to 4 Chomplings.
• Wormhole - 2 wormholes may appear when a grid generates; they allow a Chompling to reach a new area when stepped in.
• Instant Prize - may appear each time a grid is generated and awards a prize of up to 100x the bet when consumed.

All Chomplings have the chance to remove a wall after clearing a region, and when all Chomplings have stopped moving, there is a chance the walls rotate. If Chomplings eat everything on the board, the grid regenerates. Chomplings move across the grid as long as they can reach something to eat.

Feature Bet

The Small Snack, costing 4x, guarantees a win, while the Big Bite, at 100x, increases the chance of special features and valuable symbols. At 300x, Chomping Chaos guarantees a win while increasing the chance of special features and valuable symbols, as well as upgrading all gems to premium.

Chomplings: Slot Verdict

Just to pick up where the intro left off, there are links, perhaps faint, perhaps not so faint, to ELK Studios' Pirots slots to be found in Chomplings. It's hard to escape those comparisons. Four characters wandering around a game board, devouring things, without a reel, row, or payline in sight? Very familiar. But it's a big ol' world and an even bigger universe, so there's plenty of room for similar slots to exist in tandem. Heck, how many slots on the market are mere copies of each other?

Chomplings is by no means a complete copy anyway. A studio that gave us such creative endeavours as Big Stack Lumberjack, Darkness, Royal Potato and a slew of other doozies isn't in the business of merely imitating others' work. While there might be comparisons to be made, Chomplings offers variations on the wandering and eating theme. One thing is that the Chomplings generally eat something on every spin, so while not every spin will be a winner, the constant grid activity helps with engagement. If players really want something to happen on each spin, there is always the Small Snack feature bet as well. The action didn't seem to flow as maniacally as Pirots slots can, what with all their chaotic animations, bombs, dynamite, coin game, and so on, but long runs of chomping are a definite possibility in Chomplings, as the game boasts greater winning potential of 20,000x the bet.

By the end of the test session, it felt like Chomplings provides an entertaining take on the moving and eating concept that may attract a different sort of gambler than its competitors. Broadly speaking, perhaps, gamblers with a bit more patience, those who aren't quite so dazzled by visual pyrotechnics and aren't as driven by instant gratification. As such, Chomplings might not wind up having the same mainstream appeal, but it's an amusing riff on the Pirots idea.