Cloudforge

Cloudforge: Slot Overview

Take to the skies with developer Relax Gaming in its online slot Cloudforge. Instead of charting unexplored territory or floating romantically through sun-kissed clouds, this slot sees the studio employ the services of a goblin pilot to blow bugs out of the air. Why? Who knows. Perhaps the world of Cloudforge is inundated with insects that threaten to overcrowd all other life. Maybe the cap just likes to squash bugs using his ship like an elaborate fly swatter. No matter how you ended up in the upper reaches of the atmosphere with us, if you're ready to eradicate bug life in this odd airborne realm, Cloudforge offers an unusual adventure where expanding wilds, multipliers, and free spins provide the firepower.

A flying contraption is where Cloudforge is housed in all phases of play. It's a sort of World War 2 meets steampunk type of jalopy, with guns that occasionally fire as it soars through the stratosphere in search of foes to shoot out of the sky. The captain is an odd fellow, assuming he's the guy on the highest-paying symbol. If so, then piloting this ship is a green-skinned, goblin-like dude, chewing a stick of dynamite as a cigar. Midges dart in and out of the screen; these are the targets, presumably, and if your goal was to play a slot that offers visuals and themes you've not seen before, then Cloudforge is a contender.

Wedged on the flying ship is a gaming area set up using 6 reels, 5 rows, and 20 paylines. A medium-high volatile math model powers the flight, popping out an RTP of 96.1%. Relax Gaming has included a selection of feature buys from its Supercharge menu, as well as an Enhanced Bet, and has provided a stake range of $/€0.10 to $/€100.

Cloudforge's pay symbols are six lower-paying orbs, compasses, telescopes, fuel canisters, pistols, and captains. Landing 6 matching orbs pays 4x-8x the bet, rising to 12.5x-50x when 6 matching high-pay symbols create a winning line.

Cloudforge: Slot Features

While up in the sky, be on the lookout for expanding wilds, electric reels, Extermination Spins, Eradication Spins, Supercharge buys, and the Enhanced Bet.

Expanding Wilds

Wilds land with multipliers attributed to them. When a wild lands, it expands upwards to the top of the grid, increasing its multiplier by 1 for each step. If two wilds land on the same reel, the topmost wild expands first, followed by the bottom wild. Where the wilds meet, their multipliers multiply. In the base game and in free spins, reels can become electric. If wilds land in electric reels, they expand upwards to the top of the reel, then downwards to the bottom, doubling the visible multiplier. A line of 6 wilds pays 50x.

Extermination Spins & Eradication Spins

Landing 3 scatters in the base game awards 8 Extermination Spins. During this feature, any wilds that land contribute to a global multiplier. The global multiplier applies to all wins. Hitting 3 scatters awards an extra 3 free spins. In the base game, if 2 scatters and a super scatter land, players win 8 Eradication Spins. This bonus follows the same rules as Extermination Spins, plus 1 random reel is guaranteed to be electric.

Supercharge Feature Buys & Enhanced Bet

Five buy options are available in the Supercharge section. They are 3x to guarantee a wild lands, 10x for Bonus Reels that remove paying symbols to increase the chance of bonus entry, or 15x to guarantee 2 wilds. Extermination Spins cost 80x to buy, or 200x buys Eradication Spins. The Enhanced Bet quadruples the chance of entering Extermination Spins, increasing the stake by 2.5x.

Cloudforge: Slot Verdict

Cloudforge is a slot that made an impression before a single feature had the chance to do its work. Relax Gaming has used an unusual combination of aviation, steampunk machinery, goblin mischief, and bug hunting to create a setting that feels like a strange animated cartoon as much as a regular online slot. The game triggered thoughts of The Robbin' Goblins, though Exco's release is arguably the more explosively eccentric. Some of the visuals are a bit odd, but they create a unique gaming world that would see the end of all bug life, even if the premise of flying around the clouds shooting airborne pests leaves a few questions unanswered.

When not shooting things in the background, Cloudforge sets about dispatching devastation on the reels largely through its expanding wild feature. Even here, Relax Gaming has taken a step away from the norm to do something different with it. Nudging wilds that increase a multiplier with each step are nothing new, but Cloudforge alters the action by doubling up the effect when two wilds are on the same reel, and by electrifying the reel, causing expansion to go up and down. These are minor tweaks perhaps, but something new to experience. Free spins step things up a gear by adding the expanding wild multiplier values to a global multiplier, which can rack up sizable values. On the flip side, the base game often struggled to string anything noteworthy together and linking electric reels with wilds can be tough.

Splat all the creepy crawlies, though, and Cloudforge is able to knock out payouts up to a 10,000x the bet win cap. It's a strange game, but in a positive way, as its unusual appearance helps it stand out in the crowded slot landscape. There are oddities to discover in terms of gameplay as well, and even though the game felt kind of clunky at times, Relax Gaming has made a stab at originality, or at least devised enough alterations to give Cloudforge a curious identity.