Flock Me

Flock Me: Slot Overview

Whilst other species might not build jailhouses the way we homo sapiens do, apparently, certain social animal species do isolate, discipline, or restrain members of their group who break social norms or pose a threat. Software provider NetEnt explores this idea in its online slot Flock Me, where players meet a gaggle of naughty law-breaking birds. Clearly, these birds aren't great at crime, though, because they've been locked in avian jail, where a set of features that includes roaming Multiplier Wilds, avalanche wins, and free spins keep them busy as the days tick by while players get to experience a mix of familiar and newer gameplay.

The base game plays out in a prison yard surrounded by a high wall, barbed wire, and a suite of CCTV cameras to ensure baddies are locked safely away from the general public. Since we're dealing with birds and not hardened human criminals, Flock Me's lock-up has a less serious bent to it than, say, San Quentin xWays or Bangkok Hilton. Though in saying that, when free spins trigger, play moves to the dreaded showers area where, when the round concludes, a bar of soap sits ominously on the floor next to a bunch of rubber duckies. Make of that what you will. Actually, make of the odd flaming effect at the bottom of the screen what you will, too, which appears when Elevate buys are active.

Flock Me's symbols fall into a 6x7 gaming area, and create wins when at least 5 matching pay symbols are connected to each other, anywhere on the grid. Winning symbols vanish, causing others to fall into the empty spaces, creating another chance to win. If another win does occur, the avalanche feature triggers again. Beneath the feathers is a medium-high volatile math model available in four RTP configurations, where 96% is the preferred return value. Gamblers may stake from a minimum of $/€0.20 to a maximum of $/€120 per spin.

The four low pays are ball and chains, toilet rolls, lighters, and bars of soap, while the highs are four bird character symbols. Clusters of 5 OAK pay 0.1x to 1x, going up to 3x to 200x when hitting an 18+ OAK combination. Pay symbols can appear on the reels as 1x1 or 2x2 colossal symbols in the main game and bonus round. During avalanches, symbols fill spaces below colossal symbols, and colossal symbols count as 4 symbols for a cluster. All types of wilds in the game replace any regular pay symbol.

Flock Me: Slot Features

Flock Me's features are made up of Multiplier Wilds, Cross Wilds, Flock Me, Cleaning, free spins, and Elevate feature buys.

Multiplier Wild Symbols

Multiplier Wild symbols randomly land in the main game and free spins. Each time a Multiplier Wild is part of a cluster win, it moves vertically, horizontally, or diagonally to an adjacent position, its multiplier increases by +1 (with no limit), and the avalanche starts. If a Multiplier Wild moves to a 2x2 colossal symbol position, it transforms into a 2x2 Multiplier Wild. Vice versa, colossal Multiplier Wilds transform into a 1x1 symbol if they move to a 1x1 position. When a Multiplier Wild moves, a wild is left in its place. Multiplier Wilds remain on the screen till the end of the round. When more than one is part of the same win, the multiplier values are multiplied.

Cross Wild

The Cross Wild feature activates before the avalanche, when at least one Cross Wild symbol is part of a win. When activated, a Vertical Cross Wild transforms pay symbols on its reel and row into matching pay symbols, the Diagonal Cross Wild does so on two diagonal lines, while the Omni-Directional Cross symbol does so in all directions. The Omni-Directional Cross forms when the Vertical Cross and Diagonal Cross are vertically adjacent to each other in a cluster win. When more than one Cross Wild activates, a wild is placed on each position where the transformation lines intersect.

Flock Me Feature

The Flock Me feature triggers when a Flock Me symbol is in view, when there are no more wins and no Cleaning symbols on the reels. All Multiplier Wilds move to positions next to the Flock Me symbol, or the nearest available, and wilds are placed in the vacated positions. An additional Multiplier Wild is also placed next to the Flock Me symbol, and the Flock Me symbol turns wild.

Cleaning Feature

The Cleaning feature activates when there are no more wins and the Cleaning symbol is present. It removes all symbols except wilds, Multiplier Wilds, Cross Wilds, scatters, or Flock Me symbols. When multiple special symbols are in view, they activate in the order of Cross Wild, Cleaning feature, and Flock Me feature.

Free Spins

Landing 3 scatters in the main game awards 5 free spins. Multiplier Wilds from the main game and those that appear during the bonus round remain on the reels till free spins end. Hitting 3 scatters during the feature grants +2 free spins.

Elevate

Elevate is the name of the feature buy menu. Here, players can activate Boost, which increases the chance of Multiplier Wilds landing or activating the Flock Me, Cleaning, Cross Wild, or free spins for 2x the bet. Flock Me, Super Flock Me, free spins, or super free spins may be bought for 20x, 50x, 100x, or 250x the bet, respectively. The Super Flock me places up to 2 Multiplier Wilds alongside the Flock Me symbol, while super free spins drop the Flock Me feature and up to 2 Multiplier Wilds on the first free spin.

Flock Me: Slot Verdict

The minds of veteran gamblers may be coughing up images of warm tropical waters, exotic flowers, and lively tiki totems when confronted with the words 'NetEnt' and 'clusters pays' in the same sentence. Released in 2016, Aloha! Cluster Pays set the studio up on an eventful journey of cluster paying games, with the latest at the time of writing being this here gangster bird themed online slot, Flock Me. In this instance, the studio has swapped palm trees for prison fences, and while the feather felons theme might be considered a bit daft, it's done in jest and is easy to get along with. The name of the game itself is an amusing play on a phrase used to express surprise, frustration, or disbelief, and this humorous angle permeates much of the rest of the game.

On a more serious gameplay side, Flock Me delivers an eventful blend of cluster pays and accompanying features. One of the key components is Multiplier Wilds, and these take on a roaming, Jammin' Jars quality during avalanches and free spins, which can be suspenseful. They may even be a tad too close to the Push Gaming classic for comfort for some players. However, even haters may find it hard to deny Flock Me's entertainment value if Multiplier Wilds end up on a fruitful hot streak. What gives them extra legs are the supplementary features. Cross Wilds are technically able to add more wilds to the grid, as can the Flock Me symbol, while the Cleaning feature delivers a handy reset to keep a round avalanching. Multiplier Wilds multiply each other too, when part of the same cluster, making them a lot more lethal than if they were just additive.

In short, some players might be getting their feathers in a tizzy over the Jammin' Jars connection, fair enough. But, look past that, and there's a playable cluster pays slot here, which props up its roaming Multiplier Wild effect with a flock of entertaining side features, 8,594x the bet winning potential, and a beaky gangster attitude.