Invaders Megaways

Invaders Megaways: Slot Overview

'There is a feature with every spin in this game – and look for the Uni-Cow'; that's how SG Digital sells Invaders Megaways, a humorous sci-fi-themed game run by BTG's Megaways engine in the same vein as Rick and Morty Megaways. Even without the power of a hyper-popular cartoon behind it, Invaders Megaways is an entertainer. The makers have filled it with plenty of common Alien invasion/abduction motifs, but they've been executed in a way that makes them a whole lot of fun rather than clichéd.

Based on one of the most influential video games of all time, Space Invaders, there has been a paradigm shift in graphics since the original's release in 1978. It starts with the setting - a crop field in one of those Corn Belt parts of the United States like Kansas or Iowa. On one side of the screen is a farmer's house; on the other, mysterious crop circles. Whether these are cryptic messages from other worlds, ET graffiti, or the work of earthlings skilled at trolling, who can say? Whatever their origin, they look pretty cool from a bird's or UFO's eye view. Another star of the show is the audio, where an excellent new retro wave with a sci-fi bent adds the finishing touches – as do the cosmic bleeps when clicking on buttons.

The invasion takes place on smartphones, tablets, or desktops where stake levels from 25 p/c to $/€10 are provided. Each spin reveals 2 to 7 symbols on each of the grid's 6 reels, producing up to 117,649 ways to win during the base game. A highly volatile game, Invaders Megaways produces a theoretical return value of 96.30% and comes with SG Digital's standard max win ceiling of $250,000.

You'll need at least 3 pay symbols sitting adjacently from the left-hand side to create a winning combination. All values are lower than you usually find in a Megaways game, perhaps to counter the feature on every spin concept or the huge number of ways possible via certain features. Pay symbols start with crop circle adorned 9-A royals, then there are ray-guns, levitating cows, and a Paul-style alien - minus the foul language, though come to think of it, that might make an interesting game. After him are a Doc Brown-like scientist and a logo tile. Should 6 premium symbols line up on the reels, a payout worth 0.8 to 4 times the stake is coming your way. You won't find a regular wild appearing naturally in Invaders Megaways; however, there is a stack of wild action provided via the features.

Invaders Megaways: Slot Features

After the complexity of Perfect Potions, Invaders Megaways comes off as rather simple by comparison. It's far from being devoid of features, however, where you'll come across cascades, wild transformations, a Mythical Unicow, and free spins where five modifiers alternate throughout.

Central to the gameplay is the cascade system which explodes winning combinations off the board, allowing new symbols to take their place. This can lead to repeat wins, ending when no new combinations appear.

Running along the top of the grid is a ribbon displaying all of the pay symbols. On each spin, a UFO randomly parks itself over one of them. Any of the selected symbols on reels 2 to 5 are zapped, reminiscent of WMS' Invaders from the Planet Moolah, turning it wild for that spin only. Wild symbols replace any other pay symbol to complete a win.

On any base game spin, there is a chance the mythical Unicow will appear. If it does, all reels display between 7 and 10 symbols creating between 168,070 to 1,000,000 win ways.

Landing 4, 5, or 6 red planet scatter symbols triggers the free spins feature with 7, 10, or 15 free spins. During the round, landing 3 to 6 scatter symbols awards +4-15 free spins. Also, on every free spin, a random picture symbol is selected, activating one of these 5 modifiers:

• The logo – all logo symbols expand to cover their full reel.
• Scientist – until the end of the spin, the win line multiplier doubles on every cascade up to x256.
• Alien – each alien symbol increases height for its reel and each adjacent reel, creating up to 1 million ways.
• Cow – these become x2 wilds, so they are considered as two wild symbols rather than one.
• Ray gun – 1 wild is randomly added to the reels for each ray gun symbol unless the ray gun appears from a cascade.

Keep in mind you don't get the same modifier for the duration of the bonus, but a different one on each free spin.

Invaders Megaways: Slot Verdict

If there is one studio aggressively taking the Megaways bull by the horns to do all sorts of wild and crazy things, it is SG Digital. The team has no respect for tradition (in a good way), nor do they feel the need to churn out Bonanza clones. Whatever you think of the outcomes - and the quality has varied - they get a few cool points for daring to be different. On an encouraging note, they seem to be getting better each time, or at least moving in a positive direction, steadily refining each release, making them smoother to play while retaining levels of innovation. Invaders Megaways isn't entirely sluggish-free; maybe a quicker reel-spinning action might have tightened up the pace, though its good points outweigh the concerns.

For starters, having a feature on every spin is enjoyable and can lead to the occasional decent result. As mentioned, symbol values are noticeably low, so if you don't get a bunch of wild led cascades, you don't get much at all. The Unicow lurks in the base game to potentially aid a battered balance, but it lived up the 'Mythical' part of its name. SG Digital do like their million ways, as it has turned up in a couple of games now and is quite a sight should you manage to witness it - or something close at least. The five free spins modifiers are clever as well, and having something new on each free spin keeps you second-guessing. And how do they perform? At the time of writing, no official potential figure was available other than the standard cap of $250,000, and as it states, not all bet configurations may be able to reach this limit.

Invaders Megaways turned out to be another successful Megaways release from SG Digital. The game might not be completely 'there' in terms of slick gameplay, yet the team continues to head in the right direction, and Invaders Megaways is a highly entertaining entry.