Lunax

Lunax: Slot Overview

Anime and slots have built a fairly strong relationship over the years, with releases such as Moon Princess, Starlight Princess, and Koi Princess being three strong examples. Proving that not all anime-themed slots have to have princesses in them, up-and-coming studio Exco has developed Lunax, a game that nevertheless stars a strong female lead as its main character. In this game, the heroine Luna either defends her city or at least dreams she's defending her city against four bosses who benefit players by creating sticky wilds, which intermingle with multipliers on the reels.

Tokyo appears to be where the Lunax adventure begins, which makes sense, being the home of otaku culture and all. The base game has a smart upward-angled camera view, capturing a mix of residential buildings, skyscrapers, and tower. Rising up from there is a magisterial, almost magical view of the night sky, blazing with stars and streaks of light. Luna is the main character of the story, appearing as a regular youth in the base game before breaking into a badass boss battler during free spins, where the fantasy really comes to life. In all phases of play, Exco has made sure that anime enthusiasts get a rich, dreamy fantasy world to inhabit, one which looks like it was made by real fans of the genre rather than tourists just looking to cross anime slot off their list.

Marked as 4 out of 5, Lunax is a medium-high volatile slot with a max RTP of 96%. It's got a few Hack feature buys for players who prefer to skip the base game, though all must choose a base bet of $/€0.20 to $/€250. The battling occurs on a 5x5 grid where 35 paylines evaluate winning combinations of matching symbols.

Lunax has eight regular paying symbols, half of them are metallic sprite-like objects, the other half are higher paying character symbols. Landing five matching low pays is worth 0.7x to 1x the bet, or if 5 matching high pays hit, the payout is 2x to 5x the stake. Wilds appear on all reels. They substitute any regular pay symbol and have the same value as the top pay symbol.

Lunax: Slot Features

Every boss battler needs weapons, and in Lunax, these are a Powerfield feature, free spins bonus rounds, a Golden Bet, and Hacks.

Powerfield

Powerfield is a multiplier feature that randomly drops onto the reels. It appears in shapes of 1x1, 2x2, 3x3, 4x4, small cross, big cross, or star. Two Powerfields may appear on the same spin. The maximum multiplier is x50 when boosted (more on this below) or x25 otherwise. When a winning line crosses one or more Powerfield positions, the multipliers in those positions are added together and applied to the win.

Free Spins

Hitting 3, 4, or 5 scatters awards 7, 9, or 12 free spins, respectively. Free spins start with four Bosses next to the reels, representing the high pay symbols. Each Boss has 3 lives. When high-paying symbols land, Luna attacks the symbol, which can either block her or be hit. If the symbol is hit, it loses a life on its counter. The hit symbol then becomes wild and sticky on the grid. Once a Boss loses all lives, all future occurrences of the symbol are wild and sticky, and +2 free spins are granted. When a Boss fight is won on a Powerfield position, the multiplier on that position becomes sticky for the rest of the round. Any new Powerfield multiplier landing on that position is added to it. Only the original multiplier stays permanent.

Golden Bet & Hacks

Activating the Golden Bet increases the stake by 50% to get a higher chance of triggering free spins. Lunax's Hack menu has four choices. It is possible to buy 7, 9, or 12 free spins (with possible upgrades) for 50x, 100x, or 250x the bet, respectively. Super Hack costs 500x for 12 free spins with rewards such as Random Boss Killed, Sticky Powerfield, Boosted Powerfield, or All Bosses killed. It is possible to combine up to 3 rewards.

Lunax: Slot Verdict

We are only three slots deep, but already Exco has shown a tendency to pick unusually diverse topics to theme its games. Its debut, Vegascaline, was a trippy road trip through the desert, while its second release featured explosive goblins. From there, we come to Lunax, which is a real paradise for anime-minded gamblers. Instead of just slapping a wide-eyed princess next to a gaming grid and having her giggle, Exco has written a real love letter to the genre, as it continues its streak of dodging the 'cookie-cutter' trap. The transition from grounded, residential streets to the fantasy, magical battleground of free spins creates a neat narrative arc with an excellent twist in store when the final count-up is made.

Before that count-up takes place, players will be hoping Luna has defeated most, if not all, of the Bosses in order to stack sticky wild symbols across the reels. Battling high pay symbols gave the game a mild Vikings Go feel, and the randomness of hitting or being blocked adds to the tension. Further suspense is poured on by Powerfields since they appear in a number of different shapes and sizes, while also being able to stack and become sticky. Sticky wilds with multipliers are a well-established duo, and when they're crowding a grid, in any game, they're able to escalate things quickly. Lunax is no exception.

One possible drawback is the way activating the Super Hack is the only way of possibly tapping into the full 25,000x the bet potential. Play any other way, and the max win tops out at less than half of that number at 10,000x. Not everyone is going to go all the way, but still. That aside, Lunax's neat design and high energy created the impression that Exco is either really into anime or is really good at faking it till they make it, and the game should resonate strongly with players into this style or general gamblers looking for a new sticky wild/multiplier hit.