Reel Star

Reel Star: Slot Overview

As the Reel Star game sheet says, 'Find out if you have what it takes to become a Reel Star!' Back in the day, it seemed that if someone wanted to be a star, they kind of had to be good at something. Whereas now, it feels like it's somehow possible to be famous just for being famous, or cultivate an online 'brand' or do something outrageous or funny enough to get enough clicks. The internet has surely been a big influence. Does democratising the path to stardom, where becoming famous is a possibility for a wider range of people, dilute the concept of being a celeb as well? Food for thought.

And this, sort of, kind of, leads us to Reel Star, a video slot from Relax Gaming developed exclusively for Unibet and 32 Red. Reel Star is a traditionally leaning game full of classic slot iconography, though with modern twists in parts. The vibe's a little peculiar if you overthink it. Reel Star managed to be both fairly energetic yet laid back at the same time, as if it wasn't sure whether it wanted to head to the main room for a boogie or the chill-out lounge for a breather. The studio labels it 'classic retro style with a modern twist', and it is hard to argue with that assessment.

If you have access to Reel Star, then it can be played on any device and accepts bets of 10 p/c to $/€100 per spin. Be on the lookout for alternative RTP models, where the maximum return value comes in at 96%. The volatility is high, rated at 5 out of 5, so that's something else to be aware of. Where the gaming activity takes place is on a 5-reel, 3-row panel, with 15 fixed lines making up the payout mechanic. Hit at least three matching symbols on a payline from the left on adjacent reels, and you've got yourself a win.

Six regular paying symbols are used in Reel Star. These are, from low to high, bells, horseshoes, clovers, pink gems, crowns, and spectacled piggies. As for values, a five-of-a-kind win fires off a payout worth 2.5 to 15 times the stake. Wild wins will get you more, up to 50x the bet for a five wild symbol win, or they can be used to replace any of the six paying symbols previously mentioned.

Reel Star: Slot Features

Now for some more of the modern twisty stuff where we cover such extras as a Ladder Up and Upgrade feature and free spins with multipliers and roaming wilds.

Ladder Up and Upgrade Feature

Present on all reels in the base game are Star symbols and Upgrade symbols. Landing 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 Stars awards 1x, 3x, 15x, 50x, or 250x the bet, respectively. Each Upgrade symbol in view doubles the Star payout. For example, landing 2 x Stars plus 1 Upgrade symbol would award 6x the bet. It is possible to land 5 Upgrade symbols with 5 Star symbols.

Free Spins

Scatters exist on reels 2, 3, and 4. Landing 3 of them triggers the free spins feature. Before it starts, a combination of free spins, multiplier, and moving wilds is randomly generated. It is possible to win 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, or 15 free spins, a multiplier of x1, x2, x3, x4, or x5, and 2, 3, 4, 5, or 7 moving wilds. For free spins, regular wilds, scatters, or upgrade symbols are removed from the reels. On each spin, the moving wilds move to random positions on the reels.

Reel Star: Slot Verdict

As well as maybe needing a bit of imagination to pretend you're a star while playing Reel Star, players will have to patronise Red 32 or Unibet, since Reel Star has been exclusively made for these operators. Possibly because Reel Star will have an inherently limited audience, the studio hasn't pulled out all of the stops to come up with something mind-blowing to theme the game with. For example, hold this one up to the previous Relax Gaming slot we reviewed, Grim The Splitter, to make a comparative point.

It's a bit unfair to compare those two games, however, as it's unlikely Relax Gaming was trying to freak anyone out with the theme when making this exclusive, choosing instead to go retro while catering to a very specific target audience into these sort of games. Reel Star sticks to simple, upbeat gaming while retaining the ability to hit impressive single spin base game wins due to the way Upgrade symbols double the Star payout. In the dream scenario, hitting five Stars plus five Upgrades would be worth 8,000x the bet – 250x for the Star payout doubled five times. In some ways, triggering free spins was like taking a break from the main event since any main game spin on its own can technically be the one which delivers Reel Star's full potential. It would have been nice to know the max win frequency so players could arm themselves with the full picture, but sadly it was not at hand when reviewing the game.

On the other hand, like Han Solo said to C3-PO in Empire Strikes Back before he flew the Millennium Falcon into an asteroid field, some people might not want to be told the odds. Reel Star probably isn't exactly the sort of extravagance players would go miles out of their way to track down, but if it's available and a funky retro game from a top-tier developer is on the menu, it could be just what the doc ordered for.