Tinkerbot

Tinkerbot: Slot Overview

At the time of writing, one of the hot topics in the world of technology was AI. Some may see AI as the saviour of the human race, a wiser-than-us device that can solve all our problems and do all the work no one else wants to do so we can ease into a labour-less, leisure-heavy utopia. Others are worried AI is going to wipe us all out. In fact, in a survey of 2,700 AI researchers mentioned by New Scientist, 58% of them said there was a 5% chance humanity would be eradicated by a superintelligent AI. Spooky stuff. While waiting for either of these scenarios to play out, or a gentler, less extreme middle outcome, why not grab a wrench and join a machine that likes to make stuff in ELK Studios' cluster pays slot Tinkerbot.

If Tinkerbot likes to build things, then he, she, or it lives in the ideal environment to tinker. Piles and piles of junk lie stacked high to either side of a scrapyard, stretching back as far as the eye can see. The junk piles are illuminated by glowing lights, as if creatures live here amongst the flotsam, jetsam and detritus thrown away by a highly consumptive species, much like humans. The game has a cute vibe to it, a bit zany inventor, a bit Wall-E/The Boxtrolls, putting players in the mood for knocking together constructions (in the form of winning clusters) of their own.

Tinkerbot drops symbols onto a transparent 5x5 gaming area at its default size, but the grid can expand up to 7x7. Buried under junk somewhere out there in the scrapyard is a medium volatile math model (marked as 6 out of 10 rated) manufacturing an RTP of 94%. The return to player value stays the same whether wagering 20 c to $/€100 per spin or when buying features from the X-iter bonus buy menu.

Blue, green, and purple box thingies are Tinkerbot's lower paying symbols, while its higher pays are a blue gadget, a green gadget, a purple gadget, and a red gadget. Hard to say what any of these boxes or gadgets do, but they pay 0.1x to 1.5x for a 5 OAK cluster, up to 10x to 150x for a 15+ cluster.

Tinkerbot: Slot Features

Five or more matching symbols connected horizontally or vertically create a winning cluster. The multiplier value, if there is one, displayed on the monitor at the top right multiplies the win. Each winning cluster is removed, letting symbols drop down to replace the removed symbols, and a botbox symbol is generated. Having 3 or more botboxes in view triggers a feature release, and every botbox will release a random feature. Unless it is an instant botbox, which releases a random feature. Instant botboxes do not contribute to the regular botbox count.

Features

• Multisymbols feature - The Multisymbol may appear at random on a drop of new symbols. It creates a collection of identical pay symbols in one position. When part of a winning cluster, it also explodes all non-winning symbols in close proximity to it. It does not explode feature symbols or other Multisymbols, though.
• The Button - Landing a button triggers either the absorb feature or the symbol change feature. The absorb feature selects one pay symbol and collects all identical symbols, creating a Multisymbol. The transform feature selects one paying symbol and transforms all identical symbols into another type.
• Multiplier feature - Multiplier symbols may appear from a botbox. They add their value to the win multiplier and turn into a wild.
• Wilds and Hot Wilds - Wilds can drop in or appear from a botbox. Hot Wilds may be released from a botbox. The Hot Wild transforms a random number of payout symbols into wilds.
• Expand Grid feature - The expand grid feature may appear from a botbox. It expands the gaming grid one row and one reel up to a maximum of a 7x7 sized space.
• Bot Frenzy - Removing all payout symbols on the grid awards a random amount of extra botboxes in addition to any botboxes created from cluster wins.

Bonus Game & Super Bonus Game

Landing 3 scatter symbols anywhere on the grid awards 7 free spins. The current multiplier value, grid size, and any unused botboxes are carried over to the bonus game, and these things are persistent between free spins. Hitting 4 scatter symbols on the grid triggers the super bonus game with 9 free spins. The super bonus game starts at the full 7x7 grid size, and the multiplier value is increased. Each scatter symbol landing in either bonus round awards an additional free spin.

X-iter

Open the X-iter section of Tinkerbot, and it is possible to buy these features: Bonus Hunt - 3x the bet. Each game round has more than triple the chance of triggering a bonus game; Feature Fest - 10x the bet buys a game round with 3 guaranteed botboxes; Super Drop - 25x the bet buys a game round played on a 7x7 grid; Bonus Game - costs 100x the bet to buy; Super Bonus Game - costs 500x the bet to buy.

Tinkerbot: Slot Verdict

The ELK Studios team must have rummaged thoroughly through the scrapyard because the studio has come back with a bunch of workable raw materials they've managed to cobble together to make an entertaining cluster pays game. From the foundations on upwards, Tinkerbot is a solid cluster pays slot, with a load of extras bolted on to both discover and augment the regular run of play. A hallmark of a good cluster pays slot is the ability to run together clusters of symbols, triggering cascades, while a snowballing effect ramps up the tension as the sequence progresses. Tinkerbot is able to do so with its botbox feature and a lengthy list of accompanying gaming components.

When taking Tinkerbot for a test run, a useful way of getting a taste for the features was barrelling through a few Feature Fest spins from the X-iter. They're not the cheapest at 10x a pop, but each spin drops enough botbox symbols to trigger some form of feature action. There's a good variety of them, too, from the win multiplier to symbol upgrades to grid expansions. While some of the individual features might not lead cluster paying slots into brave new territory, with the exception perhaps of the Multisymbol, when combined, they cover a lot of bases. This means Tinkerbot lays out several potential pathways to decent results for lucky players to traverse.

It's a bit of a letdown that the actual Tinkerbot character isn't more prominent, and extra characterization adding a more personal touch wouldn't have hurt the game. Or is Tinkerbot the whole machine? Anyway, factor in the sorts of quality graphics and sound that ELK Studios' games can be relied on to possess, plus a 10,000x win cap, and Tinkerbot is a well-made, playable cluster paying slot that ticks a large amount of the right boxes.