In reality the cosmos is a whole lot of nothing, occasionally broken up by a solar system. But that wouldn’t make a particularly good theme for online pokies game, so All41 Studios has instead gone the alternate route.
The game features a galaxy that is all but bursting with rich, interesting planets, unusual geometric shapes, and vibrant colours. The background seems to stretch off to infinity, depicting nebulas that are probably so far away as to almost be unreachable. This dreamy atmosphere, combined with a fun electronic soundtrack, is a perfect match, proving that All41 Studios clearly have a few talented designers.
This bold visual style is expertly carried over to the reels, where things get even dreamier. Each symbol is a planet, though so strange in design as to almost be bizarre. The idea here clearly wasn’t to depict planets realistically, but instead give players a good idea of what’s going on in terms of gameplay. Unlike other pokies, each symbol here is similar in shape, with only the colour setting images apart. There are red, pink, blue, purple, green, orange, yellow and teal symbols, with the orange and yellow being the highest paying.
In terms of special symbols there is only one to speak of; the Wild. But just because there is only a single special symbol, it doesn’t mean that this isn’t still a slot game that cranks things up to overdrive.
Entertaining Simplicity
Online pokies are stuffed to the brim with bonuses and special features these days, which is certainly not a bad thing. Bonus rounds are fun, of course, and potentially rewarding too. On the other hand Solar Wilds has been designed with pure simplicity in mind, and as such has no Free Spins rounds, no jackpots, and no bonus features. Instead, it has Expanding Wild Respins.
First and foremost, the Wild is easy to spot. It appears as the word Wild, surrounded by a white hexagon. It acts as would be expected, substituting for all other symbols in the game. But, this is not the same as Wilds in other pokies. If landing on reels 2, 3 or 4, the Wild in Solar Wilds will instantly expand, covering the entire reel. This in itself would be impressive, given the increased chance of potential matches being created. But it gets better.
Once a Wild has landed, expanded, and awarded any payouts, it will then lock in place and trigger a respin. This means that there are 2 chances for matches to be created. However, if another Wild lands on the remaining centre reels, it will also expand, covering the reel, and trigger another respin. The process will repeat until all the centre reels have potentially turned into Wilds. Of course, a spin with all 3 centre reels as Wilds can potentially be massive, with a maximum payout of up to 1,000x the original wager for that spin.
It’s an interesting system as far as online pokies go, especially since every spin can possibly end up as a high paying win!