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Your Guide to Cluster Pays Online Slot Games

Categories: News | Published by: James Donovan
08/04/2020

Almost every online video slot developer is in the middle of an aggressive rollout of cluster wins online slot games. ‘Cluster Pays’ is a new way to play’ video slots and are taking the online casino industry by storm with slot players instantly adapting and adopting this new concept!

One of the very first ‘cluster win’ slot titles was NetEnt’s Aloha! Cluster Pays back in 2016 which became an instant hit. The release of Aloha! Led to NetEnt’s design team also releasing 9 further cluster pays slot titles all of which have become incredibly popular at NetEnt casinos.

Although NetEnt started the cluster pays video slot game trend there was no stopping their competitors taking note and creating their cluster wins games. Today, there are more than 130 cluster pays slot titles available – way too many to cover in a single article, but as usual, our team has been out there investigating to bring you this ‘Guide to Cluster Pays Online Slot Games’.

Below we have created a list of cluster pay slots, and further, below this, we have a cluster wins ‘frequently asked questions’ section to explain how the cluster feature works. 

Table of content

  • List of Cluster Pays Online Slot Titles
  • Which Software Developers Have Not Created a Video Slot with Cluster Pays?
  • What Are Cluster Pay Combinations?
  • How Many Symbols Can Be Linked Up into Cluster Wins Combinations?
  • Which Features Are Commonly Used with Cluster Wins Slot Games? 
  • What Are Cascading Reels?
  • Which Online Casinos Are Best for Cluster Pays Slot Games?

Online Casino Geek’s List of Cluster Pays Online Slot Titles

Below, our video slots team at Online Casino Geek’s has created a list of cluster pays online slots worth considering. We have listed a few of the very best software providers and added the number of slot titles each developer currently has in its video slots catalogue. We have also added each slot’s (RTP) in brackets and the slot’s volatility using (RTP/Volatility).

Net Entertainment Cluster Wins Slots (10+)

  • Aloha Cluster Pays 

(96.42%/Low)

  • Shangri La Slot 

(96.59%/Low-Medium)

  • Twin Spin Deluxe 

(96.61%/Medium)

  • Berry Burst 

(96.56%/Low)

Pragmatic Play Cluster Wins Slots (2+)

  • Sweet Bonanza

(96.52%/Medium-High)

  • Sweet Bonanza Xmas

(96.51%/Medium-High)

Play’n GO Cluster Wins Slots (15+)

  • Reactoonz

(94.51%/High)

  • Tomb of Madness

(94.52%/High)

  • Queen’s Day Tilt

(94.3%/High)

  • Troll Hunters 2

(96.5%/ Medium-High)

  • Mahjong

(96.63%/High)

Quickspin Cluster Wins Slots (2+)

  • Golden Glyph

(96.21%/High)

  • Nero’s Fortune

(96.19%/High)

Red Tiger Cluster Wins Slots (7+)

  • Vault of Anubis

(94.7%/Medium-High)

  • Tiki Fruits

(95.13%/High)

  • Jack in a Pot

(96.06%/Medium)

Playtech Cluster Wins Slots (1+)

  • Pixel Samurai

(93.98%/High)

Yggdrasil Cluster Wins Slots (2+)

  • Brazil Bomba

(96.3%/High)

  • Pirates 2: Mutiny

(96.2%/Medium)

BetSoft Cluster Wins Slots (6+)

  • Monster Pop

(97.07%/Medium)

  • Chilli Pop

(95.38%/Medium)

  • Sugar Pop 2: Double Dipped

(96.46%/Medium)

ELK Studios Cluster Wins Slots (1+)

  • Joker Gems

(96.3%/Medium-High)

Blueprint Gaming Cluster Wins Slots (3+)

  • Dragon Fall

(96.43%/High)

  • Alien Antix

(96.43%/High)        

IGT Cluster Wins Slots (4+)

  • Bubble Craze

(94%/Medium)

  • EmotiCollect

(89%/Medium)

Habanero Cluster Wins Slots (3+)

  • Fa Casi Shen Deluxe

(96.62%/High)

  • Hot Hot Halloween

(96.62%/High)

  • Magic Oak

(96.77%/High)

Which Software Developers Have Not Created a Video Slot with Cluster Pays?

At the time of this writing, there were still quite a few software developers yet to release a video slot with the cluster pays feature. 

  • Microgaming (Quickfire)
  • NoLimitCity
  • Mr Slotty
  • Amatic
  • NextGen
  • Endorphina
  • Booming Games
  • NYX

What Are Cluster Pay Combinations?

Cluster Pays are groups of symbols that fill areas on the reels by landing in adjacent positions. You could also refer to clusters as clumps of symbols. These clusters or symbol clumps can create winning combinations using any of the following example patterns:

  • Horizontally
  • Vertically
  • 2×2 grid
  • 3×3 grid
  • 4×4 grid
  • 5×5 grid
  • T-shape
  • L-Shape

The exact cluster pay combinations on each slot game will depend on the slot developer that designed the game. There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’. Therefore, you will need to check the slot’s paytable. We have also provided an example below using an Aloha! Cluster Pays video slot screenshot. You can see that the cluster in this image shows an example of a 13-symbol cluster pays combination win!

How Many Symbols Can Be Linked Up into Cluster Wins Combinations?

As with the shape of the cluster wins in the section above, the number of symbols that can be linked up to form a cluster pays win will vary. On the Aloha! Cluster Pays online slot, which was the first of its kind to be released by NetEnt, the reels can form between clusters of 9 to 30 symbols in a single cluster. 

Which Features Are Commonly Used with Cluster Wins Slot Games?

Most of the usual slot features can be used with cluster pays online slot games. That means wild symbols, sticky wilds, free spins, and bonus games can all be used. 

  • Wildcard symbols (Sticky, Stacked, Expanding, Spreading)
  • Wild Reels (Expanding Wilds)
  • Free Spins Bonus Games
  • Re-Spins Features
  • Cascading/Tumbling Reels
  • Multipliers
  • Bonus Rounds
  • Expanding Reels
  • Scatter Symbols

What Are Cascading Reels?

Cascading reels are also known as tumbling reels. This feature was first introduced on the standard pay line and no-pay line (ways-to-win) slots. It seems that the very same feature also works really well with cluster pays slot games. 

Cluster symbols generally drop off the bottom of the reels and new symbols fall into place from the top of the reels. When a ‘cluster combination’ is formed, the winning symbols will payout and then disappear off the reels thus leaving blank spaces behind. New symbols will them tumble/cascade into the empty spots. Any new symbols created will payout, and the same process will repeat itself until eventually, the cascading reels produce no more wins. 

This is not quite a re-spin feature, but it does give you the chance to win multiple cluster pay combinations from a single spin.

Which Online Casinos Are Best for Cluster Pays Slot Games?

Our list only touches on some of the online cluster video slots available, but it also gives you a good idea which slot developers are serious about releasing more cluster wins slot games. If you are already a fan of cluster wins slot games, then hopefully this list will help you find an online casino that hosts games from all of these software developers. 

Here are two suggested online casinos that host most of the cluster wins slots mentions above: 

  • Mr Green Casino hosts cluster pays slot from Red Tiger, Betsoft, BluePrint, Elk Studios, Yggdrasil, NetEnt, Play’n Go, Playtech, IGT
  • mBit Casino hosts cluster pays slots from Quickspin, NetEnt, Red Tiger, Pragmatic Play, Yggdrasil, Habanero, Play’n Go, Betsoft