When NetEnt first released Starburst in 2012, the company likely had no idea how successful the game would become. Starburst’s growing starburst wilds, glistening gems, ambient soundtrack, spectacular animations, and straightforward gameplay won over slot gamers worldwide. It has sparked imitations from other studios, so if you’re looking for a change of pace, try one of these five games that are comparable to Starburst.
Gemix
Play’n GO released the cascading grid slot Gemix at the end of 2014, and it’s all about matching gems over a 7×7 grid. Instead than an alien planet, Gemix is set in a medieval/fantasy country with a cartoonish aesthetic, where the pursuit of precious gems is a national pastime. The diamonds here resemble candy more than anything more valuable, but the graphics are as vibrant and eye-catching as any Starburst enthusiast could ask.
A miner, a girl, and a wizard each have their own planet in Gemix. The goal is to complete each globe by gathering jewels; each character has their own wild symbol (a miner’s lamp, a swirly lollipop, and a book of spells). Along the way, if you explode 20 or more gems, you’ll activate the Crystal Charge feature, and if you explode 40 or more, you’ll activate the Super Charge feature and quadruple your earnings.
Although Gemix is less abstract than Starburst because to its accompanying musical score, it is still a lot of fun to play and has a maximum payout of 45,135 coins.
Space Debris
Microgaming released Star Dust in 2015, and it shares the same features that made Starburst so successful. The magnificent ambient theme song and deep space background will put you at ease as soon as you turn on the game. The symbols are a combination of playing card values and gems, a spiral galaxy, and a stack of wild and paying symbols that look like the Star Dust logo.
The main game offers 40 ways to win, and as you win, you’ll accumulate stardust by collecting gems. If you manage to gather 10 gems, you’ll enter the Free Spins bonus round, where you’ll have 1,024 ways to win. A three or four of a kind win here will set off a Radiant Respin, which will re-spin the fourth and/or fifth reels to increase your payout.
While it shares many similarities with NetEnt’s genre-defining slot machine, Starburst, the game is distinctive enough to offer players some much-needed diversity.
Rift in Crystal
Crystal Rift, like Gemix, offers a gaming experience similar to Starburst but in a new environment. This cave-themed, five-reel slot game from 2018 developer Rabcat and publisher Microgaming features 25 fixed paylines. Crystalline formations of varying hues are depicted artistically as the symbols. The ambient score here does a great job of complementing the game’s general atmosphere, while also providing some synth punch whenever the action calls for it.
This is essentially a cascading slot machine, as a winning line will activate the Bonus Falls function. Before the first fall begins, a “Wild Grid” will be chosen at random; if you obtain three consecutive falls, the symbols in the Wild Grid will become wild for the following fall. There are four types of wild Grid configurations—Basic, Super, Mega, and Insane—and the Wild Grid can be reactivated after three additional falls.
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