Nova 7's Slots
In space, no one can hear you scream. Such is the tagline from Ridley Scott’s 1979 epic Alien movie. RTG will be hoping that it is yells of excitement rather than fear that you experience on their new space themed slot extravaganza. Nova 7’s is set to burst onto the small screen very soon with a variety of incredible wild feature mechanics which make clever use of the theme and, a very lucrative free spins bonus round.
Space has fascinated mankind from time immemorial and it’s a very popular theme for slot gaming. Starburst, arguably the most popular slot game of all time and its copies such as Astrodice, are set out in the wide wilderness of the universe. Nova 7’s is a little unusual though, in that it’s theme is based around solar activities in the universe, rather than simply providing a backdrop for traditional game icons or a Sci-Fi edge.
Is deep space really the final frontier for slot gaming? Join us as we voyage to the stars, seeking out brave new worlds and hopefully, some much needed coin wins!
Theme
Nova 7’s is set on a barren asteroid in deep space, looking out into the great beyond. The reels are transparent which not only shows off the graphical work of the backdrop but also allows the cosmic win animations to stand out that little bit more than they would on a fixed background.
The reel icons are planets, stars, comets and asteroids. All are a myriad of vibrant colours and well-drawn details. There is a decent sprinkling of animation and also some good use of individual sound effects, bespoke audio hasn’t been one of RTG’s strengths over the years but even the backing track is much improved for this game.
One thing to note is that although the game looks just as fantastic on mobile devices, the need to make the buttons fully useable on a very small screen necessitates a different layout. Whilst it is fully functional, graphically, it could have been done a little better.
Features
There are 25 adjustable pay-lines on the 5x3 reel grid, it’s not that common to get this these days as most players do prefer to have all possible lines active given the frustration of missing a big win on an inactive line. It also makes the math simpler for the slot gaming manufacturers and their game programmers!
Although there are decent wins to be had for 4 and 5-of-a-kind symbol combinations on the slot you aren’t likely to link those up without the game wilds as the game is very much biased towards those being a huge draw. There are four different wild mechanics in play on the slot, ‘Solar Flare’, ‘Nova’, ‘Supernova’ and ‘Hyper Nova’.
With a solar flare the Red Nova 7’s on reels 2 and 4 flare upwards and expand to cover their respective reels, this can happen on one reel – or both. The Nova, whilst appearing only on reel 3 is even more dramatic, as it’s wild with a 7x multiplier, it also has the potential to flare – covering the whole reel in the process, which is known as a supernova on the slot.
The most impressive wilds are the Hyper Nova’s, these occur as an add-on to the Solar Flare, where the reel which is now wild may go hyper nova and transfer the wild reel to the adjacent reel. This is reel 2 – 1 and reel 4-5 as reel 3 can only ever contain the Nova wilds. Once you read through and digest these special phenomenon, you realise that there is a possibility for reels 1,2,3 and 4 to be hyper nova at the same time, there’s also a long shot that the middle reel will Nova, multiplying all prizes by 7.
A full screen of all the available wilds lands the game’s biggest single win, which is a 38,073x the line bet. Epic doesn’t even cover it, most games offer a 10000x or 20000x jackpot – this top award is over double what you would find in many other titles.
To increase your (admittedly small) chances of that happening, the blue Nova 7’s on the game form a free spin scatter, these always allocate 7 free spins, which might seem very few until you learn there is a pick win bonus for how the wilds will function.
In the Nova 7 free spins, extra Red 7 Wilds are added to reels 2, 3 and 4, with a re-trigger available on this and the other rounds. Supernova free spins have the same but with a x7 multiplier and the hyper nova again steals the show, with any wild becoming a flare over the whole reel. That isn’t all though, as when this occurs the wild is then held in place for a free reel re-spin.
Summary
It’s clear that a slot with this kind of potential is going to have a low hit ratio and a much higher level of volatility than we have seen in some of RTG’s other slots. It’s clear from their recent releases like Super 6 that they are heading for more streaky games to suit the more committed gambler. Having said that, games with this level of feature can then become entertaining enough to be decent free play slots also, opening up a wider fan base in the universe. We can’t wait to suit up and play this for real cash!
