I hadn’t heard of the Cygnus games by ELK Studios before I began writing this review of Cygnus 2, so the unusual style and setup of the game was all the more intriguing to me. The slot features 4,096 payways in its initial configuration, although this can increase to 262,144 by unlocking additional rows at the top of the playfield. The RTP of 94% is relatively low by online slot standards, in contrast to the enormous maximum win of 50,000x the total bet. With such huge wins to fund, it’s perhaps not surprising that the RTP is a couple of percentage points lower than average.
Cygnus 2 uses six “reels”, probably better described as simply “columns”. Every second row is offset slightly, so it’s probably a good thing that ELK has opted for pay ways instead of paylines, as it would have been especially difficult to see if you had won otherwise! The main bonus round is a typical free spins feature, or “free drops” in ELK Studios parlance, and we have also been treated to another edition of their X-iter bonus buy features.
If you are more familiar with the Cygnus games than I was, then I’m sure you will be eager to check out this sequel! Our free demo slot of Cygnus 2 is available to play below.
| Provider | Elk Studios |
| Reels | 6 |
| Rows | 8 |
| Paylines | 262,144 |
| Bonus Rounds | 1 |
| Bet Range | 0.20 - 100 |
| Volatility | High |
| Max Win | 50,000x |
| Bonus Buy | Yes |
| RTP | 94.00% |
| Our Rating | 8.4 |
Cygnus 2 Slot Casino Bonuses
Cygnus 2 Slot Free Play
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Cygnus 2 Slot Theme, Stakes, Pays & Symbols
Video game fans will immediately notice that Cygnus 2 bears more than a passing resemblance to puzzle video games such as the Bust-A-Move franchise. I’m actually a little surprised that ELK Studios did not position the symbol stack at the top of the screen – perhaps that idea was a bit too wild for them! There are obvious similarities between this game and ELK Studios Bompers, although that game had a fair lower maximum bet and a higher RTP. If you enjoy bubble-popping puzzle games and this slot appeals to you, then it may be worth checking out our AvatarUX reviews, as their Popwins franchise includes several more games of this style.
Okay, we know that the headline jackpot figure is a bit of a monster, but what about the regular paytable wins? It’s a bit of a mixed bag if I’m honest; the highest-paying symbol is an image of the sun and has a return of 15x your bet for a full payway of six of a kind, but the second-placed lion symbol is worth just 1.2x for all six of those. There is just one more “high-paying” symbol, a ram, but the return for that one is even worse at just 0.8x the bet for a full payway. The lower-paying section includes red, green, and blue geometric shapes, which have the same return of 0.2x your bet for each full payway.
Most of the ELK Studios slots we have reviewed recently share the same wagering setup with minimum/maximum bets of €0.20 and €100.00, respectively. These limits should cater for the high and low rollers, but there is a definite lack of intermediate bets, with just ten wagers offered between the two extremes.
Base Game & Modifiers
When you first begin to play Cygnus 2, the playfield will always hold four rows of six symbols each. Winning combinations consist of three or more matching symbols in adjacent columns starting from the left – the rows are not important here, as this is a payways slot.
Each time a winning combination lands on the stack, it will explode, leaving space for additional symbols to drop. Each time this occurs, one additional row will be added to the playfield up to a maximum of eight rows.
Rising Multipliers
Multiplier symbols can appear as part of both initial and consequent symbol drops but are not active until they reach the leftmost column. This isn’t as difficult as it may sound, as any winning symbols that explode will cause the remainder of the stack to flow downwards, which means that all symbols will naturally move towards the sides of the reel set.
When a multiplier symbol does reach the left of the stack, it will transform into a wild symbol, and the value it previously held will be added to the multiplier for the current round. A meter to the left of the symbol stack shows your current multiplier value, up to a maximum of 15x.
Cygnus 2 Slot Bonus Features
The main bonus round is triggered by hitting three of the special bonus symbols during the base game, awarding seven free spins. If you hit three more bonus symbols whilst the feature is in play, another seven free spins will be added to your remaining total.
Free Spins
The free spins feature plays out much like the base game, with one important difference: all multipliers that reach the left of the symbol stack in this mode become persistent for the remainder of the bonus round! This means you can reach much higher multipliers than would ever be possible during regular play. If you can manage to hit a re-trigger or two, this bonus round has an insane amount of big win potential!
X-iter Bonus Buy
The X-iter feature of Cygnus 2 offers five different bonus buy options:
- Bonus Hunt: This is effectively a bonus bet option, costing 2x the normal price per spin in return for double the odds of triggering a bonus round.
- Multiplier: For 10x the normal price per spin, you are guaranteed at least one multiplier symbol on the next spin.
- Multiplier Wilds: For 25x the current stake, you receive one spin where all multiplier symbols are also wild and remain in play until they reach the leftmost column.
- Bonus: This is the normal bonus buy facility, awarding seven free spins for 100x the normal price per round.
- Super Bonus: The final feature buy has an eyewatering price tag of 500x the current cost per spin in return for a combination of the previous two options – you will receive a seven free spin bonus round with the multiplier wilds feature activated. This option can be incredibly profitable, but the price tag ensures that it is a very risky proposition.
Cygnus 2 Slot Review Final Thoughts
If you love high volatility slots, then you can’t go wrong with ELK Studios Cygnus 2 – the top jackpot of 50,000x your bet is guaranteed to attract fans of other high variance slot machines, whilst the visual styling is likely to pick up plenty of casual fans as well. I imagine that this one will be a definite winner for the developer!
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