Casino Bonuses
| Provider | Relax Gaming |
| Reels | 5 |
| Rows | 3 |
| Paylines | 15 |
| Bonus Rounds | 2 |
| Bet Range | 0.10 - 20 |
| Volatility | High |
| Max Win | 8,000x |
| Bonus Buy | No |
| RTP | 94.00% |
| Our Rating | 7.4 |
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Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Game Overview
Another classic Relax Gaming machine gets the Dream Drop treatment today with the release of Reel Star Dream Drop. Creative titling there from Relax, but what else would they have called it? The game sticks to the same formula in terms of both visuals and features – pinks and purples, giving the game that lovely retro-futurist 80’s aesthetic that we so-called millennials (I much prefer the term Generation Y) seem to love so much! The same 15 pay lines are utilised once again, along with the standard jackpot of 8,000x the total bet – as you might expect though, the RTP has taken a hit to 94%, with 2% going towards funding the Dream Drop jackpots.
Star symbols and upgrade symbols are present on all five of the game’s reels – landing one of the star symbols will pay an instant cash prize, regardless of where it drops. A single star is only worth 1x your bet, but this increases to 250x if you manage to hit one on all five reels simultaneously. Meanwhile, the upgrade symbols act as, well… upgraders for the star symbols. These are strategically positioned next to the stars, making it possible to hit five stars and five upgrades simultaneously. If you can manage this, you’ll be rewarded with double the usual payout for the number of stars visible on screen. In addition, free spins are awarded using another set of scatter symbols, this time appearing only on reels two, three, and four. The number of spins awarded – and the corresponding multiplier – is determined randomly each time the bonus is won.
If you’re not a fan of progressive jackpot slots, then you’ll be pleased to hear that Relax has kept the original Reel Star game available, at least for the time being. Feel free to try our free demo slot of Reel Star Dream Drop below if you wish – of course, as the progressives are not available when playing in free play mode; there’s functionally no difference between this demo and the regular Reel Star demo elsewhere on our site.
Reel Star Dream Drop Slot Theme, Stakes, Pays & Symbols
Speaking of the original Reel Star game, it scored a healthy 7.3 out of 10 when we looked at it last year. I almost feel as if that was a little bit on the tight side looking back – this is a great online slot, and fans of progressive jackpot games will no doubt appreciate the addition of the Dream Drop functionality that this update provides. It’s a great-looking game with a better-than-average jackpot of 8,000x – that’s not a cap, by the way – although that sum pales in comparison to the almost two million currently available via hitting the MEGA Dream Drop prize!
Perhaps one of the reasons for my slightly average score for Reel Star probably came down to its somewhat unimpressive paytable – the top piggy bank and crown symbols will each only award you 15x your total stake for a full payline of five of a kind, which is certainly on the low side for a game with just 15 paylines. The fact that the pink gem and four-leaved shamrock are only worth 5x each doesn’t improve things either, and the low-paying horseshoe and bell at 2.5x each are, of course, even worse. You can win 50x your bet for hitting a full payline of wild symbols, but good luck with that – I’ve never seen more than three appear on screen at once, and I’ve played this game a fair bit by now! It seems to me that it’s those instant star prizes which are meant to be the real attraction of Reel Star.
One small change in this version of the game is the increase to the minimum bet from €0.10 to €0.20 per round. I suspect this change was necessary considering the Dream Drop jackpot contributions, but the maximum permitted wager remains the same at €100.00 a spin.
Base Game & Modifiers
You’ll find no changes to the basic gameplay of Reel Star here – the Dream Drop version uses the same five-reel, three-row layout, and it feels as tiny as ever, thanks to the low number of paylines. You’ll need three matching symbols starting from the leftmost reel to score yourself a win – star symbols exempt, of course – speaking of which, let’s talk about those a little more:
Star Symbols
These are instant prize symbols which appear on all five reels in Reel Star (Dream Drop) – landing one anywhere on the screen will return your stake, but if it happens to appear with an upgrade symbol directly above or below it, this will be doubled to 2x your total bet. Two stars will pay a larger prize of 3x, whilst three, four, or five increase the payout further to 15x, 50x, or 250x the current stake.
upgrade Symbols
This is another set of scatter symbols which usually always appear adjacent to the star symbols but can sometimes be positioned above – and at other times, below. For this reason, it’s never a sure thing that landing a star will also guarantee you a corresponding upgrade symbol. In many cases, however, you’ll likely find that stars will also be matched with an upgrade symbol.
Reel Star Drop Slot Bonus Features
There are only three ‘free spins’ scatters present on the reels of Reel Star Dream Drop, and you’ll need all three of them to trigger a set of free spins. Before the bonus round begins, the free spin configuration is randomised.
Free Spins
Each free spins feature may consist of 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, or 15 free spins, along with a multiplier of 1x, 2x, 3x, 4x, or 5x. If you’ve waited a long time for the scatters to drop, it can be very disheartening if you end up with just five spins with no multiplier – on the other hand, a set of 15 spins with a maximum 5x multiplier is always an exciting development and does make it all feel worthwhile – especially if the outcome is a significant win!
Dream Drop Jackpot
Not all Dream Drop games trigger the progressive jackpot feature in the same way, and Reel Star requires you to land a ‘DD’ symbol on all five reels simultaneously for a chance at winning a Dream Drop bonus. This occurs more frequently than you might expect, but unfortunately, you are sure to receive the lowest possible jackpot on 9/10 dream drop spins.
Still, no matter how many times I see this feature kick in, my heart races at the possibility of hitting one of the big ones – at the time of writing, the five jackpots stand as follows:
- RAPID: €2.36
- MIDI: €30.52
- MAXI: €118.96
- MAJOR: €42,540.17 (Must drop soon!)
- MEGA: €1,800,100.54
These jackpots are currently linked with at least a couple of dozen of Relax Gaming’s most popular slots, and the developer is creating Dream Drop versions of more and more of their games with each passing week. As such, these prizes will continue accelerating in value ever-faster throughout 2023 and beyond.
Pros
- It’s Reel Star – but with the possibility of winning a life-changing sum of money!
- Subjective, for sure – but in my eyes, it looks beautiful!
- Above average standard jackpot of 8,000x (advertised, not capped)
Cons
- RTP has taken a small 2% hit to fund the progressives – if you don’t enjoy jackpot slots, you’ll get more time from the original Reel Star
- Those with the smallest of bankrolls may not appreciate the doubling of the minimum spin cost.
- Below average paytable – especially for a 15-line game.
Final Thoughts
My only real criticism of Reel Star Dream Drop remains the same as the original game – the free spins feature removes all the special symbols. If it were just the stars and upgrades, that would be fine, but the wilds should have stayed in. They only pay 50x for a full line, after all, and they are so rare that it’s difficult to see why this was necessary to meet the game’s RTP. Still a fun slot though.
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