Developer Microgaming is well known for reusing its most popular slot designs to suit different players and demographics. Sometimes you may not know what you are getting is a clone slot until you start to play – take Beach Party, Ladies Nite, and Thunderstruck, for example, whilst the “Star” series of sports slots does not attempt to hide the fact that these games are all identical to one another. Ice Hockey Star kicked things off, followed by Football Star, Cricket Star, and more; Today, we present the Rugby Star variant! It’s a 243-way game with a 96.45% RTP, and whilst there is no cap on winnings, there is no apparent maximum prize either.
The feature set is identical to previous games in the Star series, so you’ve got Rolling Reels, huge wild stacks on reels three, four, and five, a guaranteed win modifier and a free spin feature with multipliers of up to 10x. It’s a great feature set, but it does feel as if Microgaming is milking this one for all its worth at this point!
If Rugby isn’t your game, then you can find a different title in the Star series to suit your tastes, but it sure is nice to see Rugby getting some love for a change – its fans are almost certainly one of the most underserved of every sport! If that sounds like you, then enjoy trying the free demo slot of Rugby Star below.
| Provider | Microgaming |
| Reels | 5 |
| Rows | 3 |
| Paylines | 243 |
| Bonus Rounds | 1 |
| Bet Range | 0.50 - 112.50 |
| Volatility | Medium |
| Max Win | 5,000x |
| Bonus Buy | No |
| RTP | 96.45% |
| Our Rating | 7.6 |
Rugby Star Slot Casino Bonuses
Rugby Star Slot Free Play
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Rugby Star Slot Theme, Stakes, Pays & Symbols
Sports-themed slots have always been around, but there sure has been a lot more of them over the last decade as online slotting has swept way out in front of traditional land-based casino gaming in most developed countries. Microgaming is one of the longest-running creators of these games, having published their first online slot as early as 1998 – essentially at the first moment where the technology permitted it! In fact, such is the longevity of Microgaming that even the first game of this series – Ice Hockey Star – is almost ten years old now! There are some who will criticise the software house for recycling old games, but if the foundations are good, these machines are basically timeless, in my opinion.
That’s not to say that it’s perfect, of course – the highest-paying symbol on the paytable is the red player who awards 12x your bet for each full pay way of five-of-a-kind, immediately followed by the orange player with a return of just 6x when scoring all five. That’s a significant drop at the start of the list and does feel slightly underwhelming as the game’s biggest wins. The yellow player is next at 5x per way, then the green at 3x, and finally, the blue guy with a return of 2.5x for each way. Although these are small numbers, it’s always important to consider that this type of game is focused more on hitting large numbers of winning pay ways at once rather than just one huge combination. There is also the up to 10x multiplier to factor in, which dramatically increases the value of every win on the table. Microgaming aren’t usually shy with their scatter pays either, and they don’t disappoint this time as there is a 250x stake prize for catching all five scatters at once.
Bet’s start a bit higher than usual at €0.50 per round, which may put off those playing on a small bankroll. The maximum bet of €112.50 seems like an unusual number but is true to the typical Microgaming convention of giving players a 90x betting range.
Base Game & Modifiers
The standard play revolves around another standard 5×3 reel set. As this is a 243-way machine, you only need to catch the same symbol on adjacent reels from left to right to bag yourself some winnings – it doesn’t matter whereabouts on the reel things land as long as they appear next to each other.
This is also a Rolling Reels machine, meaning that winning combinations will be removed from the screen straight after your money has been paid out, creating extra space for fresh symbols to fall into view, making it possible to keep winning several times in a row without paying for another spin. Rolling Reels are made even more valuable in the Star games by the addition of stacked wild symbols on the last three reels, meaning that you can often sit back as any two matching symbols on the first two reels repeatedly completes further winning combinations.
All of this makes for an action-packed base game, and I suspect many players wouldn’t be bored of spinning this game with just these features available! Microgaming obviously had other ideas, however, as there is still plenty more to discuss regarding the Rugby Star video slot!
Wild Pass Modifier
At the start of any base game spin, the reels will spin up faster than usual, indicating that the Wild Pass feature has been triggered. This modifier adds one or two full stacks of wilds to the reels but cannot affect the first reel.
Ideally, you would like to see this feature transform reel two, as there are no stacks of wilds contained in the normal symbol stacks for that reel. Should this happen, and you are lucky enough to land full stacks on the final three reels, you are guaranteed to win on all pay ways simultaneously. Happy days, indeed!
Rugby Star Slot Free Spins Feature
The Rugby Star slot game also includes a free spin bonus round triggered by hitting three or more scatter symbols anywhere on the reels. The game awards 15 free spins for three scatters, increasing to 20 for four or 25 for all five symbols.
The free spins mode works similarly to the base game, but Microgaming has been kind enough to include a multiplier feature in this part of the game. Every time a winning combination is removed by the Rolling Reels feature, this multiplier will increase, first to 2x, then 3x, 5x, and finally 10x. Once you reach the maximum 10x stage, the multiplier will stay in play until the Rolling Reels finish due to no more winning combinations.
Rugby Star Slot Review Final Thoughts
Sure, there isn’t anything new or unique here, but it’s still interesting to see how well this slot design has stood the test of time. There’s little reason to doubt that today’s players will be as happy as those who played the original Ice Hockey Star game a decade ago, which is a credit to Microgaming and their fantastic slot designs.
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