Reef Raider (NetEnt): Slot Review & Theme

Sea-themed video slots are about as unexplored as the actual ocean within the genre. Players should expect nothing less than authentic video slots from a top provider like NetEnet. That’s precisely what Reef Raider is; despite its title, this video slot has nothing to do with stealing from a coral reef, and instead, it revolves around the wondrous creatures that inhabit such ecosystems.

The diverse color palette of this video slot perfectly depicts the vast range of colors that would usually be seen in a coral reef. The background features an ocean floor with a few colorful corals scattered about. The soundtrack has a calming effect while also featuring the sound of bubbles floating to the surface.
Reef Raider (NetEnt): Slot Features

There are four different bonus features within Reef Raider. When each feature is activated, a special visual effect will occur, which is a nice added touch to the overall atmosphere. The special features can be seen as symbols outside of the reels.

The added features within this slot can include an anchor drop, a random wild, a mystery chest, and a cannon blast feature. All in all, these features can cause effects such as removing low-pay symbols from the grid and adding wild symbols, multipliers, and mystery symbols. Other added mechanics can include the cluster pays and cascading reels feature.
About Reef Raider (NetEnt) at BC.GAME

Reef Raider is the definition of a feature-rich video slot; it seems NetEnt has attempted to pack as many features into this title as it possibly could. Reef Raider does not have paylines; instead, it uses the cluster pays mechanic, allowing players to form winning combinations by landing a group of symbols.

Reef Raider has an industry standard RTP of 96.1%. This slot is also played on quite a large grid with 7 reels and 7-rows. Finally, another captivating aspect of this video slot is the extensive maximum payout potential which reaches 8,500x the initial stake.
The Rules Reef Raider

Though Reef Raider has a medium volatility rating, this title uses RNGs like any other video slot. For this reason, it would be wise for players to learn the game rules before they begin wagering, as the outcomes of video slots are pretty much impossible to predict.

• Once Reef Raider has loaded, players must click the continue button at the bottom of the screen.
• Following this, the 5-reel by 3-row grid will be displayed.
• Players can then select the table menu by clicking the “i” icon to view the paytable and game rules.
• Players can easily change their betting amount by selecting the coin stack icon at the bottom left of the screen and selecting the desired bet.
• Users can also choose the auto-spins feature, allowing up to 1000 automated spins. There’s also an option to use advanced autoplay settings, which will allow players to stop the autoplay mechanic on certain conditions, such as if a win is awarded, if a certain amount is lost or won, and even if free spins are achieved.
• There’s also an option for hyper-sins which can be selected by choosing the fast-forward icon alongside the spin button.
  

Pay Table and Bet Sizes

Reef Raider's betting range caters well to high rollers and casual players, with a minimum betting amount of $0.2 and a maximum of $100.

The low-paying symbols of Reef Raid can include a green shell, a yellow shell, a blue shell, and a purple shell, offering payouts of 15x, 17.5x, 20x, and 22.5x. The high-paying symbols consist of a green gem, an orange gem, a pink gem, and a red gem, awarding 25x, 30x, 50x, and 150x. Remember that these payouts can only be achieved when landing 25 to 49 symbols of a kind within a cluster.  
Features of Reef Raider (NetEnt)

The features of Reef Raider are activated by charging the treasure trail meter, which can be seen as an outline that surrounds the grid. The treasure trail meter is filled by landing three consecutive winning combinations through the cascading reels feature. Each bonus feature will then be activated in a specific order.
Cascading Reels and Cluster Pays

The cascading reels feature is an essential component of each of the bonus features. This mechanic will cause the symbols that have triggered a win to disappear and make a place for new symbols to land in their positions. The cascading reels mechanic can allow consecutive winning combinations to be formed off of a single spin. The cluster pays mechanic allows players to form winning combinations without needing paylines as long as a sufficient number of the same symbols are in a group.
Wild Symbols

There are two different wild symbols within Reef Raider. The first wild symbol is seen as a clam; this symbol will substitute for all regular pay symbols. Additionally, for each winning combination that contains at least three medium or low-pay symbols, a clam wild will take one of these symbol's positions as they disappear; this occurs randomly. The second wild symbol is styled as a golden coin; this symbol will only land when the random wilds or cannonball feature is activated. This wild symbol will also substitute for all regular pay symbols.
Treasure Trail

As mentioned earlier, the bonus features are activated by leveling up the treasure trail outlining the grid. The cascading reels feature upgrades the treasure trail by landing consecutive winning combinations. For every 3 cascades, the bonus features will activate in the following order with the following effects:

• Anchor Drop – 1 to 3 types of common win symbols are randomly chosen, and all instances of them are removed from the grid.
• Random Wilds – 4 to 8 Wild Coin symbols are placed on the board in random positions.
• Mystery Chest – mystery symbols replace 2 to 16 medium win symbols on the grid. Mystery symbols all transform into the same matching pay symbol type.
• Cannon Blast – a symbol on the play area is randomly chosen, then all pay symbols on the same row and column are removed.
  

Free Spins

Interestingly, there are no scatter symbols within Reef Raider. The free spins round is instead activated by upgrading the treasure trail. 15 charged bard on the treasure trail will award players with 9 free spins. In addition, charging the treasure trail 15 more times will award one extra free spin, and charging the treasure 3 times thereafter will award an extra free spin. During the free spins round 5, mystery symbols will appear in a cross shape in the center of the grid. The mystery symbols will be revealed to form winning combinations with medium and low-pay symbols. Once revealed, the mystery symbols will then stick to their positions on the grid for the remaining free spins. Furthermore, additional mystery symbols can also appear at random positions on the grid throughout the free spin round.
Reef Raider (NetEnt): Summary

It’s pretty clear that the cascading reels and cluster payout mechanics are the centers of the gameplay within Reef Raider. These features together can cause highly lucrative gameplay. Additionally, these mechanics will also help to activate the added bonus features. All in all, the features added aren’t highly innovative to the video slot genre, but the way NetEnt has woven them together in this title has created an incredibly authentic gameplay mechanic, not to mention the high RTP and extensive maximum winning potential of 8,500x the initial stake.