Cygnus, which has been observed by stargazers for centuries, gets its name from the Greek word for swan. The original Cygnus slot by ELK Studios was one of the first to feature the studio’s Gravity function, and it made fantastic use of the constellation. Now, the starry sky from ELK is back, and it’s greater than ever. A direct comparison between Cygnus 2 and Stephenson 218 would be like comparing a neutron star to a dime store. First, I’ll explain why.
The Egyptian elements of the game have been removed and replaced with those of a later date, which is one of the most obvious alterations made by ELK. Something resembling a wealthy person’s private observation chamber has been constructed by ELK all the way around the game grid. Observing the night sky via telescopes, men and women could get poetic about the celestial ballet. Or close enough. While the removal of the Egypt setting dampens the mystical undertones, awe at the cosmos is still palpable thanks to the prominent placement of the Cygnus constellation in the centre of the screen.
For a moment of realism, we must now examine the mathematical model. The RTP of 95% holds true whether you choose the standard 20 p/c to £/€100 per spin betting range or the innovative X-iter option. As previously, the frequency of winning combinations is 23.6%, and the volatility is significant (ranked 8 out of 10).
Six columns of four symbols are added to the grid at the beginning of each spin. With the reels set to their default size, players have 4,096 possible winning combinations that pay from left to right. The normal pay symbols are triangles, diamonds, hexagons, scorpions, rams, lions, and the sun in descending order of value. Six of a type wins award between 0.2 to 30 times the wager, and when they occur, an Avalanche effect is triggered. Wild symbols, in their regular form, can chime into the board and stand in for any other icon besides the bonus and multiplier icons.
Slot Functions in Cygnus 2
Due to the nature of the ELK, there is a lot of ground to make up. First up is the Avalanche feature, which wipes out winning combinations and replaces them with new symbols that fall into the empty spaces. The Gravity mechanism governs how this happens by bouncing symbols left and right as they fall. With each new Avalanche, the number of symbols in the top row increases by one, up to a maximum of eight. There are as many as 262,144 possible outcomes at maximum height.
Multipliers on the Rise
The grid is filled with multiplier symbols, each of which represents a multiplier of 2, 3, 5, or 10. When a multiplier symbol makes it to the first position in the leftmost column, it becomes a wild symbol and its value is added to the win multiplier. Win assessments can be made after the wild transition and the multiplier rise. After a win, the multiplier increases, and it resets before the following round begins. If a multiplier appears in columns 2 through 6, it is shifted to the leftmost available space in the bottom row. This action happens once every cycle, at the end of an Avalanche sequence.
Free Syrup
When a bonus symbol appears in the first column from the left, the player is awarded 7 free spins. From the main game into the bonus round, any current multiplier remains in effect. During the bonus round, +3 extra free drops are granted if a bonus symbol reaches the leftmost column. The rules of the free spins round are identical to those of the main game, with winnings triggering Avalanches that may add up to eight more rows and ways. In contrast, the win multiplier does not reset between free spins while using the unique feature of free spins. If the bonus sign drops to the bottom row, it moves to the left, much like the multiplier symbol does. Once each cycle, this is allowed.
X-iter
The obligatory “buy X-iter feature” button on the left side of the screen is a sure sign that you’re playing an ELK game. When you press this button, five different game modes for Cygnus 2 will appear.
During Bonus Hunt, your chances of triggering Free Drops are multiplied by two.
Guaranteed Multiplier Symbol pays out 10 times the initial wager for every single drop.
With Multiplier Wilds, a single drop can result in a payout of up to 25 times the original wager.
For 100 times your wager, you can enter a bonus round where you are guaranteed to receive free spins.
Wild multiplier symbols may be purchased with the Super Bonus of 500x to enter the free spins bonus game.
Verdict on Cygnus 2: The Slot
Those that enjoy Cygnus should be excited. Starting with Nitropolis 3, ELK has been steadily increasing the maximum payouts on its slot machines, and Cygnus 2 is just the latest example of this trend. Much of what made the original successful has been maintained by ELK, while other details have been rearranged, the setting has been altered, and the overall scale has been increased to epic proportions. Don’t expect a huge leap in development between the two games; as the first excitement wears off, you’ll realize that, except from the substantially higher max win, the remainder of the game is fairly identical to the original.
The aim is still the same: rack up the win multiplier while you watch the bonus symbols roll across to the far left. Free games are just as difficult to unlock as they were previously. If the suspense is too great, or if you’re just not in the mood to wait, the X-iter’s additional settings can help speed things along for those who qualify. It’s becoming more usual to find this in ELK slots, and it adds a lot of strategy options. Super Bonuses are not required to enjoy an ELK game, but research has shown that they may be a great way to skip forward to the action. However, at 500x, it’s not exactly cheap.
Playing Cygnus 2 in regular mode isn’t any less fun, and it’s the best entry point for anybody unfamiliar with the Gravity mechanism. A 50,000x the stake top prize has been added by ELK, making this a very attractive alternative for those seeking for enormous payouts, which is ten times as much as Cygnus could provide.
Others may point out that the game is mostly unchanged save from a larger maximum win and X-iter modes. Fans of Cygnus, though, should find it simple to overlook such critiques. Players still receive a supercharged Gravity-powered slot in a magical environment with immense potential, even if the difference between the initial release and Cygnus 2 isn’t as great as the one between the Wright Brothers and Apollo 11.