OXYGEN

HOW TO PLAY OXYGEN SLOTS

As we briefly glossed over, Oxygen is based on a system of Cluster Pays. Effectively, this means that there are no classic reels or paylines involved. Instead, the game presents you with a large 6×7 grid. Although symbols fall down from the top as they usually do, your goal is not to arrange them into winning lines. To win in Oxygen slots, you need to hit symbols of the same kind in groups or ‘clusters’ If at least 5 symbols are connected to each other vertically or horizontally, you get a payout based on the number and value of the winning symbols.

As far as the base game goes, there’s one more important feature to keep in mind – Symbol Cascades. If you’re not familiar with the concept, it’s fairly simple. Winning symbols are removed from the game, and any symbols above them fall down to take their place. Moreover, new symbols tumble down from the top of the grid to replace the ones that were removed. This enables you to win multiple times in a row with a single spin, provided you’re lucky enough.

Although the payout system is unorthodox for online slots, everything else works as you would expect it to. Accepted bets range from $0.10 to $100, or the equivalent in other currencies. You can also use the UI to set up autoplay, manage audio/video settings, and so on.

Wilds

Like most modern slot machines, ELK Studios Oxygen features Wild symbols. These special symbols can substitute any other regular type, allowing them to form winning clusters. However, Oxygen slot wilds have a few other tricks up their sleeve. Namely, two special types of wild can hit during any spin.

• Exploding Wilds activate if they’re part of a winning cluster. All symbols in an X-shaped area above and below the symbol are removed from the grid. New symbols cascade to replace them, allowing you to potentially hit another win or more. Exploding Wilds only detonate once no more winning clusters are on the table.
• X-Blaster Wilds affect a similar X-shape along the grid. However, instead of destroying symbols, this type of Wild replaces regular symbols with a different type of randomly selected symbol. If any Exploding or X-Blaster Wilds are present in the X-shape area, they are also triggered.

Oxygen Slot Multipliers

Now we’re slowly getting to arguably the biggest special feature in Oxygen slots.

Every time you hit a winning combination, all winning symbols create a multiplier bubble in their respective positions. This bubble initially shows a 1x multiplier. Every consecutive win in the same grid position doubles this multiplier, up to a maximum of 2,048x. All wins in the game are multiplied by any bubbles present below the winning cluster.

Importantly, multiplier bubbles are removed as soon as you hit ‘spin’ again. However, they stick to the grid during the bonus round and stay there for as long as you have free spins.

Moreover, the game offers several additional features that interact with the multiplier system. These effects can trigger randomly on any spin, and they include:

• Multiplier Stike randomly distributed multiplier bubbles around the grid. Has a chance to trigger every time a symbol cascades.
• The Collector collects all currently visible multiplier bubbles and stacks them up in its current position. Appears as a symbol and activates whenever its part of a winning cluster.
• The Dealer increases all multiplier bubbles in a V-shape, vertically or horizontally. Triggers whenever its part of a winning cluster.

Oxygen Slot Free Spins

Hitting 3 Scatter symbols anywhere on the grid instantly awards the player 10 free spins. Multiplier features like the Collector and Dealer are persistent during the free spins. Hitting 2 or 3 scatters during this bonus round awards you 3 or 5 extra spins, respectively.

Hitting 3 Scatters and a persistent multiplier feature gives you 10 Super Bonus Spins. This works much like regular free spins, except at least 1 multiplier feature stays fixed to the grid for the duration.

Feature Buy

Almost any feature in the Oxygen casino game can be purchased instantly, for a certain price that’s based on your stake. Here are the options available in the Feature Buy screen:

• Bonus Hunt – Triples your stake size without affecting payouts. However, triples the chance of triggering a bonus
• Multiplier Strike – instantly triggers a Multiplier Strike feature for 10x your stake
• Persistent Multiplier – Guarantees a persistent multiplier feature to trigger on the next spin for 25x the stake
• Bonus Game – Instantly trigger Free Spins for 100x the bet
• Super Bonus Feature – Trigger Super Bonus Spins for 500x the bet

PAYOUTS & RTP

Base payouts are calculated based on the number and value of the symbols in a winning combination. The more symbols of a certain type you hit in one cluster, the bigger the payout. Importantly, payouts grow exponentially for bigger clusters, so a cluster of 10 is vastly more valuable than a cluster of 5.

However, it’s also important to note that winning large sums in Oxygen slots happens only through the game’s features. We’re chiefly referring to the symbol cascades and bubble multipliers here. Without one or both of these factors, most base payouts in the game will be disappointing. That said, the maximum payout in Oxygen by ELK Studios is 25,000x, which is enough to make anyone’s mouth water. All of this means that the game is overall highly volatile. Huge payouts are usually tied to free spins and other bonus features, so we recommend checking out the Feature Buy screen if you want to shoot for the starts.

Oxygen slot RTP is 94%, which is also the game’s biggest weakness. That’s almost 2% below what you could consider average, which is a big downside to the whole release.

OXYGEN SLOT BY ELK STUDIOS – CASINO BLOKE’S VERDICT

With its plenthora of features and commitment to offering a unique experience, Oxygen certainly stands out from the rest of the ELK portfolio. In that respect, the game does a lot of things right. Lovers of volatile slots will immediately be drawn to the intricate multipliers and huge maximum payout. The fact that even base payouts can grow pretty much indefinitely is a big boon to your bottom line if you’re lucky enough to hit wins on multiplier bubbles.

This brings us to the game’s first problem – volatility stacked on volatility. Stringing together multipliers is hard enough due to how they work, and stacking up a high multiplier only for it to fail to actually multiply anything can be quite frustrating. Of course, there’s also the elephant in the room – the relatively poor RTP the game offers.

The first problem is largely a matter of taste – some players love crazy randomness, in which case they’ll love Oxygen. On the other hand, the bad RTP rate is not something you can get around and it makes the game worse for everyone. As such, deciding whether you should play the Oxygen slot game comes down to deciding whether you can overlook the RTP or not.