It’s a great time to be a slot player. New slot games are launched every single week, each flaunting more interesting features and larger jackpots than the last. We are continuously enticed with newer and better games.
Well, here’s another one: Aloha! Cluster Pays by NetEnt. Instead of the traditional paylines, you’ll win when symbols appear in groups or clusters of nine.
The larger the cluster, the bigger your prize. It’s a totally cool concept. The entire game is just dripping in colourful, happy Hawaiian vibes too. You’ll have a luau in your own home!
Gameplay Screenshots
Aloha Cluster Pays Mobile Slot Game Mechanics
This is usually the boring section in the game review. I’ll tell you how many paylines there are in the game, number of reels and so on. However, you’d want to pay attention this time.
It's not like any other slot, in that there are no paylines in the game. Instead, you’ll win when symbols appear in clusters of nine or more similar symbols.
A cluster is formed when similar symbols are positioned horizontally or vertically adjacent to each other. Don’t bother identifying clusters on your own though.
The clusters will automatically go up in flames when they appear to deliver your cash prize. You could technically get clusters up to 30x in size. This occurs when the entire board is covered with only one type of symbol.
Clusters this large earns you 2,000 to 10,000x your stake. When these fabulous big wins happen, the volcano in the background would erupt (the cute Tiki man pops on his shades too).
With such huge wins in the base game, you would expect a decent RTP. However, it's not that usual to land such enormous clusters. So, the return to player rate balances around a rather average percentage of 96.42%.
There are seven different base game symbols in Aloha. In descending order, these are:
- Pink totem pole
- Green and blue totem poles
- Pineapple
- Coconut
- Seashell
- Tropical flower
These symbols are quintessentially Hawaiian. Besides these, there’s also the Substitution symbol, which is the crate marked with a white question mark.
This is a wild symbol of sorts. It can become whichever symbol it is adjacent to and boost the size of other clusters.
To determine the size of your wager, you’ll choose a bet level (between 1 and 10) and the coin size (0.01 to 2). The product of both settings results in your wager size. In real money terms, your minimum bet is 10p and the maximum bet is £200 per spin.
Bonus Features
There are two booster features in this video slot. You might be familiar with the Sticky Win Re-spin, as NetEnt pulls out this trick quite a bit at parties.
During this feature, the winning symbols are held in place while all other symbols re-spin. New symbols just stick to the cluster so that the cluster grows in size. Meanwhile, the remaining symbols re-spin again.
This thrilling cycle continues until either:
- The entire board is covered in the same symbol or
- When the game can no longer find matching symbols
The second fun feature is the free spin bonus. They’re activated by three or more Free Spins symbols. You could win 9-12 free spins at a time.
During the free games, a Symbol Drop mechanic is activated. It removes low-win symbols at the end of each round. This allows larger symbols to fall into their place and increases your chance of getting even bigger wins.
User Interface And Gaming Experience
The heat of the sun tingling our skin. The sound of the waves clapping against the shoreline. Colourful tropical fruits and flower leis adorning our view. That’s how we picture the perfect Hawaiian getaway.
NetEnt brought all of these elements to life, as realistically as they could through drawings, animation and musical arrangement.
The entire design of the game epitomizes the carefree energy of Hawaii and screams joie de vivre. This slot will definitely brighten up any gloomy British evening.
What's Great About Aloha Cluster Pays Slot?
NetEnt is the slot production powerhouse. So, they have an extensive library of game features and production codes. They can reuse them over and over again when creating new games.
It’s like playing mix-and-match with existing features and packaging them up in new artwork. Among them, you’ll recognise features such as Sticky Win Re-Spins and Symbol Drop.
It might sound lazy, but that’s how they deliver crowd-pleasing games every single time. They already know which features work best, and in which combination too.
However, NetEnt doesn’t rest on its laurels. When producing Aloha, they invented a brand new game mechanic called Cluster Pays™. They keep the world on their toes and players lapping at their feet.
Our Take On This Game
Aloha means “the joyful sharing of life energy in the present” in Hawaiian language. So, this slot celebrates just that.
An evening spent unwinding with a good slot game and a glass of wine is the ultimate level of enjoyment. The game delivers just that kind of evening.
Expect perfect design, an entrancing rhythm of wins and a flurry of unexpected bonus features. So, play Aloha now at your favourite NetEnt casino.