Space Wars Slot Review

What are the bonus features in Space Wars?

Space Wars keeps things very simple on the feature front, and almost everything revolves around the Cloning Pod Respins. There is a wild symbol that lands only on reels 2 and 4, often as stacked wilds, and it substitutes for all regular symbols. Every time I hit a winning combination the game awards a single respin, which is where the cloning bit and most of the excitement come from.

On each win in Space Wars the paying symbol is sucked into the cloning pod on the right side of the screen. The game then fills random positions with stacks of that same symbol during the free respin. In theory you can cover most of the panel with one alien or the red crystal and climb towards the 1,000x maximum win, though in practice many respins end up feeling quite modest.

Free spins in Space Wars

Space Wars does not have a classic free spins bonus round at all, which might come as a surprise if you are used to feature heavy NetEnt slots. Instead the whole game hangs on those single respins after every win. I sometimes miss having a dedicated bonus to chase, but the constant flow of small respins gives the base game a brisk, arcade like rhythm that can still be engaging.

How to play Space Wars

Space Wars plays out on an invisible set of five reels with four rows and forty fixed bet lines, paying from left to right. You need three to five matching symbols on a line to get paid, and only the highest win per line counts, though multiple lines can hit together. Bets start at 40p and go up to £200 per spin through ten bet levels and coin values from 0.01 to 0.50.

The stated RTP of Space Wars sits at 96.75 percent with what the developer calls average volatility, which matches how the slot behaves for me in long sessions. The interface resembles a UFO dashboard, with a small wrench icon hiding options for quick spin, intro screen and spacebar play. The information button opens static paytable slides, and there is a generous autoplay menu allowing between ten and one thousand automated spins.

Space Wars Symbols and Paytable

The prize that all these funny aliens are fighting over in Space Wars is the glowing red crystal, which is the top paying symbol. A five of a kind line of crystals awards 25x the line bet, and stacked setups backed by the cloning pod can creep towards the theoretical 1,000x maximum. Below that you have five medium value aliens paying between around 10x and just over 3x the line bet for five.

Low value symbols in Space Wars are another set of five aliens with more modest payouts. Full lines of these characters pay between 1.5x and 1x, and most of my regular line hits come from them. They often appear in stacks even before the respin kicks in, so they do a lot of the work in stretching a session, especially when a cloned low symbol blankets the reels for one tidy but unspectacular payout.

The only special symbol in Space Wars is the wild, which carries no direct payout because it appears only on reels two and four. That sounds limiting on paper, yet stacked wild reels combined with cloned aliens can still create screens packed with winning lines. Most of my better returns in this slot have come from a wild reel sitting next to a cloned crystal or chunky mid range creature during a decent respin.

Symbols and Paytable

Symbol	Quantity	Payout
	5	x25
	4	x6.25
	3	x0.75
	5	x10
	4	x3.125
	3	x0.5
	5	x5
	4	x1.875
	3	x0.375
	5	x4.375
	4	x1.5
	3	x0.25
	5	x3.75
	4	x1.25
	3	x0.25
	5	x3.125
	4	x1
	3	x0.25
	5	x1.5
	4	x0.5
	3	x0.1
	5	x1.25
	4	x0.5
	3	x0.1
	5	x1
	4	x0.375
	3	x0.075
	5	x1
	4	x0.375
	3	x0.05
	5	x1
	4	x0.375
	3	x0.05
	Wild

The 200 Spins Space Wars Experience

I gave Space Wars a proper spin by running through a 200 spin session at 80p a go, mirroring the sort of testing I like to do on any older NetEnt title. The first stretch was packed with dead spins and tiny line hits, and even when I finally landed a full stack of wilds on the second reel the total payout came in at less than my stake, which felt a bit embarrassing.

Several later respins in Space Wars followed the same pattern, with cloned aliens covering nice sections of the screen but paying no more than a couple of times my bet. My best result across the 200 spins was just under 8x stake, which underlines how capped the potential feels in real play. Medium variance means it can still swing, yet based on that run I treat it as a light, throwaway option.

Space Wars Review Summary

Space Wars looks dated now but still has charm, with high quality artwork, funny aliens and a humorous take on the whole space battle over a red crystal. The flip side is a very narrow feature set and a fairly low maximum win of 1,000x your stake, which leaves long sessions feeling repetitive. I tend to fire it up when I want something simple and quirky rather than when I am chasing big hits.

If you appreciate Space Wars you should also try

If you appreciate Space Wars for its non serious alien theme and quick fire respins, you will probably enjoy dipping into other space themed slots as well. There are plenty of games built around clusters, cascading wins, multipliers and more elaborate bonus rounds, so I often treat this one as a warm up before moving on to deeper titles once I am in the mood for something a bit more involved.

My usual routine is to try a few dozen free demo spins on a new alien style game, then decide whether it suits my taste for pace and volatility compared with Space Wars. If you prefer constant small win feedback and a very clear mechanic, this NetEnt slot still does that job nicely. Players who want escalating features, multiple modifiers and huge hit potential may see it as a nostalgic curiosity instead.

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