Extra Stars Pokies
Those people who like traditionally-styled fruit machines are going to want to take a peek at the Extra Stars video pokie from EGT, which has all the cherries, lemon and oranges that are so familiar, plus a couple of interesting bonuses that are less so, but potentially quite rewarding.
Designed in a simple style to suit the relatively simple gameplay, there’s the classic 5-reel, 3-row layout and running across the game, we have 10 paylines, although players can opt to activate 1, 3, 5, 7 or all of them. The minimum stake therefore, is just 0.01, or 0.10 to have all lines in play, and if anyone can’t stretch to this, there’s usually free Extra Stars video pokies at most casinos. The high limit wager is set at a generous 200.00 per spin, but however much is bet, wins come from having 3 or more of the same type of fruit stopping across an active payline on adjacent reels, from the left side.
Although it’s a fairly straightforward game, it comes with wild substitutions, respins, an option to gamble wins and the Jackpot Cards 4-level progressive feature that’s common to all EGT pokies.
Playing Extra Stars
Once everything is set up, players could be ready to start spinning, but it could be worth a quick review of the paytable to see what prizes they are likely to see. The cherries and lemons will each be worth 10, 20 or 100 coins when lines of 3, 4 or 5 of a kind are landed, with the plum and orange symbols each returning 10, 30 or 150 coins.
A bunch of grapes and a slice of watermelon are both valued at 20, 50 or 200 coins and the most valuable of the fruit symbols are the bananas, with players winning 50, 200 or 500 coins when they see them stopping on 3, 4 or 5 reels across an active line. The red 7 is commonly used as a high-paying symbol, and always keen to please, EGT have chosen this iconic image to pay out the top awards, worth 100, 500 or 1000 coins.
Extra Stars
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The Star Of The Show
Although it only appears on the middle 3 reels, and isn’t worth anything on its own, the star symbol has some special bonus qualities. This is the wildcard, meaning that it’s able to act as any fruit symbol or the red 7 if it’s possible to complete a winning line, so players who have matching symbols on reels 1 and 3 across a payline for example wouldn’t normally win anything, but if the star is in the right place on reel 2, it will count as a line of 3 matching symbols and pay out accordingly.
The star is also able to extend a line of 3 onto the fourth reel, which will see a bigger prize awarded, but the best thing about it is the fact that it becomes an expanding wild, covering all of the reel or reels that it’s landed on, which can complete multiple winlines in a single go.
Once any payouts have been made from this, the star has one more trick up its sleeve, as it locks in place while any other reels spin again, potentially creating several more winning combinations for free.
Gamble Game
All EGT casino pokie machines have this optional round, where players can try to double a win by correctly clicking on red or black buttons as a playing card rapidly flashes between the colours. If they timed the click right, they can cash out the win, or they can try to double it over and over, although any wrongly timed clicks will lose not only the triggering bet, but also anything won so far in the gamble round.
Jackpot Cards
While the gamble round can end up going horribly wrong, once the random Jackpot Cards round has been triggered, the lucky player who enters it is guaranteed to win one of the progressive prizes. The current jackpot amounts are displayed in little boxes above the reels and range from the smaller Club award through Hearts and Diamonds, to the Spade prize that can be worth a small fortune.
The game sees 12 face-down playing cards lined up, and players just click on them to reveal their suits, winning whichever jackpot corresponds to the first 3 matching cards found.
The Verdict
Although this is a fairly simple pokie, the star symbol can certainly mix things up a little, and it’s this icon and the red 7 that players will want to see. But there’s plenty of reliable wins from the fruit symbols as well, and of course that Jackpot Cards feature that can really boost bankrolls.