The design in Contact is excellent. Set against a jungle backdrop, the 5x7 reel grid is set within a Mayan pyramid. You’ll see an assortment of animal carvings spinning around the reels alongside colourful death masks. Winning combinations are created by landing clusters of 5 or more matching symbols.
Cascading reels are in play here. Instead of the winning symbols being blasted away, it’s the losers that are removed here. The cascades keep on coming as long as a new winning combination is created.
If you manage to fill rows 2, 4 or 6 with the same matching symbol you’ll be in line for a multiplier boost of 2x, 3x or 4x – this is called the Win Multiplier feature. Contact comes with 2 main features.
Bonus Round feature - this is triggered if you manage to get all the way to the top row with winning symbols. You’ll then receive 3 free spins. Fill rows 2, 3, 5 or 6 with winning symbols awards a total win multiplier of x2, x3, x4 or x5 respectively. If you manage to fill rows 1, 4 or 7 with winning clusters, then you’ll win 1 of the following 3 special features. These are applied at the end of the current free spin. On offer are:
- Block Destroyer feature - this destroys a multiplier block to create another cascade which could in turn increase the potential multiplier.
- Symbol Upgrade feature - 1 winning cluster gets upgraded to the next most valuable symbol.
- Extra Free Spin feature - 1 extra free spin is added to your tally.
Super Bonus Round feature - to trigger this round, you’ll need to fill the whole of the grid with winning symbols. 6 free spins then follow. More multipliers are on offer here if you fill a row with a winning cluster. The special features are again in play. They’re more powerful than what’s on offer on the standard Bonus Round feature though:
- Block Destroyer feature - instead of 1, it’s 3 multiplier blocks that are destroyed here. Increased multipliers then cascade in from the top. Multipliers of x2, x3, x4, x5, x6, x7, x8 are awarded for filling rows with winning symbols. With the Super Block Destroyer active, the multipliers can reach a maximum of 30x.
- Extra Free Spin feature – 3 free spins rather than 1 extra free spin are awarded.
- Symbol Upgrade feature - all locked winning symbol on the grid are upgraded to the next paying symbol. If it’s not possible to achieve an upgrade, more free spins are awarded.
A prize of 25 times your take is awarded for each free spin you have left if you manage to fill the grid with free spins to spare.
The gameplay here is a little unusual and takes some getting used to. Once you have got your head around the game engine and features, there’s plenty to like here. The design is top notch and the free spins extras can deliver plenty of action.
Like many slot games in the Play ’N Go catalogue, Contact is a very volatile game. We’re talking 10 out of 10 on the variance scale. Payouts can reach 1,517.5 times your stake on each free spin with the 30x multiplier. If you enjoy volatile slot games, then it’s worth making Contact with this Mayan adventure. I would also suggest you try Viking Runecraft and Gemix which are also grid slot games from Play ‘N Go.