Play Pop Bomber for Free

There’s no reels or paylines here, as each click in the big green Spin button simply removes all the symbols on the grid and sees new ones dropping down into place. Winning combinations are formed by any 3 or more matching symbols adjacent to each other, in any layout at, so you could win with horizontal and vertical lines of a symbol, or have them landing in the shape of a banana, it doesn’t really matter, although diagonals don’t count, so you’ll need to see the sides touching, not just corners.

The amount won depends on which symbols made up the cluster and how many were in it. The small bombs with timers return the smallest prizes, ranging from 1 coin for each green timer in a combination, through the purple, blue and red ones, to the yellow timer, each of which pays you 4 coins. Bigger bombs are more classic devices, with fins and metal-effect casings although each has a different colour scheme. Blue and red bombs will each pay 8 coins, with the top wins in normal play being claimed when the purple bomb blasts away at the grid.

Here’s the clever bit though, as each explosion leaves empty spaces and when new symbols fall down to fill the gaps, you could easily see more winning clusters being formed and get another payout from the same initial bet. This goes on and on until no more are seen, but if you get 5 consecutive symbol drops, the unique Fever x2 feature doubles your winnings and getting 10 or more in a continuous sequence triggers the Fever x3, which triples any further wins.

Pop Bomber isn’t done yet, as there’s a number of special symbols that aren’t actually worth anything on their own but can deliver a payload of big prizes to you along with a unique Pattern Puzzle that can also triple wins.

Those modifier symbols include the black Jackpot device which awards the Mini progressive jackpot when 3 are seen side by side, the Minor prize is paid out when 4 are together, the Major jackpot is claimed with 5 of them and if 6 of this symbol are together, you collect the Grand jackpot. The current values are shown above the controls, and while the lower jackpots are nothing special, the Major and Grand can rise to tens or even hundreds of thousands of Dollars.

We also have a swirly Respin symbol that simply rearranges all bombs on the grid for a second shot at a prize, while the Explode Around icon does just what it sounds like and blows up all bombs adjacent to it, leaving lots more spaces for new ones to drop into. The crossed arrows symbol randomly explodes between 1 and 6 bombs on the grid, and the Cross symbol causes all bombs on the same row and column to go bang. Last but not least, we have a 2x2 Explode symbol which simply blows up 4 symbols in a square.

A purple orb to the side of the grid doesn’t have an immediately obvious use, but with each spin you will see a selection of black squares in the same 6x6 grid become highlighted. If you collect a pattern of exploding bombs that match these in the subsequent spins, your winnings can be tripled in value, which is a nice little surprise although we found it wasn’t as easy to do as we thought it would be.

There’s 10 bet levels that can be selected, with each worth 50 coins for minimum and maximum stakes of 0.50 and 50.00 per spin. Those low and high limits should suit most players and as Pop Bomber comes with high returns plus guaranteed fair play, you could be blown away by the great payouts when the right symbols land in clusters.

It comes with an Autoplay function that keeps the spins going for as long as you want, while a fairground-style soundtrack can be played as the symbols drop into place and free Pop Bomber video slots can be tried out if you don’t mind playing without any chance of actually winning anything.

If you like the fast gameplay and quick rewards that Pop Bomber can give you, then the Germinator video slot from Microgaming is sure to appeal as well. It comes with a similar 6x6 grid pattern and it’s filled with multi-coloured cartoon germs, each with funny expressions on their faces to give them some personality. Land any 3 germs in a horizontal or vertical line to trigger a cascading reels feature as they sneeze and burst in splashes of goo.

A Medi-Bonus round lets you remove any type of germ from the matrix, making it easier for others to complete winning lines, and a useful tip here is to take out the lowest-paying germs which tend to take up the most grid positions in each spin.

Pop Bomber has an almost unique way of working, with Germinator being one of very few similar examples. It can take a few seconds to get used to the fast-paced gameplay, but there’s nothing complicated about landing clusters of matching symbols and winning prizes based on which ones land and how many at a time.

Those multiple bonus symbols can really boost the win rate and it top it all off, there’s the chance to claim a huge progressive jackpot in an instant. Available across desktop and mobile platforms, the Pop Bomber video slot might not have the advanced animations of Germinator, but on just about every other level it blows it away.