Play Planet Rocks for Free

Most of the symbols are simply colourful gems and we need 3 of a kind to stop across any of the 10 paylines from the left side to get paid for a win. Those wins vary from just 5 coins when the yellow, green or red gemstones land on the first 3 reels, with any 4 or 5 of each paying out 30 or 100 coins. Purple and blue gems are valued at 30, 100, or 750 coins and the best prizes are claimed when a big white diamond stops across a payline, with 50, 750 and a massive 3,000 coins returned.

A somewhat sad-looking alien is the games’ wild symbol and this big-eyed guy in what looks like a superhero suit is able to act as others to plug any gaps in winning combinations or extend wins across to the right-side reels for higher prizes. This can be a stacked wild symbol that gets randomly beamed onto the reels by the flying saucer as it moves around at the top of the game, or he can turn up on his own, where he gives a little shout out when he completes a winning line.

He’s not worth anything on his own though, nor can he substitute for the bonus symbol and maybe that’s why he looks so depressed.

He has lots of reasons to be cheerful though, as this game comes with a special Free Spins symbol that works in a different way to those found in many other slot machines. Most games will treat you to a free spins feature when a trigger symbols appears in any 3 or more places, but not here, as every time the Free Spins icon turns up, you earn a single bonus game.

Rather than have this single game play out right away, players collect them in a meter at the top right corner of the reels and can decide when they want to activate the free games. There’s a maximum of 25 to collect before the spins start automatically, and if you change the bet level, they will also play out before any new spins begin.

It’s a unique concept and like many of the best ideas, it’s really simple, so congratulations to Felix Gaming for coming up with something that we hadn’t seen before.

It’s possible to activate any number of paylines, or even play free Planet rocks video slots, but unless you have a stake on all 10 lines, which can cost as little as 0.10 per spin, you won’t be able to claim for all wins that land on the reels. That low limit wager can be raised to 10.00, which isn’t much and puts this slot firmly in the category of casual games that high rollers will probably ignore.

It’s a pity, because this is one of the few downsides that we could find with Planet Rocks, but even so, 10.00 should be enough for the majority of players. There’s a couple of other functions controlled by the strange alien-type control buttons below the reels, with an Auto option spinning the reels without any need to click each time and a red button to the side turns the space-invaders type soundtrack on and off.

There’s plenty of outer space themed online slot machines to choose from, most of which take a humorous view on the sci-fi subject. Alien Spinvasion, from Rival Gaming is a fun way to blast some winnings your way, as a green creature and his flying saucer attack the Earth. A hapless General defends the planet, awarding 11 free games when he’s seen in any 3 or more places, and cascading reels during these games can lead to more winning lines being landed. The alien is a sticky wild who stays around for a free reels respin whenever he completes a combination across any of the 50 paylines of this fun, 5-reel game.

For a more serious take on the subject, Battlestar Galactica, from Microgaming, is themed around the newer incarnation of the classic TV space adventure that ran from 2004 to 2009. Players have 5 reels and 243 ways to win across them to collect prizes, as Apollo, Starbuck, Baltar and Colonel Tigh appear.

Bonus features in this realistic game include 15 free spins in the Ion Storm games, and a Run Mode that creates extra winning lines from the playing card symbols, or you could choose Fight mode where random symbols turn in to extra wilds as Cylons and Colonials clash. It’s a fantastic-looking game that uses actual images from the series to create many of the symbols and has that orchestral theme tune playing along in the background.

What appears to be a fairly standard online and mobile optimised slot machine hides a couple of extra treats within the reels. We particularly liked the alien, with neat animations beaming him on to the reels when he’s stacked 3 high, and he has a nice way of celebrating with a shout when he completes a win-line for you.

The unusual way that free games are collected is another highlight that’s sure to make it on to other slots although the reels are standard throughout the bonus games, with no richer reels to boost the win rate. Of course, they can’t be retriggered, but there’s still Free Spin symbols in play during these games, so you could collect a few more before the round is over.