Play Spacemen 2 for Free

The space and sci-fi genre has thrown up many a sequel in the world of film. Star Wars, Alien, and Star Trek are just a few that spring to mind. They even made a follow-up to Stanley Kubrick's iconic classic, 2001: A Space Odyssey. The general rule of thumb when it comes to sequels is that, 9 times out of ten, they aren't very good. Just say the words “phantom” and “menace” to any Star Wars fan and see what kind of reaction you get. However, every now and again, along comes a science fiction sequel that is actually quite good, and that applies to this slot machine by Merkur Gaming.

That is because Spacemen 2, as you might have guessed from the title, is a sequel of sorts to the original Spacemen slot machine game designed by the German software company. As such, players who are familiar with the game will find many similarly themed symbols upon the reels, with images depicting satellites, space shuttles, landing pods, ringed planets, astronauts, and amazing galactic clouds of dust and fire.

Naturally, however, this game can benefit from the use of more advanced design technology to present players with an all round more satisfying and spectacular visual display. In truth, the original game did look a bit weak with its two dimensional cartoon characters and simple animation. Now, the slot machine depicts a truly epic space scene, with glittering stars dotted around the reels and a series of clearly defined icons. The images aren't rendered in true 3D, but they at least appear to have been illustrated with an appreciation of the beauty of the cosmos.

Not only has this video slot machine been upgraded in the aesthetics department, but it has been given a boost in the gameplay department too. That is because the game has been upgraded to feature 20 paylines instead of the original 5 paylines. Therefore, there are plenty more winning chances to keep intergalactic spinners winning on a more frequent basis. And, somewhat remarkably, there isn't any difference in the paytable of line bet multipliers between the two games, even though Spacemen 2 offers more chances to win than the original game:

All winning lines are calculated from left to right and the multipliers above will be applied to the value of the bet per line, which can be selected from the following options: 0.01, 0.02, 0.05, 0.10, 0.20, 0.50, 1.00, 1.50 and 2.00 credits. Players can also choose to play with fewer paylines, if they want to limit the value of their total bet with options to play with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15 and 20 paylines. That said, it does pay to play with a higher total bet in this slot machine since there is a scatter symbol – depicted by the astronaut character – which will award a total bet multiplier of 500x. So, with a maximum possible stake of 40.00 credits, players have every chance of winning the game's standard jackpot of 20,000 credits.

Not only does that scatter symbol pave the way to big wins in the main game, but it will also trigger a round of 15 free spins whenever three or more appear on the reels. These free spins will be played through with all prizes awarded as scatter wins, meaning that a win will be awarded any time two or more of the same icons appear on the reels in any position. What's more, all wins during the free spins round will be multiplied by 4x, making for some out of this world winning potential.

Spacemen 2 serves up a very impressive upgrade to the somewhat underwhelming Spacemen slot machine by Merkur Gaming. This re-boot is bigger and better in many ways, with spectacular graphics and the chance to win quadruple value prizes in a round of free games. Plus, the game offers spinners the chance to play with 20 paylines while the paytable still presents some lucrative multiplier prizes.