Five Games That Are Similar to Starburst

Slots Online Published: thu 29 oct 2020 | Updated: mon 22 feb 2021 When NetEnt launched Starburst way back in 2012, it probably had no idea how popular the slot would become. With its engaging combination of sparkling gems, ambient soundtrack, explosive animations, expanding starburst wilds and simple gameplay, Starburst quickly captured the attention of slot players everywhere. It also inspired other developers to try and create something along the same lines, so if you ever fancy a change of scene, here are five games that are similar to Starburst for you to take a look at…

Gemix

Released at the end of 2014 by Play’n GO, Gemix is a seven-by-seven cascading grid slot, which is all about matching gems. Rather than being set in outer space, Gemix takes place in a cartoon-style fantasy/medieval world where hunting for gems is all the rage. The gems here look more like candies than anything more precious, but the visuals are every bit as bright and colourful as a Starburst fan could want.

Gemix has three worlds associated with a miner, a young girl and a wizard, respectively. Each character has their own wild symbol (a miner's lamp, a swirly lollipop and a book of spells), and your aim is to complete each world in turn by collecting gems. On the way, you can trigger a Crystal Charge feature by blasting 20 or more gems, and if you explode 40 or more, you will quadruple your winnings thanks to a special Super Charge feature.

A melodic soundtrack accompanies you as you play, so Gemix is certainly a less abstract game than Starburst, but it is still very enjoyable in its own right and could help you to land a maximum win of up to 45,135 coins.

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Star Dust

Star Dust was launched by Microgaming in 2015 and has all of the elements that made Starburst so popular. When you fire up the game, you will instantly feel at home thanks to its impressive ambient theme music and deep space background. Symbols include a mix of playing card ranks and gemstones, along with a spiral galaxy and a stacked Star Dust logo, which serves as a wild as well as a paying symbol in its own right.

The main game gives you 40 ways to win, and as you collect gems, you will fill a special Stardust Meter. Collect 10 or more gems, and you will trigger a Free Spins round that will give you 1,024 ways to win. In this part of the game, landing a three- or four-of-a-kind win will trigger a Radiant Respin, which spins the fourth and/or fifth reels, giving you the chance to improve that win.

Star Dust is a game that all fans of Starburst should try at least once because while it has plenty in common with NetEnt's genre-maker, it is different enough to provide some welcome variety.

Play Star Dust at LeoVegas Casinos.

Crystal Rift

Like Gemix, Crystal Rift delivers a Starburst-like gaming experience in a different setting. This five-reel game developed by Rabcat and released by Microgaming in 2018, has 25 pay lines and is set in an underground cavern. The symbols are beautifully depicted crystalline structures of various colours. The ambient soundtrack here does an excellent job of enhancing the game's general environment while adding a tad more synth punch from time to time when the action needs highlighting.

Land a winning line and you will trigger a Bonus Falls feature, which basically means that this is a cascading slot. Something called a Wild Grid will be randomly selected before the start of the first fall, and if you get three falls in a row, the symbols in the Wild Grid will become wild for the next fall. The Wild Grid can be retriggered with three more falls, and there are four categories of wild Grid layouts that are referred to as Basic, Super, Mega and Insane.

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Crystal Sun

Crystal Sun is another Play’n GO title, and this one was launched in 2019. Like Starburst, this five-reel game is set in the depths of outer space, but the music here is more synth-pop than ambient. Symbols include a variety of gems that have the appearance of planets, as well as a red 777 and a group of three blue diamonds, which is a nice nod to tradition.

A Crystal Sun symbol serves as a wild and can land on the second, third and fourth reels. When it does so, it will expand to fill all three rows of its own reel before sticking in place and giving you a free respin. Land another wild, and that too will expand and stick for another free respin. It is possible to enjoy up to three respins in this way, which would certainly increase your odds of winning the maximum payout of 4,000 times your stake.

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Dreamzone

Dreamzone is the most recent of the games on this list, having been released by ELK Studios in 2020. While it is clearly inspired by Starburst in terms of its visuals, Dream Zone plays quite differently. This is a five-by-five grid slot populated by various crystals and gems, and whenever you make a winning combination, the symbols involved will be removed from the screen, but they won't be replaced. This isn't, therefore, a cascading slot in the most accurate sense of the term, but any symbols remaining above a winning combination will drop down to fill the newly created spaces, making it possible to win again.

Should you manage to clear all of the symbols from the screen, you will trigger a multi-level Bonus Drops feature. You will start with a x2 multiplier, and each new level will double that value, making it possible to unlock a maximum multiplier of x512. Throw in a quite energetic synth soundtrack and four Dream Features that can help you land wins, which wouldn't be possible otherwise, and this is a game with more than enough depth to entertain you for hours.

Play Dreamzone at Casumo Casino.