Queen of the Crystal Rays slot is a brand new game from Crazy Tooth Studios

One of the most exciting aspects about Microgaming teaming up with different development studios to increase their output of games is that you are more likely to get a diverse number of different type of slots.

Crazy Tooth Studios, who developed the Queen of the Crystal Rays slot for Microgaming, have done precisely that! This slot boasts six reels and a seeming 25 pay lines (although this does increase to 50 if you trigger the Crystal Ray feature). However, you can win at any point and in any way on these lines, meaning you can trigger wins of three symbols in the middle of the reels, as well as from left to right and also from right to left.

The game is set in some kind of temple to the Queen of the Crystal Rays and it is brightly done with a rather futuristic soundtrack and ambiance to the game as a whole. So how is this rather unusual slot put together and does it work for players? We decided to take a closer look and find out for ourselves.

Overview

• Game: Queen of the Crystal Rays
• Developer: Microgaming
• Reels: 6x4 reels
• Pay Lines: 25 (or 50 in feature)
• Minimum Bet: 0.20
• Maximum Bet: 50.00
• Jackpot: 125 coins
• Free Spins Bonus: No
• Other Bonuses: Yes
• Progressive: No
• Volatility: Medium

Presentation

A neat introduction takes you into the Queen of the Crystal Rays slot which makes it clear that this is a slot about magic, crystals, rays and generally all kinds of arcane wizardry. When the game loads the six reels with four symbols on each does look a lot when you see them especially when you consider you have just 25 lines in play, but the key thing here is to remember that it is all All Ways Win game.

What this means is that you can win anywhere on the reels, left to right or right to left and trigger a win. That makes a huge difference to your chances of landing a win in the game and in truth, it is the key element which makes the slot so playable.

The graphics and sound are bright and cheerful and convey the atmosphere of the slot nicely but they are somewhat understated and do not get in your face like on some other games. Controls are to the bottom left of the reels and are very simple to use.

What is on the reels?

There are a number of different symbols on the reels, including one that is a non-paying symbol in a standard spin (the multicoloured prism, although this does play a role if you trigger a bonus game). The lower value symbols on the reels are the different coloured crystals, blue, green, red and purple.

Higher value symbols are all based on the Queen of the Crystal Rays magical artifacts and tools and include a magic cauldron, a goblet, a box and the Queen of the Crystal Rays herself. These offer slightly higher value wins although none of the wins are truly massive (chiefly because you can trigger them anywhere on the reels).

Of course, the more symbols that form part of your win and the more lines included on a win, then the greater the value of your win is more likely to be.

Wild features

There are a couple of Wild symbols on the slot to take note of and both of them can play an important role in landing wins for the player. The Standard Wild is easy to spot as it is the word Wild and it is used as a substitute for other symbols only and does not offer any wins for landing multiple wilds across the reels.

In addition to this, there is also a Wild Multiplier symbol on the reels which is a gold colour and which also substitutes for all paying symbols and also sees a 2x multiplier attached to any wins that it is part of.

There is one other symbol on the reel which is the bonus, which leads us nicely into the main bonus features of the slot.

Free Spins features

There is no Free Spins bonus on the Queen of the Crystal Rays slot but there are a couple of other bonus features which players can aim to trigger if they are lucky enough.

The Crystal Ray feature can trigger on any spin at random and when it does, you will see an extra 25 Pay Lines become active in the game and the reels will then be populated with additional Wilds and/or Wild Multipliers which can then lead to a sizeable win.

The other bonus feature is the Queen of the Crystal Rays bonus which is triggered when you land three or more of the Scatter symbols anywhere across the reels. When this bonus is triggered you receive four bonus rounds and at the start of the round, the reels are populated with cash prizes which can be won on each of your bonus spins alongside standard symbol wins. You can also trigger multipliers worth up to 5x the standard win to increase the value of your win in the bonus.

Best feature of the Queen of the Crystal Rays slot

Although this is a more complex slot than most to understand and it is one I wouldn't really recommend for more novice slot players, it is a game that you can pick up once you have worked out and understood how the bonus features work. For me, the randomly triggered Crystal Bonus is the better of the two features of the slot as it triggers more often and so plays a bigger role in the game. However, the key feature of the slot which makes it work is the fact you can win any way across the reels as this is what makes it so much more playable and player friendly.

Conclusion

Queen of the Crystal Rays is an interesting addition to the range of slots from Microgaming. It is a very different slot to what you usually get from the company and in that respect it stands out quite nicely. I think a lack of Free Spins is a slight issue but the bonus spins work well enough, even if they are a little difficult and frustrating to trigger at times. All in all, this is a decent slot and one worth taking a closer look at if you want to play something a little different to the norm.

You can play this fantastic new slot at any of our Mega Moolah casinos.