Stellar Portals slot: Will it transport you to a new slots dimension?

Portals have played a key role in Science fiction over the years. In Thor Ragnarok, they allowed Thor to travel back to his homeland of Asgard to confront his warmongering sister Hela in battle, they have allowed Jodie Foster to travel through space, but not time, to visit an advanced race of aliens in the film Contact and there are many other examples of them across popular science fiction films.

Now though they are centre stage in a brand new and eye-catching slot from Snowborn Games, released as part of their deal with Microgaming. The new game is called Stellar Portals and at first glance, it is certainly one of the most impressive looking and sounding slots that I have played in a good while.

So how does this 5x3 reel slot which can be played from 0.20 per spin shape up? Is this a game that is best consigned to the nearest black hole to be crushed into the singularity, or is it a game that is as stellar as the name suggests? We decided to take a closer look to find out.

Overview

• Game: Stellar Portals
• Developer: Snowborn Games (for Microgaming)
• Reels: 5x3
• Pay Lines: 20 (non-selectable)
• Minimum Bet: 0.20
• Maximum Bet: 20.00
• Jackpot: 7777x
• Free Spins Bonus: Yes
• Other Bonuses: Yes
• Progressive: No
• Volatility: Medium

Presentation

Snowborn Games certainly have a knack of producing some eye-catching slot games such as The Vault and Miami Glow slots, and they have done that once again here with the fantastic look of the Stellar Portals slot. As you would expect from this space/science fiction themed slot, the game has that particular feel with some amazing patterns in a variety of colours, transposed over a black backdrop. The patterns change colour on screen as you play and the effect is almost hypnotic and very beautiful.

There are no clearly defined reels as such, so the symbols appear to hang in the air, but oddly this works well with the space-age design of the slot. The main controls are to the right and the sound effects and music that plays alongside as you play the reels matches up with the graphics superbly, being futuristic and yet exciting all at once.

Add to that some clever symbol design (see below) and you have all the ingredients for a game that is truly spectacular to look at. Certainly, one of the most eye-catching slots I have seen in 2020 thus far.

Where to play Stellar Portals slot?

You can play the Stellar Portals slot at any of the Mega Moolah casinos on the Where to Play page, Country page, or Bonus page.

What is on the reels?

There are eight standard symbols on the reels in the game, four lower value and four higher. The four lower value are probably best described by their colours as they all appear to be somewhat unusual symbols and in truth, I am not quite sure what they are supposed to be. The blue icon is the lowest value, followed by green, then yellow and then red. Wins range from 0.25x your bet, up to 3.75x your bet with the lower value symbols.

The higher value symbols are not much easier to ascertain what they are but once again these come in a range of colours. In order of value they are the purple/blue coloured symbol, the bright green, the yellow and lastly the orange. Wins range from 0.75x your bet, up to the base game top prize of 75x your bet.

Wild features

There are essentially two base game bonus symbols that are Wilds. The first is the Standard Wild, which is used as a substitute for other standard symbols on the reels. This can appear on any reel and offers the same top prize of 75x your bet for five landed across the reels, however it is more often used as a substitute for other symbols.

The other base game Wild symbols is a Sticky Wild and when you land one of these symbols, you will trigger a free Respin. If on your free Respin, you land another Sticky Wild, you will trigger another respin with the Wilds held in place on the reels and so on until you land a spin without any additional Sticky Wilds added to those collected. Obviously the more Sticky Wilds you land, the more chance you have of a big value win.

Free Spins features

There are an incredible four different Free Spins features on the Stellar Portals slot. Each has its own Scatter symbol to launch the bonus and it should be noted that you cannot launch bonuses by landing combinations of these Scatter symbols, you must land three of the same symbol to launch the respective bonus for that round. These symbols also only appear on the first, third and fifth reels of the slot.

The different Free Spins bonus games and Scatter symbols are as follows:

• 5x Multiplier Bonus - In this game you are awarded between 6 and 9 Free Spins and there is a multiplier of 5x the standard win amount applied to any wins that you land with your Free Spins bonus.
• Rising Bonus Multiplier - This bonus round sees you land 6 Free Spins and after each Free Spin, the size of the multiplier applied to any winnings will increase, starting at 2x, the multiplier increases to 3x, 4x, 5x, 8x and then 10x for the final spin.
• Stacked Wild Bonus - In this feature you will receive between 6 and 9 Free Spins selected at random at the start of the feature and then all of the reels will feature Stacked Wilds on them, which of course can help you land wins across the reels on each spin.
• Sticky Wild Bonus - The final bonus feature sees you awarded 6 Free Spins and during this bonus round any time you land a Sticky Wild on the reels, they will remain on the reels for the remainder of the Free Spins bonus round, but they do not grant the player a respin when landing as in the base game.

You cannot re-trigger any of the bonus games listed above from within the bonus round, only from the base game.

Best feature of the Stellar Portals slot

Well, when it comes to what is best about the Stellar Portals slot, it is a tough place to start. The presentation of the slot is fantastic and I really like how Snowborn approached the game making it eye-catching but so simple and effective. It really captures the mood and theme of the slot superbly well. As for the features, while the different Wilds can be a great addition to the base game, it is the four different Free Spins round that really appeal to me, especially the Sticky Wild Bonus round which I think has the potential for some consistent wins.

Conclusion

Snowborn games have produced another cracking game for Microgaming as part of their agreement with the company. Stellar Portals is a beautiful slot to look at but it is equally enjoyable to play and the fact that it is packed to the brim with different bonus features won't hurt its appeal either. One slight grumble may be the relatively small jackpot prizes on offer, but despite that, this is definitely a slot that you would certainly jump through a portal to play time and time again. Stellar by name and Stellar by nature.