Mechanic collection
Cluster pays slots
No lines and no ways: a group of touching matching symbols anywhere on the grid is the winning unit, and the size of the group sets the payout.
In a cluster pays slot, a win is a group of matching symbols touching each other on a grid, rather than a pattern along a payline. Play'n GO's Reactoonz, for example, pays for a cluster of five or more matching symbols on a 7x7 grid. Larger clusters pay more, and the mechanic is usually combined with cascading symbols so one spin can build several clusters.
Filter and sort the game list
| Game | RTP | Volatility | Grid / lines | Released | Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Le BanditHacksaw Gaming · Video slot
|
96.34% | Medium-high | — | ||
Jammin' JarsPush Gaming · Grid slot
|
96.83% | High | — | ||
Aloha! Cluster PaysNetEnt · Grid slot
|
96.42% | Not published | 22 Mar 2016 | ||
Moon PrincessPlay'n GO · Grid slot
|
— | Not published | 26 Jul 2017 | ||
Rich Wilde and the Tome of MadnessPlay'n GO · Grid slot
|
— | Not published | 27 Jun 2019 | ||
ReactoonzPlay'n GO · Grid slot
|
— | Not published | 23 Oct 2017 | ||
Sugar RushPragmatic Play · Grid slot
|
96.5% | Not published | — | ||
Star Clusters MegaclustersBig Time Gaming · Grid slot
|
— | Not published | — |
What cluster pays means
A cluster pays slot has no paylines and does not count ways. It pays when enough matching symbols land touching each other somewhere on the grid. Play'n GO describes the rule plainly for Reactoonz: win by collecting a cluster of five or more matching symbols, and the larger the cluster, the larger the win1. NetEnt, whose Aloha Cluster Pays title used the mechanic, describes it as giving players the chance to increase payouts by growing the size of their cluster of winning symbols2.
How a cluster is defined
Three things vary between games, and all three are set out in the game's own rules rather than being standard across the category.
- The minimum cluster size. Five matching symbols is common, but it is a per-game rule.
- What counts as touching. Games define adjacency themselves, so whether diagonal contact joins two symbols into one cluster depends on the title.
- The grid. A 7x7 layout gives 49 positions and a very different distribution of possible clusters from a 5x5 one.
This matters because the payout scale is usually written per cluster size, so a game that requires five symbols and one that requires eight are not comparable on the paytable alone.
Why clusters and cascades travel together
Most cluster games remove the winning symbols and drop new ones into the gaps. In Reactoonz, symbols in winning clusters are removed and replaced by new symbols from above, giving multiple chances to win in the same round1. A single spin therefore resolves as a chain, and the total return of that chain is what the game's maths is built on.
That is also why cluster games often carry charge meters, wild generators or multipliers that build up over a chain: they give the sequence somewhere to go.
What this does not change
The winning unit is different; the economics are not. The published return to player still describes the theoretical share of stakes returned over a very large number of spins, and in Great Britain that figure, or the house edge, or the probability of winning events, must be made available before a customer commits to gamble3.
How our database records it
We tag a game as cluster pays when the provider's own game page describes wins as clusters or groups of matching symbols rather than lines or ways. Grid dimensions are recorded as published. Where a provider does not state a minimum cluster size or a return figure, the field stays blank and the in-game rules panel is the reference.
FAQ
About cluster pays slots
How big does a cluster have to be?
It depends on the game. Reactoonz pays from five matching symbols upwards on its 7x7 grid, and other titles set their own minimum. The paytable lists what each cluster size pays for each symbol, so two games with different minimums cannot be compared symbol by symbol. The rules panel states the minimum in force.
Do symbols have to touch diagonally or only side by side?
That is a per-game rule rather than a category rule. Some games count only horizontal and vertical contact, others include diagonals. Because the definition changes how often a qualifying group forms, it is one of the first things worth reading in the rules, which must be easily available before you commit to gamble in Great Britain.
Is cluster pays the same as a grid slot?
Not quite. Grid slot describes the layout, usually a square arrangement such as 7x7. Cluster pays describes how wins are formed on it. Most cluster games are grid slots, but a grid can also be used with ways-to-win rules or scatter pays, where symbols pay simply for landing in sufficient numbers anywhere rather than touching.
Does the cascade count as part of the same spin?
Yes. One spin resolves as a chain: winning clusters are removed, new symbols fall in, and any new clusters pay in turn. The return to player figure covers the whole sequence, not just the first group of symbols to land, which is why cluster games can look quiet and then resolve into a long chain.
Related reading
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