One of the slot machines from Microgaming, Battlestar Galactica is themed around one of the most popular science fiction franchises, which was used as a basis for two very popular TV series and multiple movies. It all started in 1978, with the original Battlestar Galactica, but then the series was brought back through an initial mini-series, and then a modern TV series, between 2003 and 2009. The idea in all of them is the same one, showing the battle between a human civilization and the intelligent robots that they created. The current slot machine is based on the modern TV series, with its actors being mentioned in the symbols.
This is a slot machine with 5 reels, but with 243 paylines on them, the game using ways to win instead of regular lines. The features are even better than the graphics are, using not only stacked wilds and scatter symbols, but also different modes to play in and bonus games. The prizes are the only ones that disappoint, going up to $750 normally.
Features of Battlestar Galactica
The features available in Battlestar Galactica are one of the best reasons to try it in the first place. It’s quite different from the regular slot machines that you get to play these days, and Microgaming certainly seems that they thought long and hard on how to approach it. Among the features offered inside you will discover a ranking system, scatter symbols, free spins, multipliers, stacked wilds and random ion storms that give you wild reels.
One of the things you will enjoy, especially as a fan of the TV series, is the ranking system. Each time you place a bet you get a little bit of experience, with the progress showing on an experience bar. With each new rank, you get more video content unlocked, new win animations and so on, all of them using images from the original TV series.
Another characteristic of the game is the three modes that the slot offers, which you will notice that they turn the design in blue, green or red. They’re called Normal, Run and Fight, and they allow you to get various bonuses and opportunities to win. For example, Run Mode offers you an FTL symbol which appears on the middle reel and can turn playing cards into mystery symbols.
One of the things to be happy about is the wild feature, a stacked wild actually, which appears only on the 1st reel in the base game. It’s available both during the free spins and the base game, and it will substitute for any regular symbols, with only one exception, the scatter.
The other symbol to have an extra role would be the scatter symbol, showing you one of the famous fighters that Battlestar Galactica has onboard. As a scatter symbol, it comes in handy because it can trigger the prizes and free spins by being in different locations, without the symbols being on the same line. You can win up to $750, plus you get the free spins.
Free Games Feature
3, 4 or 5 scattered Fighters will have the same effect, the start of the round with 15 free spins and with the 3x multiplier applied to all wins. You can’t retrigger free spins unfortunately, which is quite disappointing.
Ion Storm Feature
Triggered at random, the Ion Storm bonus feature can’t be started with the help from regular symbols. It will start whenever it pleases, but when it does it will get you into either Run or Fight mode, which modifies how the game works somewhat. You can get up to 5 wild reels during this feature.
Run Mode triggers payouts with symbols that start from both the left side and the right side, so you get more chances to win. That, plus you get the FTL symbol which turns playing cards into mystery symbols, for extra wins.
Fight Mode can get you random wild symbols, using regular symbols as a basis. These wilds can also split into two, giving you two wild symbols that occupy the same spot. As for the scatter symbol, it can trigger 5 spins for free and retriggering them is a possibility.
Betting options and jackpots
The equivalent of 30 lines are used for betting purposes, even though the slot has 243 ways to win. Each fictive line gets up to 10 coins, their denomination going only from $0.01 to $0.05. You end up with $0.50 line bets this way, while the total only goes up to $15.
With the maximum bet of $15 used, you can win $750 when the scatter symbol gets involved. There are some ways to improve on that, especially with the 3x multiplier of the free spins, but it’s still not a life changing amount.
Design and symbols
The design is one of the best parts about this game. Themed around the modern TV series, which started its run in 2003, it uses all the photos of the main characters, and they’re of excellent quality. They couldn’t resist a good set of playing cards unfortunately, but they at least had the good sense to make them look metallic. The slot’s design looks futuristic and very cool, exactly as it should be for such a title.
Symbols: Space Fighter (50x bet, scatter), Battlestar Galactica Logo (wild, 600x), Starbuck (400x), Apollo (400x), Baltar (300x), Six (300x), Col. Tigh (200x), Helo (200x), Ellen (100x), Tyrol (100x), Ace (80x), King (80x), Queen (60x), Jack (60x) and 10 (40x).
Is It Worth Playing?
It’s definitely worth playing, at least if science fiction is your thing, or if you simply enjoyed the Battlestar Galactica series. Its prizes are not that impressive, but you get plenty of chances to take money home.
Battlestar Galactica, the 2004 TV Series
As this game is based on the 2004 TV series, we’re going to talk about this version of Battlestar Galactica. It’s a science fiction show, with a strong military background and it’s another version of the 1978 original series, being re-imagined for present tastes and technology. A total of four seasons followed the mini-series that aired in 2003. The last episode aired in 2009, on March 20th. In time, the series won various awards, including a Peabody and mentions from the TV Critics Association. It’s also considered by TIME as one of the Top 100 TV Shows.
Among the stars of the show you will discover names like Edward James Olmos, Tricia Helfer, Aaron Douglas, Michael Hogan or Grace Park, to name just a couple of actors that became even famous as a result of this series.
This Battlestar Galactica slot is offered by all online casinos with Microgaming software, playable either in practice or in real money mode.
