Orion has a name that is used both for a hunter from Greek mythology, and for a constellation which was named after him. In this case, the slot machine focuses on both possible meanings, so on some of the symbols you will see characters from the Greek mythology, and on others you will notice things like constellations and signs. Add the night’s sky which is visible behind the reels, and you get the full mix of the two. The company that offers Orion is called Microgaming, through their Quickfire platform.
If you give Orion a chance, you will discover that it offers you free spins, scatters, stacked wilds and prizes that could go as high as $4,000. A total of 50 paylines are placed on its 5 reels.
Features of Orion
Orion’s offer consists in wild symbols, in scatters and in free spins, all three being often part of modern slot machines.
To start with, let’s take a look at the wild feature, the symbol which you can rely on when it lands exactly where you need it. Since it can’t be of any use to you if it’s not in the right place, more often than not the symbol will not do anything. Since it will usually be part of multiple paylines at the same time, it will still be of noticeable use to you and you will make more money thanks to it. It doesn’t substitute for a scatter, only for a regular symbol. It can’t give you its own prizes either, which is something that is possible in other slots.
The scatter symbol will display the Orion Logo and it will be useful no matter where it appears, so it’s the opposite of the wild in that regard. The condition here is to have a minimum of three scattered Orion Logos present on the reels. This will give you payouts of up to 50 times the bet, depending on exactly how many are in place.
Free Games Feature
If you happen to land those 3+ scattered Orion Logos, you receive the prize I mentioned above, but you also trigger 8 free spins. If you happen to get a stacked wild showing on the screen, at least partially, it will start something called Wild Slide, which will make sure it comes in and covers the entire reel.
To retrigger the free spins with 8 additional rounds, you need the same 3+ Orion Logos on the reels again.
Betting options and jackpots
Look at the bottom of the screen, and you will discover all the options available to you in the game’s wager system. The coin value is first, but it only goes up to $0.20. The number of lines comes next, with the normal value being 50, but with the option to reduce it if you can’t afford them all. Finally, you can choose the number of coins, which will go up to 20 per line. The total bet, when maxed out, uses 1,000 coins and has a value of $200.
The reward comes either from the Orion Hunter symbol, which pays 1,000x, or $4,000, or from the scatter which pays 50x the bet, meaning $10,000.
Design and symbols
Orion has a very attractive design, inspired by the temples and characters of Ancient Greece. You have a temple like structure in place, being used by the set of reels, which are separated by thin marble columns. The symbols do include poker cards, which is a shame, but there are also some very nicely done Greek symbols, like the one with the hunter, Athena or the hunting dogs.
Symbols: Wild Logo (wild), Orion Logo (scatter, 50x bet), Orion Hunter (1,000x), Athena (750x), Dogs (750x), Scorpion (500x), Ace (250x), King (150x), Queen (150x), Jack (100x), 10 (75x) and 9 (50x).
Is It Worth Playing?
The design is a big attraction point with this game, with its Ancient Greece inspiration. The prizes are on the low side though, so don’t expect big prizes, only a lot of smaller ones.
The Orion slot machine is offered through the Microgaming platform, so if you want to play it for real or just to practice, look out for casinos that use it.
