Set phasers to stun and the warp drive to 9. It’s time to shoot across the galaxy at the speed of light, taking on alien invaders and collecting coloured hexagons and pentagons, purely because they look shiny, in Big Time Gaming’s Starquest. With 117,649 ways to win, there won’t be a dull moment.

Futuristic and yet retro, Starquest takes its cues from the 1950s, despite being set several hundred years in the future. There’s a Barbarella vibe to the game, she being an astronaut from the 41st century charged with stopping the evil scientist Durand Durand (yes, really).

The Best of the Quest

Colourful and playful, Big Time Gaming’s Starquest is the sort of game you just want to start playing instantly. Instead of filling the screen with space junk, they’ve kept things clean, allowing you to focus on the reels and all those jewels that are in need of collection. Who knew that outer space was chock full of such precious debris?

When they apply themselves, Big Time Gaming are capable of coming up with some beautifully animated games, with fine detail and graphics that have true depth. Although Starquest doesn’t stand out on first look, watch carefully and you’ll see the planetary background change in colour as the game progresses.

Spaced out Shapes

If you haven’t noticed already, there are six reels to Starquest. This isn’t the norm, but Big Time Gaming have tried this before, and it’s a flourish they seem to be happy with. The game’s paylines are based on the number of ways it’s technically possible to win, hence the unusually large and precise number of 117,649. The stake per spin can be set between 0.20 and 20.00 and there’s an autospin option.

The sound effects aren’t much to shout about but this isn’t exactly a deal-breaker. As for the layout, while there will always be six reels on screen, the number of rows varies between one and five, as certain symbols are prone to spanning multiple lines. In the base game, the playing card symbols are complemented by various coloured shapes resembling gems and a few proprietary symbols including the Starquest logo.

Megaways to Win

The full reel wilds are hard to miss. Any time they surface on the reels, they’ll stick around to help generate winning combos, applying a multiplier in the process. Initially the multiplier will be set at 1x but this can grow to 5x and what’s more if you end up with two full reel wilds in play, they’ll be multiplied by each other. Any time you land a full reel wild, a respin will be triggered and the multiplier value of the wild may be increased, remaining in place while the reels spin again.

How do Big Time Gaming calculate that there are over 117,000 ways to win? Well, because you’ve got six reels and each one can hold up to seven symbols at a time. Throw in wild multipliers, which can boost the winning potential of each reel by a factor of five, and you end up with the much vaunted 117,649 ways to win.

Fill Those Reels

In the base game, three or more of a kind is enough to generate a win, though six of a kind is when the fun begins in earnest. There are no scatters in Starquest: wild, played by the Barbarella-lookalike, are all you get. Thankfully these have enough power to keep things fresh and varied. The game has medium to high volatility and an RTP of 96%. If you’d like to play something similar, try Novomatic’s Sizzling Gems or Plenty on Twenty by the same developer. Both games also feature stacked wilds.

Star Performer

Despite there not being an awful lot to Starquest in terms of features, it’s a game that it’s easy to get into and a lot harder to extract yourself from. A few expanding reels go a long way – all the way from the top of the screen to the bottom to be precise – helping you to rack up wins and multipliers in the process. Starquest isn’t the best game Big Time Gaming have ever produced but it’s still a pleasure to play.