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Progressive
Space provides an excellent location for a game, offering endless possibilities. I immensely enjoyed exploring it while playing Io, a stunningly designed pokie with an exquisite audio-visual presentation.
The gameplay elements include exciting mechanisms, free spins and multiple Wilds, making Io an experience to remember. The current gravity forces determine where the icons will fall, ensuring continuous tension. The Gravity mechanism causes symbols to randomly tumble left or right.
Additionally, the Avalanche effect makes the winning icons vanish from the screen, adding an extra row. The symbols gravitate into the gaps, potentially creating consecutive winning combinations.
Coin-shaped symbols dominate the playing area and deliver wins when 3 to 6 identical symbols hit the reels. The hit rate is 24.60%, meaning each fourth spin should be a winning one. I had multiple considerable wins, but a few streaks of dead spins also happened.
The high-variance pokie indicates considerable but infrequent wins with many chills and thrills. I experienced many exciting sessions that kept me on the edge of my seat despite the cheerful atmosphere taking away some of the tension. Plenty of opportunities for consecutive wins were there, and I had a great time trying to snatch them.
The main problem I had with the game was having ingredients too similar to Cygnus but less atmospheric and striking. The progressive multiplier could have stayed, and the entire experience sometimes felt like a déjà vu. Still, it was a worthy journey, and I had an excellent time.
The space station is a great place to be, and I felt involved from the beginning. Io grants an immersive experience with the action taking place on a board with 6 reels and 4 to 8 rows. The game starts with 4,096 ways to win but might reach 262,144. Once the consecutive wins began happening, it quickly turned into a fantastic game for me.
Red sevens and pink diamonds are the most valuable regular symbols in the paytable, granting 5x and 1.5x the stake for six of a kind. Three types of Wild symbols can bring big bucks, with other bonus symbols contributing to hefty payouts. I had such wins a few times, but ultimately, it was nothing too massive.
I tried out all the stakes, starting from $0.20 up to $100 per spin. ELK Studios has made the game attractive to high rollers and modest players alike. The maximum win is 5,000x the stake, which means I was hoping for $500,000. I did not win it, but you might get lucky.
Io is a fast-paced game with two special Wild symbols, the Laser feature and Free Drops round. Add a pretty eventful base game to the mix, and you have an exquisitely dynamic pokie machine.
Charged Wild begins with 4 lives, remaining on the playing area during the entire reaction sequence. I had a few successful rounds, landing decent wins, but it all happens quickly once they start. A life is lost each time Charged Wild participates in a win. The round ends when all 4 lives go away, with Wild vanishing off the screen.
The same feature appears in other ELK Studios’ releases, like Voodoo Gold, but I don’t mind it. Once Wild Forge activates, it adds an empty space with Multiplier Wild. The multiplier value enhances each time it is used with no limits. Moreover, if Wild Forge falls to the grid bottom, it turns into a Multiplier Wild symbol.
When the laser icons land, they annihilate themselves and regular symbols in their way with a beam. Other symbols take their places, bringing new wins. However, if two lasers intersect, the icons on the way become Wild.
I landed 3 Bonus symbols a few times during my test run, receiving 7 free drops. Up to 15 drops can be obtained if 6 Bonus icons hit the reels. The action occurs on an 8×8 grid, with two special Wilds remaining sticky at the bottom for the round. Furthermore, I retriggered the round several times under the same circumstances.
Io is a great game that takes you on a space journey you will never forget. Even though most elements are familiar, it is such a good game that I did not care. The Avalanche feature and the Gravity mechanics keep the game interesting. I’m not sorry I didn’t land the maximum win, for it was so entertaining.
Still, the Io pokie has its fair share of minor flaws, starting from not being too innovative. If you played Cygnus like me, a few things will look familiar. The win potential would have been better if the progressive multiplier had remained. Still, Io is beaut, and I highly recommend it. Therefore, I rate it 8 out of 10.
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