StarDust is Microgaming powered video slot with 5 reels and 40 pay-lines. This slot is inspired with the hidden secrets of the universe. The game has somewhat retro arcade feel to it, and the graphics and sound effects really go in favor of this. Give this slot a spin for free on this page or visit Microgaming Casinos to play for real money.
Before you visit the outer space, you should set your bets. By clicking on "+/-" you will set coins size which ranges from 0.01 to 0.25, and "Coins" is used to set the number of coins per line that you wish to bet. "Max Bet" is used to set the maximum bet available. "Spin" will set the reels in motion, and "Autoplay" option is used to turn the reels without interruption for a chosen number of times.
Game Logo is the Wild and it substitutes for all symbols in the game. During the base game, the symbol appears stacked on the reels. During Free Spins feature, the symbol appears super stacked on reels 4 and 5.
There is a meter located on the right hand side from the reels. Each time a galaxy symbol lands on reel 3 it will collect all the gems form the other reels – maximum one per reel. All the gems are added to the meter and once it reaches the top you will receive a payout and between 10 and 13 spins.
During Free Spins there is the Radiant Re-spins feature. Reel 4 and 5 will re-spin if you land three symbol win. If you land 4-symbol win you will get a free spin of reel 5. Free Spins feature cannot be re-triggered.
Game Play
+/-: Set the coins size.
Coins: Set the number of coins per line.
Lines: Set the number of lines to bet.
Max Bet: Set the maximum bet available.
Spin: Set the reels in motion.
I first came across this Microgaming game several months back, probably around early 2016, and my first impression was that it was probably a clone of Starburst from NetEnt, but it wasn't. The only similarity between Starburst and Star Dust are the gem symbols. There aren't any free spins in Starburst but there are in Star Dust, and there aren't any expanding Wild Reels in Star Dust but there are in Starburst. So, which would you prefer more, the expanding 3 Wild Reels or a Free Spins game? Well, I wasn't so sure at first too, but after playing Star Dust several times, I now know that I do prefer the 3 Wild Reels feature more, but only because the Free Spins game in Star Dust just cannot pay any big wins.
Unlike Starburst, this Star Dust game plays with 40 paylines in the base game, but plays with 1024 ways to win in the Free Spins game. Sounds good, right? Well, that's what I thought so too, at first, but we'll come to that a little later on. The logo 'Star Dust' is the Wild symbol, paying a very low 25x the total bet amount for 5 of them, and substitutes for all symbols, because there aren't any Scatter or Bonus symbols in the game. It is stacked on all reels in the base game, but is Super Stacked on reels 4 and 5 in the Free Spins game. The Galaxy is a normal symbol, but whenever it appears anywhere on reel 3, it collects 1 Gem from each reel and puts them into the Star Dust Meter. When the Meter is full with 10 Gems, a Free Spins game without any win multiplier is triggered. Up to 13 free spins can be awarded but the Free Spins game cannot be retriggered. With no multiplier for the free spins, the Free Spins game is a disappointment. Not only that, more free spins cannot be retriggered, and 13 free spins is the maximum that can be awarded. So how big can any win in the Free Spins game be? Not big at all, that much I can say for sure. The symbols in the game pay from 12.5x (the Galaxy) down to 1x the total bet for 5 of each kind, making the paytable a very low one indeed.
Whenever any 3 symbols win is achieved, the first 3 reels get locked and reels 4 and 5 will get 1 Respin. If it's a 4 symbols win, then only reel 5 will respin once This feature is available both in the base game and during the free spins. Reels 4 and 5 have Super Stacked Wild symbols during the free spins, but I could only see and get 1 fully stacked reel on reel 4. None came on reel 5, only single or double Wild symbols. Well, so much for Super Stacked Wild Reels in the Free Spins game. They hardly contribute much additional wins anyway.
What I dislike most about Star Dust? To put it very simply, there's only 13 free spins maximum, with no win multiplier, with very low values for all the symbols, with Wild symbols that don't double any wins, and with Super Stacked Wild Reels that don't help much at all, so forget about getting nice big wins from this game. The payouts that I got from 3 Free Spins games were 16x, 39x (with 1 retrigger), and 22x my bet amount. Very disappointingly low payouts, even with 1 retrigger of the Free Spins game.