Vegas Rush

Nowhere is more synonymous with gambling, luxury, and glamour than Las Vegas, and it seems no one knows this better than the team at Big Time Gaming. Aptly titled ‘Sin City’, Las Vegas is the place where debauchery becomes second nature, and gambles are taken that punters wouldn’t dream of elsewhere. Maybe it’s the bright lights messing with common sense, maybe it’s the extravagant nature of the hotels and restaurants, but judgement often goes out the window when gamblers step onto the strip. Now, Big Time Gaming are coming back to earth from their ventures in Over the Moon to bring us Vegas Rush – which fans of Millionaire Rush will immediately recognise. With a fixed RTP of 96.44% (96.45% bonus buy), this highly volatile release can produce wins up to 47,200x bet.

Vegas Rush Base Game

Everything is very ‘Vegas’ in this release, as the action takes place inside a casino, by the slot machines. Symbols take on shapes and imagery that you’d associate with classic fruit machines, along with tying in some BTG classics, with cherries, dice, horseshoes, clovers, poker chips, diamonds, and bars. Immediate attention is given to the familiar Megatrail though, which we’ll cover soon for those that haven’t played Millionaire Rush before. An upbeat soundtrack with additional hustle and bustle sound effects that you’d hear in a casino tie it all together. All in all, it’s a nice picture that is perfect for players who want some nostalgia with their gaming.

Match Clusters of 5 or More Symbols, Touching Horizontally or Vertically, to Form Wins

Vegas Rush Base Features

Taking place on a 5×5 grid, wins are formed on Vegas Rush by matching clusters of at least 5 symbols of any size, touching horizontally or vertically. Symbols pay for clusters of 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10-11, 12-14, 15-19, 20-24, and 25+, and begin with poker chips, dice, bars, and clovers, awarding wins between 0.10 and 0.15x bet for clusters of 5, increasing to values between 30 and 50x bet for clusters of 25+. Next up are horseshoes, cherries, and diamonds, awarding wins between 0.25 and 0.50x bet for clusters of 5, increasing to values of 50x bet for clusters of 25+. Finally, Wilds are available to substitute for all symbols.

Winning Symbols are Removed from the Reels and Replaced by 4 Smaller Symbols with Megaclusters

Alright, so the first thing to cover is the Megaclusters mechanic, made famous in releases like Diamond Fruits Megaclusters, which works alongside Reactions. The grid starts 5×5 in size, with 25 full sized symbols in view. On each spin, all full sized symbols involved in a win will be removed from the reels and replaced by four smaller symbols – which means at its maximum size the grid can hold 100 small symbols.

When smaller symbols are involved in a win, they will be removed from the reels through Reactions, and any smaller symbols above them on the grid drop down to the bottommost available position. New symbols will then drop in from above to fill all remaining positions. Reactions continue until no new wins are formed.

Full sized symbols and Wild symbols are counted as 1 symbol when calculating winning combinations.

Unlock Wilds, Symbol Duplication, Smaller Symbols, Upgrades, or Win Multipliers on the Megatrail

Next is the Megatrail. Each time a win occurs in a spin, players will begin to progress on the Megatrail, and will move one Rung for each consecutive win that occurs. There are 12 Rungs on the Megatrail, some of which contain Random Bonuses that are decided at the start of every spin.

Reaching Rung 12 will always award a Bonus Prize of a bet multiplier up to 1,000x bet, whilst reaching Rung 7 will always trigger 6 Free Spins. Alongside these, at least 3 other positions will contain a selection of Random Bonuses from the following:

• Wilds – up to 10 Wilds are randomly added to the grid.
• Multiplier Wilds – Wilds with a x2, x3, x4, or x5 multiplier are randomly added to the grid.
• Symbol to Wild – every instance of the displayed symbol will become Wilds.
• Mega Wild – a cluster of 4 Wilds are added to the grid.
• Symbol Subdivide – every big instance of the displayed symbol will turn into 4 smaller instances of the same symbol.
• Symbol Upgrade – every instance of the displayed symbol will upgrade to the symbol indicated.
• Win Multiplier – a win multiplier up to x11 is awarded for the entire spin (Rung 12 Bonus Prize is not affected).
• Max Megaclusters – all big symbols are replaced by 4 smaller symbols.
• Symbol Duplication – five big instances of the displayed symbol are added to the grid in one row or column.
• Symbol Explosion – every instance of the displayed symbol will remove all symbols in its row or column.
• Explosions – up to 3 explosions, in the shape indicated, will occur from random positions, removing symbols.
• Mega Explosion – all of the symbols in the bottom, top, left, or right half of the screen will be removed.

At the start of the next spin, a new Megatrail is awarded, and players start from the beginning again.

Reach Rung 7 of the Megatrail to Unlock an Additional +3 Spins

Vegas Rush Bonus

When Rung 7 has been reached on the Megatrail, 6 Free Spins are awarded. Players will continue to climb Rungs and Free Spins will be held until all wins have finished if necessary. An enhanced Megatrail will be randomly determined at the beginning of Free Spins, and will not change throughout the feature.

There are a few differences between the Enhanced Megatrail of Free Spins, and the regular Megatrails in the base game:

• Rung 12 will now award a Bonus Prize of a bet multiplier up to 2,000x bet.
• Rung 7 will now award an additional +3 Free Spins.
• Alongside these, at least 6 other positions will now contain Random Bonuses.
• The Mega Wild will now add two clusters of 4 Wilds to the grid.

Vegas Rush Free Spins

Players in appropriate regions can take advantage of a Bonus Buy option in Vegas Rush, wherein for a cost of 60x bet, players will be awarded 6 Free Spins. RTP increases ever so slightly, from 96.44% to 96.45%, when buying the bonus.

Whilst Big Time Gaming usually opt not to place a win cap on their games, the maximum win so far in Vegas Rush has been 47,200x bet.

First Impression

There isn’t much to cover in Vegas Rush that is brand new, since most of us are already familiar with Millionaire Rush. This is the second example of Big Time Gaming choosing to rebrand a popular release with a classic Vegas theme, and in both instance the revamped slot in question has been Millionaire based, which isn’t surprising given some of the regulations in certain jurisdictions. The main difference this time around? A bonus buy for a relatively low cost of 60x bet.

That said, there’s still plenty within Vegas Rush to keep players interested and excited – it just might not be necessarily new. Building consecutive wins will see players unlocking additional Megaclusters and climbing the Megatrail, triggering Random Bonuses along the way including Wilds, win multipliers, and explosions. Moving into Free Spins things are kicked up a notch with an Enhanced Megatrail containing the potential to unlock additional spins and Bonus Prizes up to 2,000x bet. When the right combinations land, wins are possible overall up to 47,200x bet – just under 8,000x bet less than Millionaire Rush, but still nothing to turn your nose up at.

Finally, maths is highly volatile, and RTP is fixed at 96.44% (96.45% bonus buy), so no worries there. If you were a fan of Millionaire Rush but you’d like a bonus buy, or some different artwork, Vegas Rush will suit you nicely.

*The screenshots taken of games reviewed on this site are taken from Demo Play, as reviews are often written before games are released for real play.