Chapter 3 of 9
Free spins
The bonus round is the heart of Sugar Rush. It is triggered the same way in all four games and works the same way, with one important difference from the base game: the board stops forgetting.
Triggering the round
The scatter is a gumball machine on a rocket: pink in the original and Super Scatter, gold in 1000, stuffed with Christmas baubles in Xmas. It appears on all reels, and three or more of them anywhere on the grid start free spins. Unlike candies, scatters don't need to touch.
| Scatters on the grid | To trigger | To retrigger, in the round |
|---|---|---|
| 3 scatters | 10 free spins | +10 more |
| 4 scatters | 12 free spins | +12 more |
| 5 scatters | 15 free spins | +15 more |
| 6 scatters | 20 free spins | +20 more |
| 7+ scatters | 30 free spins | +30 more |
Four scatters are noticeably better than three, and seven triple the length of the round. Spin count matters more in Sugar Rush than in most slots, because every extra spin is another chance for marked cells to keep doubling.
In Super Scatter the Super Scatter counts towards the three as well, and pays an instant prize of 100x to 50,000x the base bet when it does. That gets its own chapter 4.
What changes inside the round
Three things, according to the rules screens:
- Marked cells and multipliers stay. Everything that would be wiped at the end of a base spin's tumbles is kept until the round ends, and keeps growing with each explosion. A cell can be marked on spin 1, become x2 on spin 4 and x64 by spin 15.
- Special reels are in play. The candies are drawn from a different mix during the feature. The game doesn't publish it.
- Wins are paid at the end. The rules say the free spins win is awarded after the round completes; the counter on screen shows it growing as you go.
Retriggers
Three or more scatters during the round add more spins: 10, 12, 15, 20 or 30 for 3 to 7 scatters, the same table as the trigger. The multipliers already on the board stay. In our test, retriggers happened in a minority of bought rounds: 1 of 15 in Sugar Rush, 2 of 15 in Xmas, 2 of 15 in 1000 and 1 of 15 in Super Scatter. Among Super buys, 4 of 10 retriggered.
Buying the round
Every Sugar Rush game lets you skip the wait for 100x the bet. When you buy, the game lands 3 to 7 scatters at random, so a bought round can be 10 or 30 spins long like any other. Sugar Rush 1000 and Super Scatter also sell Super Free Spins for 500x: the same round, with x2 already on all 49 cells. The prices, RTPs and what our buys returned are in chapter 5.
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Watch a round, one tumble at a time
This is the round we recorded in the original Sugar Rush: three scatters, a retrigger at spin 10, and a cell in the middle that climbed to x128. Use Next to step through or Play to let it run.
| Free spin | Spin win | Total | Best spot |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 of 10 | 1.95x | 1.95x | x2 |
| 2 of 20 | 3.1x | 5.05x | x4 |
| 3 of 20 | 0x | 5.05x | x4 |
| 4 of 20 | 4.45x | 9.5x | x8 |
| 5 of 20 | 4.2x | 13.7x | x16 |
| 6 of 20 | 132.6x | 146.3x | x64 |
| 7 of 20 | 0.3x | 146.6x | x64 |
| 8 of 20 | 0x | 146.6x | x64 |
| 9 of 20 | 3.6x | 150.2x | x64 |
| 10 of 20 | 0x | 150.2x | x64 |
| 11 of 20 | 0x | 150.2x | x64 |
| 12 of 20 | 6x | 156.2x | x64 |
| 13 of 20 | 36x | 192.2x | x128 |
| 14 of 20 | 4x | 196.2x | x128 |
| 15 of 20 | 88x | 284.2x | x128 |
| 16 of 20 | 0.3x | 284.5x | x128 |
| 17 of 20 | 0x | 284.5x | x128 |
| 18 of 20 | 69.2x | 353.7x | x128 |
| 19 of 20 | 27.6x | 381.3x | x128 |
| 20 of 20 | 0x | 381.3x | x128 |
Notice how slowly it starts. For several spins the board picks up marks and the odd x2; the large wins all come in the second half, once a cluster finally lands over several big cells. That is the typical shape of a good Sugar Rush round, and why a round that is cut short at 10 spins usually pays little.
What our bonus rounds paid
We bought 15 regular rounds of each game. How they turned out, in multiples of the bet (the price was 100x):
| Game | Median | Mean | Best | Paid back 100x | Spins per round |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sugar Rush | 12.8x | 30.1x | 161.4x | 2 of 15 | 11.1 |
| Sugar Rush Xmas | 39.4x | 88.7x | 550.4x | 3 of 15 | 11.5 |
| Sugar Rush 1000 | 24.3x | 40.1x | 143.1x | 2 of 15 | 11.5 |
| Super Scatter | 56.9x | 131.1x | 1,054.8x | 5 of 15 | 10.8 |
The median is the round in the middle, the one you should expect most often; the mean is pulled up by one or two big rounds. In every game the median was far below the 100x price. That isn't a fault of the buy (its RTP is the same as normal play's, or close to it): it is what high volatility looks like up close.
In short
- 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 scatters: 10, 12, 15, 20 or 30 free spins, and the same again on a retrigger.
- In free spins the marked cells and multipliers never reset until the round ends.
- Rounds start slowly and pay late; longer rounds have more time to build.