Elemento

In March 2021, Fantasma Games released the grid based game Elemento, which focuses on the four elements – Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. At first glance, it’s easy to believe Elemento is considerably more complicated than it really is, seemingly taking a while to fully understand. However, the game play and features break down quite simply, making it a slot that can be enjoyed by players of all stakes.

Elemento adopts the Cluster Pays mechanic, playing out on a 9×9 grid, although the main play takes place on the inner 7×7 grid. Players can experience the four elements across all devices between stakes of 0.20 and 60, with an RTP of 96.33%, and a hit frequency of 44.25%. Wins are formed by matching 5 or more adjacent symbols, which are then removed from the grid, with new symbols dropping in their place.

Immediately noticeable is the Reactoonz-type design towards the game, with colourful characters, cluster pays and the features that we’ll get to in a moment. Also similar to reactoonz is the high volatility of Elemento – players can certainly expect extended periods of play without the bonus feature, but there are base features along the way to break up the boredom and help produce some sizeable wins, up to a maximum of 16,000x.

elemento Base Game

Elemento Base Features

The pay table on Elemento consists of 8 symbols. At the lower end, there are blue, green, purple and red gems, and at the higher end we have our Elements Characters, again in blue, green purple and red, paying up to 20x stake for clusters of 15+. Special Symbols are also available, including a Wild Symbol and the 4 Element Symbols, which each trigger a different effect.

At the beginning of every spin, up to 6 wild symbols are placed on the outer layer of the play area, known as the Element Area. Every winning cluster releases elemental power, triggering a cascade. This will then either create a Wild Elemento symbol on the Element Area, or activate any existing Elemento symbols that are part of the winning cluster, therefore unleashing its’ elemental feature. There are 4 types of Elemento symbols, representing the 4 elements – Wind, Fire, Earth and Water, and each has its own unique effect:

• Fire Wild Feature: Places 2-10 Wild symbols at random positions in the Play Area.
• X-Flood Feature: Selects 9 positions in an X-shaped pattern in the Play Area and transforms all 9 positions into the same symbol. The X-Flood Feature can activate twice, turning two X-shaped patterns in the Play Area into the same symbol.
• Demolition Feature: Selects one random type of low pay symbol and removes all symbols of that type from the Play Area. This can happen up to 4 times, with the possibility to remove all 4 low paying symbols from the grid.
• Tornado Feature: Selects one regular symbol at a random position in the Play Area and turns its adjacent 8 symbols into the same symbol or removes them. This can happen twice in two different positions.

elemento Free Spins

Elemento Bonus

Activating all 4 Element Wild Symbols in a single spin sequence triggers 5 free spins. Additionally to this, each Element Wild Symbol activated in the base game spin adds 1 extra free spin. During the Free Spins game, every cascade increments the accumulative multiplier by 1, up to a maximum of x99, which lasts for the duration of free spins. A retrigger is possible by activating all 4 Element Wilds during the Free Spins.

For players in appropriate regions, a Feature Buy is available for a cost of 60x stake, wherein the RTP raises to 97.94%.

First Impression

Grid games have come before, and grid games will inevitably follow Elemento. However, this doesn’t take away from the fun elements and design of this slot. In a genre that slowly edges towards overcrowding monthly, producing something that still manages to appear unique is an achievement in itself. Although Elemento bears strong resemblance in some ways to the games that came before, it still stands in its’ own right as a fantastic addition to the grid game catalogues.

RTP is solid, volatility is high and the maximum win is an appealing 16,000x, making this a game to be enjoyed by players of all stakes.

*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.