Stars’n Sweets Hold and Win

Developed by iSoftBet, Stars'n Sweets Hold and Win transports players to an outer space environment full of colourful planets and sparkling nebulas. However, look closer, and you will discover that these elements are actually made from sugar and are, in fact, sweets and confections of varying sizes and shapes. This is because this is one of iSoftBet’s Halloween slots, with a design emphasis on seasonal candies. Regarding the nuts and bolts of this game, it is a five-reel, three-row slot with twenty fixed pay lines and an RTP of 96%. Stars'n Sweets Hold and Win is available on multiple platforms, such as mobile, desktop and tablet.

Stars'n Sweets Hold and Win Overview

The featured content of this game is rather generous, starting with the Sweet Rocket wilds bonus. Triggered on any base game spin, this special feature randomly distributes five smartie bombs onto the reels. These will then explode, replacing various icons on the board with wilds. The main features here, however, are the free spins game and the hold and win feature. The free spins are triggered when players manage to land three scatter icons on the board at the same time. On the other hand, to trigger the hold and win feature, you must simultaneously land five or more star symbols on the board. All features will be explained in more detail later in the review.

Stars'n Sweets Hold and Win Theme and Symbols

Combining the equally captivating themes of confectionary and outer space, this game does an excellent job of engaging players with a colourful and exciting visual experience. This idea is also executed to an excellent standard, with icons and animated elements having a professional finish that implies a quality product. Although this is supposed to be a Halloween release, the designers haven’t been overly explicit in incorporating this seasonal element. Instead, iSoftBet has been happy to keep the ghouls and other Halloween things off the reels, perhaps to encourage all-year-round gaming.

The background for this slot is an image of the vast and incomprehensible universe brought to life in a cartoon style. At the bottom left-hand side of the screen, players will see a purple Saturn-like planet with a swirl radiating from its centre. Around this hard, candy-looking celestial object are stars and comets. All of these fade into blackness as you look deeper into the vast nothingness beyond. The playing board is a simple neon blue and purple rectangle with a darker interior.

The symbols are split into low-paying, high-paying and special symbols. The low-paying icons are the purple triangle candy, the orange square candy, and the blue square candy. The most valuable of these is the blue candy, paying out at 4x the stake for the top combination. The more valuable symbols are the purple candy, the jelly, the doughnut and the two ice-cream icons. The blue ice cream is the most valuable of these, paying out at 25x the stake for the top combination. The specials for this game are the free spins scatter, the wild and the golden star special hold and win icon.

Game Play

Stars'n Sweets Hold and Win is played on a 5-reel, 3-row machine with 20 fixed pay lines. To win combinations, players must land three or more matching symbols on pay lines moving from left to right, starting from the leftmost reel. The betting range for Stars'n Sweets Hold and Win is 20p to £200 per spin. To adjust their bet levels, players can toggle their stakes up and down using the tool located at the bottom left-hand side of the screen.

Further information, including a short tutorial and a display of the paytable, can be found via the menu button in the right-hand corner of the screen. The spin and auto spin buttons are located in the centre of the screen. Volatility for this slot is rated in the low to medium range. The return to player percentage for Stars ‘n Sweets Hold and Win is 96%, which is average. The biggest payout that players can win on one spin is 2,578x your stake.

Stars'n Sweets Hold and Win Features

The first feature to explain in this slot is the Sweet Rocket wilds bonus. This bonus can be activated on any base game spin. When triggered, it will drop up to five smartie bombs onto the reels. These will subsequently explode and replace a range of symbols on the board with wild icons that help to score more wins. The next bonus is linked to the free spins feature. It is called the Sweet-or shower and may be activated if two scatter icons land on the reels simultaneously. If it is, it will re-spin one of the reels without a scatter on it to find that elusive third scatter to trigger the free spins game.

The free spins round, as explained, is activated when players land three or more free spin scatter icons on the board simultaneously. This will result in players being given eight free spins. At the end of a free spin, a wild will be added to the reels and will remain in place until the end of the feature. These wilds also come with multiplier values up to 5x. Find a win with one of these wilds, and the resulting payout will be boosted by the multiplier value attached to the wild. You can retrigger the free spins round form within the bonus.

Finally, this game’s eponymous bonus feature is the hold-and-win round. To trigger this bonus, you must land five or more star scatter icons on the board at the same time. This gives players three re-spins. Land any more stars with these re-spins, and your re-spin total will be refreshed to three. When all of these re-spins have been exhausted, the round will end, and all of the values found on the stars collected on the board will be combined and paid out to you in one lump sum. In addition to regular stars, players may also be lucky enough to land bonus jackpot stars which correspond to one of three jackpots worth up to 200x the stake. Furthermore, special UFO icons can appear during this feature. One is the UFO Collector, which collects the values of all Stars in view. The sum is stored in the UFO Collector, and the collected symbols are removed. The other one is the UFO Payer. When this one appears, it multiplies all Star symbols by 2x, 3x, or 5x before flying away. The UFO can multiply anything except UFO Collectors.

Conclusion

With a generous set of features, a high-quality gaming experience and favourable gambling odds, this game has a lot going for it. Indeed, there are few downsides to this game. However, one that stands out is the relatively low top payout that can be achieved. Yes, you may find more frequent wins here, but they are unlikely to be earth-shattering in their size. This is the main thing to consider before playing this game for real money. Try also Buffalo, a fun demo game full of bonus.