Special Features

• HyperBet
• LuckyLoops
• Free Spins

- HyperBonus

HyperBet

One of Kalamba’s ‘Signature features’, HyperBet, allows players to increase the size of their wager in order to add potential win multipliers to all games and ensure more free spins in the event of landing 3 scatters. The options are plentiful with 3 different selections for the number of free spins, and 12 price options per selection. The options can be seen below.

• Start Bonus Round with 6 Free Spins: €0.35 - €52.50 per spin
• Start Bonus Round with 8 Free Spins & up to 3x Win Multiplier: €0.60 - €90 per spin
• Start Bonus Round with 10 Free Spins & up to 6x Win Multiplier: €1.20 - €180 per spin

It’s worth noting that for option 1 the max win line is worth 114x the bet size, x option 2 it is 66x the bet size, and for option three it is just 33.33x the bet size. It is also worth noting that the RTP increases slightly between options 1 and 2, then between 2 and 3.

LuckyLoops

Throughout play the accumulation symbol randomly lands on the board. When it lands it fires a charge to the row of symbols above the gameboard. Whichever symbol it lands on is illuminated. Every 10th spin triggers the ‘LuckyLoops’ feature where any symbols on the board which have been illuminated above the board now expand to cover the whole reel. All expanded reels pay as though they are adjacent from the leftmost reel. Anyone who has played Book of Ra or one of its many clones will be familiar with this set-up.

Free Spins

3 scatters deliver 6, 8, or 10 free spins depending on whether or not you’ve activated HyperBets. The accumulator symbol is still active throughout the spins, with illuminated symbols playing as expanded symbols throughout the round. One symbol is automatically selected to become an expanding symbol prior to the start of the spins.

During free spins, a treasure chest symbol is added to the reels which add 2 free spins each time it lands.

HyperBonus

HyperBonus is just Karamaba’s term for buy-a-bonus. Once again you select from the same three selections as the HyperBet, although this time you’re guaranteed the free spins. HyperBonus offers the best RTP of all, with the 10 spin option with up to 6x multiplier returning at 97.46%.If the HyperBonus caught your interest, you'll find even more slot profiles listed in our bonus buy slot category.

Design & Symbols

If you’ve played other Steampunk inspired games such as Pragmatic Play’s Cazino Zeppelin, or Thunderkick’s superb Riders of the Storm then you’ll have a good idea of the type of design you’ll find here. The Steampunk genre offers an alternative history of 19th Century western civilization with design and fashion heavily influenced by 19th Century steam-powered technology. Scenes depicted in Steampunk stories often resemble the kinds of fantastical technological advances depicted in Jules Verne of HG Wells literature. Mix that in with a bit of 20th Century punk aesthetic and a little bit of fantasy and you’re there.

The scene is set up in the sky, where small islands (which very much resemble the floating islands in the movie Avatar) hover among the clouds, propelled by windmill-like propellers. While some of the islands are empty but for the grass on their surface, others contain industrial factories and windmills.

The gameboard sits in front of the largest floating island, and this one is hauled along by virtue of a huge hot air balloon to which it is moored. The gameboard is framed top and bottom by lengths of copper piping, and the reels float on a dark but translucent screen. Above the reels is another length of copper piping, only this one has miniature versions of the game’s 8 symbols positioned across its length, with an electrical charge fizzing away at either end. To the right of the board is a box-like contraption, all wood, metal, and flashing lights which are attached by lengths of thick wire to the aforementioned miniature symbols above. This contraption has a round screen which displays the current win multiplier if applicable. In the background, Zeppelins fly by in the cloudy sky.

Low value symbols are the standard royals 10-A. High value symbols are a half man/half robot, a young mechanic with a pair of aviator goggles, a sassy red-headed lady wearing lacy bodice and toting a large handgun, and a dashing bearded adventurer with his goggles around his neck, a long overcoat with the collars up, and an impressive golden shotgun.

The adventurer is the highest value symbol, paying between 33.33x and 114x the bet size for 5 on a payline (depending on whether or not you’re using the HyperBet feature which I’ll explain later). The wild (which is also the scatter) is an airship and is the joint highest paying symbol. Low value symbols pay from 3 on a payline while the highs pay from 2 or more on a payline. Finally, there is an ‘accumulation symbol’ which is represented by a neon coil lamp.

Our Thoughts on Sky Hunters

Sky Hunters is a great looking slot from Karamba, and it's not a bad game either. Although there’s not really anything we haven’t seen before, they are done slightly differently. The HyperBet feature is Kalamba's re-working of NextGen’s Superbet feature. HyperBonus is Kalamba's buy-a-bonus feature, and the expanding symbols feature is straight out of Book of Ra. There are also a number of slots which offer the 10 spin reward feature.

I do like the fact that the HyperBet and HyperBonus features allow you to choose your volatility. This gives you some control over what you're prepared to give away to improve your potential win rate. However, I can’t imagine playing this slot at the lowest level as the wins are just too low. Also, it's tough to work out exactly what the payouts represent as the bet amounts are unusual. However, thankfully Kalamba is a developer who publishes their paytable in actual cash amounts rather than as multiples of the bet line.

Overall, I was perfectly happy to play Sky Hunters and can recommend it as one worth trying. It may not be the most original slot but the action is constant, it looks great, and it has potential.