Bombuster: Overview

Back in the day, between spreadsheets and shuffling files around, PC users could waste a few minutes with Microsoft’s Entertainment Pack. One of the built-in time sinks was Minesweeper, a maddening game where you had to uncover squares that didn’t hide bombs. Hit a bomb—one of those round ones with a fuse—and that was the end. Minesweeper disappeared from Windows 8 onwards, but anyone craving that old-school feel can now try Bombuster from Red Tiger.

As with Minesweeper, Bombuster plays out on a grid, here a 7×7 in size. The key twist is that this time you actually want the bombs to detonate, because that’s how you access Bombuster’s extras. It’s not overflowing with features, but there are Destroy Bombs, Wild Bombs, and Swap Bombs to watch for.

On first look, Bombuster may remind you of Fruit Snap, an earlier Red Tiger grid slot, thanks to the stripped-back backdrop and the fruity, classic-style symbols. Bombuster is noticeably more sci-fi than that game, though. Red Tiger leans into a space-slot theme, placing the action on the edge of a black hole, or something along those lines. The audio is similar too, delivering understated EDM as clusters drop in. The overall presentation is minimal, but still pleasant visually and aurally.

With stakes from 10 p/c to $/€40 per spin and a 95.74% RTP, Bombuster isn’t positioned as a powerhouse grid slot, since both volatility and maximum potential sit on the lower end. Put simply, it’s more of a chilled experience than a fireworks show.

A win lands when a cluster of 5 or more matching symbols connects vertically or horizontally. When that happens, the winning symbols disappear and new ones tumble into the empty spaces, creating additional chances to connect. The official hit rate still hasn’t been published, though testing showed wins arriving fairly regularly, even if most were on the smaller side.

Bigger single-hit wins can still happen when symbols gather in large enough groups. For example, a cluster of 40+ 7’s (the highest paying symbol) will net you 1,000 times the stake. After that, in descending order, come bells, stars, watermelons, plums, oranges, lemons, and cherries. These are all standard icons paying between 200 and 900 times the stake for a cluster of 40 or more. The last symbol is the large golden ‘W’, which is wild. It substitutes for any other paying symbol on the grid to help complete clusters.

Bombuster: Features

While larger clusters can deliver respectable payouts, one thing that can actually interrupt those formations is the trio of bomb-based features. These explosives appear at random on the grid and remain there for a set period before detonating and applying their altering effects.

When bombs land, they come with one or more pointers attached. These are known as blast patterns, showing the direction their impact will travel. For instance, you could see a Wild Bomb in the first column pointing right. That tells you that when it detonates, the symbols to the right of it across the row will become wild. Also, when a bomb explodes, its blast continues right to the edge of the grid, setting off any other bombs caught in its path.

The red Destroy Bomb stays on the grid for up to three spins before it detonates. When it explodes, it clears everything in its path, letting fresh symbols drop into the cleared spaces. This bomb cannot destroy symbols created by the Wild or Swap Bombs.

The green Swap Bomb can sit on the grid for up to 50 spins before it triggers. When it goes off, it leaves a single symbol type along its blast path. More than one Swap Bomb can explode in a chain, and when that happens, all bombs generate the same symbol.

Yellow Wild Bombs are the rarest of the three, and they can remain on the grid for up to 200 spins before activating. When this bomb detonates, it places a wild symbol on every position along its path. Wild symbols are always revealed, even if other blasts overlap them.

Bombuster: Verdict

Red Tiger has put together a sizeable catalogue of grid slots by now, covering a broad range of styles. That range also extends to quality, so it’s not always clear what you’ll get. Bombuster is one that sits somewhere in the middle. It’s not a poor game, but it’s not a standout either. Most of the time it runs at a steady pace, occasionally wiping out symbols, while the possibility of a larger hit hangs in the background. Every so often, you’ll catch a streak of cluster wins, boosted by bomb chain reactions that set each other off and inject a bit more chaos into the process.

Still, Bombuster is not the kind of grid slot that truly goes wild. With no free spins, sticky wilds, or multipliers, its ceiling is naturally restricted. Making the most of the tools it does provide, a top payout of 2,020 times the stake is achievable. This isn’t a game built for huge wins or major adrenaline.

Overall, casual players—an audience Red Tiger often caters to well—may appreciate a gentler grid slot wrapped in a clean futuristic theme. If you’re after something more intense, you’ll likely want to look elsewhere. Bombuster can’t really match the biggest grid slots, such as those from Play’n GO for instance, though to be fair, it doesn’t seem to be aiming for that level either.