Butterfly Staxx 2 (NetEnt): Overview

NetEnt’s Staxx series consists of low to medium variance slots, featuring games like Neon Staxx and Strolling Staxx. The lineup now includes Butterfly Staxx 2, a sequel to the 2018 title Butterly Staxx. What these releases share is impressive visuals and enjoyable mechanics, but also a rather weak win potential that makes them a tough sell for serious gamblers chasing big session-defining hits. That said, players don’t all want the same thing, and offering a range of volatility levels is generally a smart move for any studio. Many casual players aren’t overly concerned about modest payouts, as long as the theme clicks with them and the features tend to trigger often. Butterfly Staxx 2 stays close to the original, though a few notable tweaks help distinguish it.

Developed by Swedish studio NetEnt, Butterfly Staxx 2 is a 5-reel, 40-payline slot with an industry-standard RTP of 96.35% and full device compatibility, with stakes ranging from just 25 cents up to a staggering 1250€/$ per spin. Much like the first game, you’re taken to a dreamy realm filled with enchanted butterflies, where you can unwind to calming music and collect fairly average wins. The slot includes a Re-Spin feature that can expand into up to three reel sets running at the same time, plus two bonus options you can select from once activated.

In terms of presentation, Butterfly Staxx 2 remains very close to the original. At the risk of feeling a bit old-school, the soft romantic style will probably resonate more with a female than a male sensibility. With a floral stone arch in the background and gentle music setting the tone, the reels show low-value A to J card suits along with three different mid-value flowers. The top-paying symbol is the butterfly, naturally, awarding 2 times your stake for landing 5. The wild is a lotus flower – it can land anywhere and substitutes for every symbol except the scatter.

Butterfly Staxx 2 (NetEnt): Features

The butterfly symbol is the main focus of this slot. It can appear fully stacked across the reels, and you’ll trigger the Re-Spins feature when a complete stack of butterflies lands on any reel. All visible butterfly symbols then shift to the leftmost position on the row where they appear. After that, a re-spin takes place with two possible results; either you keep the sequence going by landing more butterfly symbols, or the feature stops if no additional butterflies show up.

Up to this point, the mechanic works exactly like it did in the first game. However, if you manage to cover the two leftmost reels with butterflies, you’ll open up a second reel set, and if you cover the three leftmost reels with stacked butterflies, you’ll activate a third. In practice, these added play areas function as 2x and 3x multipliers respectively.

Keep an eye on the scatter symbol. When it lands on reels 1, 3 and 5 at the same time, it triggers a bonus where you can pick between two different features:

• Butterfly Spins – with all three play areas running right away, only cocoon symbols will appear, and they can be either dormant or active. Active cocoons that land in view transform into Butterfly symbols. Aside from that, the feature follows the same rules as the Re-Spins feature.
• Butterfly Frenzy – you begin with 10 picks, and selecting butterflies reveals cash prizes or upgrades that can lead to even larger cash rewards.

Butterfly Staxx 2 (NetEnt): Verdict

For anyone chasing adrenaline, there’s little here to get the heart racing, especially since a full screen of butterflies pays only 240 times your stake. It’s difficult to pin down exactly what the Butterfly Frenzy feature can deliver, but the overall ceiling is probably in a similar range. Since we’re not fans of pick-and-click bonuses, though, we chose Butterfly Spins almost every time.

With Butterfly Staxx 2, NetEnt clearly targets a specific type of player, and it’s not the audience that gathers around casino streams or debates huge wins on casino forums. Even so, it’s a polished slot with strong graphics, a soothing theme that’s ideal for relaxing after work, and bonus features that trigger often, so it should appeal to recreational players who like this style of game. Hardcore gamblers, on the other hand, will probably feel nauseous from disgust playing this.