Hypernova Infinity Reels: Slot Overview

Every so often you combine two things and somehow the end result feels bigger than either part on its own—think mac ’n’ cheese or Chewie and Han. If you’re a big ReelPlay supporter, the pairing of two of their most popular ideas – Infinity Reels and Hypernova – will likely sound like a perfect match. If you’re less excited, though, it may come across as ReelPlay leaning on both concepts in a bid to wring out the last bit of mileage before they burn out like a white dwarf nearing the end of its long life.

If you’re in that second camp, it probably won’t help that Hypernova Infinity Reels is, for all intents and purposes, a carbon copy of an earlier title called Thor Infinity Reels. Both use a reel set that begins in a 3×4 configuration and expands with extra reels after wins, and both put a jackpot-style streak respin bonus round front and centre. The visual wrapper is completely different from Thor’s battleground, but it’s not exactly fresh either, since the red-and-blue nebula backdrop has already appeared in multiple games such as Hypernova Megaways, Hypernova Radial Reels, and Hypernova 10K Ways. Given that history, it’s hardly surprising to see the Hypernova theme running on ReelPlay’s Infinity Reels framework. On the numbers side, Hypernova Infinity Reels’ math model behaves much like the Thor version, starting with a standard RTP value of 96.2%, rising to 96.6% if you manage to buy the Respins Bonus round. Also worth noting: a progressive jackpot edition arrived in 2023 called Hypernoiva Infinity Reels Dream Drop, which uses a lower RTP model of 94.0%.

You can play from 20 p/c to $/€25 per spin, and the standard symbols are lifted from the original Hypernova Megaways, featuring 9-A low pays followed by four higher-paying gems. The pay values can be a bit unclear until you’ve seen a few hits, but as a reference point, landing 5 diamonds pays 0.25x the bet. Five symbols is also the minimum needed to form a win. That may sound modest, but payouts can be increased in other ways—one of them being wild symbols, which substitute for all symbols except the Hypernova bonus symbols.

Hypernova Infinity Reels: Slot Features

The feature set centres on Infinity Reels, an Infinity Bonus, Symbol Multipliers, and the Hypernova Respin Bonus. The way Infinity Reels functions is that when a winning combination lands and includes the rightmost reel, an extra reel is added. If the added reel improves the win, another reel is added. Reels keep being added until the win can’t be improved any further. After that, the grid returns to its starting size for the next paid spin.

On top of that, each time a new reel is added, the symbol multiplier goes up by 1. When the win chain finishes, the number of winning symbols is multiplied by the current symbol multiplier. There’s no cap on this multiplier, and it resets to x1 at the beginning of every spin.

Additionally, if any round ends up with 12 or more reels added, players earn the Infinity Bonus in addition to all other wins. The Infinity Bonus is a separate award worth 888x the total bet.

Then there’s the Hypernova Respin Bonus round, which activates when at least 6 Hypernova bonus symbols are visible on the reels. The triggering bonus symbols are locked in place, every other symbol is cleared away, and 3 respins are granted. Any new Hypernova symbols that land will lock onto the grid and reset the respin counter. If a reel becomes filled with 4 Hypernova symbols, a new reel is added on the right, and it’s technically possible to claim the Infinity Bonus via this route. When the feature ends, you’re paid the combined value of all Hypernova symbols. Each symbol can hold either Non-bonus prizes of 1 – 100 times the total bet or the higher-value bonus, silver, gold or platinum bonuses of 10x, 50x, 250x, or 2000x respectively

Where available, players can buy the Bonus Respin feature for 100x the bet. After paying, a spin is triggered that produces 6-15 reels, with 7-24 Hypernova symbols already in place to begin the feature.

Hypernova Infinity Reels: Slot Verdict

With Hypernova and Infinity Reels being two major staples in the ReelPlay arsenal, you might expect combining them would give the studio a reason to push the creativity further. Instead, for whatever reason (perhaps convenience), ReelPlay has done the reverse and essentially re-skinned an older slot with familiar Hypernova visuals. The outcome isn’t especially fresh or inspiring, although space-theme fans who enjoy hold ’n’ win-style features may still be interested.

As streak respin features go, the Hypernova Respin Bonus is a decent example and brings a few positives. The grid can expand significantly, giving plenty of space for bonus symbols to land, and it grows again whenever a reel is completed. With the right run, there’s even the technical chance of landing the x888 Infinity Reels Bonus along the way. The top prize is the Platinum bonus at 2,000x, which isn’t exactly supernova-level, but it’s still a respectable amount for this type of mechanic.

Infinity Reels has turned into a pretty solid business move for ReelPlay. Beyond licensing it to other studios, they’ve also used it to drive a number of their own releases. After three earlier Hypernova versions in different formats, an Infinity Reels take always felt like a likely next step. Now that Hypernova Infinity Reels is here, the bigger surprise is that it didn’t arrive earlier. Still, rather than feeling like a passionate blend of two signature ReelPlay ideas, cloning another slot and layering nebula clouds and stars over Thor’s underlying engine feels a bit downbeat. It gives the impression the Hypernova concept might be running out of steam, making this a final, somewhat half-hearted send-off.