Mars Attacks! Introduction

As fans of producer Tim Burton and his 1996 American comic sci‑fi film Mars Attacks!, we were eager to find out what this slot had in store. While the movie drew mixed reviews and a fairly muted audience reaction on release, it has since earned cult-classic status for many viewers. As noted, it was made by Tim Burton, a director and producer famous for dark, quirky horror titles like Beetlejuice, Sleepy Hollow and Edward Scissorhands among others.

In the film, President Dale, portrayed by Jack Nicholson, is confronted with a Martian invasion. With the help of a translation device, the Ambassador of Mars attempts to reassure humans that they “come in peace”, but when a hippie releases a dove as a peace gesture, the Martian blasts it with a zap gun, sparking a massacre of everyone attending the event.

In Blueprint Gaming’s adaptation, you get a highly volatile slot loaded with features and serious upside. It uses the same overall framework, though, as two other branded titles based on cult movies – TED and The Goonies. On the downside, it can feel like a reskin of those games, although it’s possible the variance or other mathematical components have been adjusted, as there are small differences. For instance, while The Goonies has 6 random features, this game has only 5, which could indicate the RTP is allocated differently.

Mars Attacks! is a 5-reel, 3-row slot with 20 paylines. It’s available on all devices with stakes from €0.10 and €500 and has a theoretical RTP of 96.44%. From a visual standpoint, the movie-to-slot conversion is well done, keeping Tim Burton’s signature style intact. Set on the lawn of the US presidential residence, the White House sits in the background with Martian ships hovering in a starry sky. As a neat touch, the spin button is styled to resemble a radar display.

Mars Attacks! Symbols & Paytable

One thing we don’t love is when paytables are shown in coin values, as it’s unnecessary and can be confusing. That said, it’s a long-standing slot tradition and doesn’t look like it’s going away. As a guide, with a 1 EUR stake, simply drop the last zero and divide the coin figures in the paytable by 2 to get the actual symbol values.

Mars Attacks! includes 4 low-value symbols (J, Q, K and A) plus 5 premiums shown as eye-ball rings, television sets, zap guns, Martians and the Mars Attacks! logo. The logo, together with the wild symbol (which pays the same), is the highest payer, awarding 25 times the stake for 5 across a full pay line. Since the top symbol can appear fully stacked on the reels, there is, at least in theory, a max win potential of 500x in the base game.

Mars Attacks! Features & Free Spin Mode

Just like TED and The Goonies, this slot is also filled with 6 bonus features along with a random base-game mechanic called Mars Attacks! Modifiers. When it triggers, players receive one of the following 5 features:

• Sub-Zero Lazer – Winning symbols turn sticky as the reels enter re-spins, and the sequence only ends once no additional winning symbols land.
• Mega Shrink Ray – The reels shrink, but the rows increase to 5 symbols (3125 win ways).
• Expansion Cannon – Mystery symbols are placed onto the reels and then converted into a randomly chosen symbol.
• Radiation Blaster – Wild symbols are added at random positions.
• Abduction Beam – The feature is played on an alternative reel set.

The bonus is triggered by landing 3 or more scatter symbols anywhere on the reels. You’ll then be asked to choose a zone on a world map to be invaded by the Martians, which in turn awards 1 of the following 5 bonus rounds:

• Spy Hunter – A cash picking bonus.
• We Come in Peace – A stronger cash picking bonus.
• D.N.A Analysis – 5 free spins on a 4×5 reel set with expanding wilds active. The wilds increase by 1 symbol in height on each subsequent spin.
• Martian Takeover – 10 free spins played on a 3×5 reel set with roaming wilds.
• Final Stand – Unlimited free spins on a 3×5 reel set. A special advance symbol can land on any spin on reel 2 for the Humans and reel 4 for the Martian invaders. These special symbols fill their respective progress bar by 1 segment. The Humans apply win multipliers while the Martians remove symbols. If the Humans win, the player receives an extra Big Money boost.

After a feature win, a gamble screen appears, giving you the option to collect or gamble the awarded feature in an attempt to upgrade to an even better one.

Mars Attacks! Conclusion

Even with the impressive visuals, it’s hard not to feel that Mars Attacks! arrived a little too soon after The Goonies, since the two look largely the same at a high level. Still, a few fresh twists within the features should help keep experienced players—already familiar with TED and The Goonies—engaged. The math model may also differ slightly, despite both games sharing the same max win potential of 10 000 times the stake.

As is typical for Blueprint Gaming, the title feels polished and runs smoothly without notable issues. We’d say it’s definitely worth trying once it’s released. There’s a lot of fun feature content to dig into, and the game also offers meaningful potential.