Always Up!

Always Up! Slot Review

A white-bearded dragon-lion in an embroidered red robe stands at the edge of a temple pavilion, hugging a gold-painted firework rocket taller than he is, and that single image tells you more about Always Up! than its paytable does. This is a game that spends its craft on spectacle and almost none of it on mechanics, and the split is extreme even by three-reel standards.

BGaming have built a small machine underneath all that ceremony. Always Up! runs a 3×3 grid with five fixed lines at a 95.07% RTP, and the festival dressing is doing a lot of the work. Strip it away and what’s left is a classic three-reel format with one pick-me round on top.

The studio’s back catalogue includes Fruit Million, their long-running classic, and Chicken Fire, and this one sits on the simpler end of it.

How the Base Game Pays

Five fixed lines across a 3×3 grid means every win has to land on one of those lines in threes. Wins pay multiples of the total bet, not the line bet, so the numbers below read lower than a line-bet paytable would. Only the highest combination on a line counts.

The paying ladder is short and steep at the top. Three of each symbol pays:

• Red money bag: 60x the total bet
• Gold ingot: 40x the total bet
• Gold coin (triangle): 8x the total bet
• Lotus flower: 2.5x the total bet
• Red firecracker: 2.5x the total bet
• Pink firecracker: 2.5x the total bet
• Green firecracker: 2.5x the total bet
• Fu symbol: 1x the total bet

That ladder is the whole economy of the base game. The money bag and the ingot sit well clear of the field: 60x and 40x against 8x for the next step down, a gap of more than a factor of five between the second and third tiers. The four mid-tier festival symbols all pay identically, so the colour of your firecracker makes no difference to the return, and the Fu symbol at 1x is effectively your stake back.

A 3×3 grid with five lines gives nine symbol positions to fill, and with three-of-a-kind the only winning combination on the board, every line is live on every spin. The game relies on those top two symbols landing together on a line to produce anything memorable outside the bonus.

Symbols and the Bonus Trigger

There’s no wild and no scatter in this game. The Bonus symbol is the only special on the reels, and it doesn’t pay on its own; three of it, landing on reels 1, 2 and 3 together, is what opens the bonus round.

The trigger needs all three reels carrying the symbol at once, which on a three-reel grid means one specific arrangement per line. It’s an all-or-nothing gate: two Bonus symbols pay nothing and contribute nothing towards a future trigger. There’s no meter, no partial collection, no second chance on a near miss.

Beyond the five lines and the single special, the base game doesn’t add anything. No respins, no collections, no multiplier trail, no symbol upgrades. Spins resolve, winning lines pay, and the only thing worth watching for is a Bonus symbol settling onto the first reel with two still to come.

The Rocket Bonus Game

Three Bonus symbols across reels 1, 2 and 3 trigger the bonus game, and it couldn’t be simpler once you’re in. Five rockets appear on screen. You pick one and press START, and that’s the whole decision.

It’s a single pick, then a launch. Whatever your chosen rocket carries is what the round pays, and the round is over the moment it resolves. Nothing follows the launch: no second stage, no modifier riding on top of the pick, no choice once START is pressed.

The five rockets aren’t priced individually, so the pick is a blind one. Five chances, one choice, and the dragon-lion’s rocket collection either delivers or doesn’t. The prize is decided at the moment of the pick rather than by anything that follows, which makes the round as fast as bonus rounds get: a selection, a launch, a result.

Buying the Bonus

A Buy Bonus button sits in the base game interface, and it does what the label says: pays the bonus round’s entry directly. The buy costs 80x the total bet, which is a serious price against a paytable whose best line pays 60x.

• Buy Bonus: 80x the total bet
• What it buys: direct entry to the rocket pick
• What it doesn’t change: the prize range of the five rockets, or anything after the pick

The buy skips the wait for three Bonus symbols across the reels. It doesn’t touch what happens once you’re in; the five rockets carry the same prizes either way, and the pick remains blind. That makes it a pure timing purchase, for sessions where the base game’s five-line wins aren’t the point.

Our Honest Verdict

Overall Rating: 6/10

This is a game you visit for the festival, not the fireworks. A session is mostly spinning under that gorgeous pagoda, watching five lines resolve, with one blind rocket pick as the payoff if you’re patient. The dragon-lion and his oversized rocket are reason enough on their own to give it a look, which is exactly the kind of game this is.

The strength is that nothing wastes your time. Five lines, one feature, one pick: you understand the whole game in a minute, and the presentation is warm, plush and detailed enough to carry long stretches of small wins. The weakness is the ceiling. With the best line paying 60x and the buy priced at 80x, the arithmetic leans on that single blind pick to justify the wait, and one pick is a thin thing to lean on.

It suits players who enjoy a pretty, honest three-reel classic and don’t need a feature ladder to stay interested. Anyone chasing layered bonuses or big ceiling numbers will find it slight. As a short, charming festival interlude, though, it earns its place in the evening.

Always Up! FAQs

• What is the RTP of Always Up!?

  Always Up! runs at an RTP of 95.07%.
• How do you trigger the bonus in Always Up!?

  The bonus game triggers when three Bonus symbols land together on reels 1, 2 and 3. There’s no wild or scatter in the game, so the Bonus symbol is the only special symbol on the reels.
• How does the Always Up! bonus game work?

  Once triggered, five rockets appear on the screen. You select one of them and press START, and the rocket you chose determines the round’s prize. It’s a single pick that ends the moment your rocket resolves.
• Can the Always Up! bonus round retrigger?

  No. The round is a one-shot rocket pick with nothing after the launch, so there’s no retrigger, no second stage and nothing to extend it.
• Is there a wild symbol in Always Up!?

  No. The Bonus symbol is the game’s only special symbol, and it doesn’t pay on its own. Its sole role is triggering the bonus game when three land together across the reels.
• Can you buy the bonus on Always Up!?

  Yes, there’s a Buy Bonus button in the base game interface. It costs 80x the total bet and buys direct entry to the rocket pick.
• What is the highest-paying symbol in Always Up!?

  The red money bag, which pays 60x the total bet for three on a line. The gold ingot follows at 40x, and everything else on the board pays 8x or less.
• Who makes Always Up!?

  Always Up! is made by BGaming.