Moonshot Slot Review
A bearded villager in a fur coat raises his cup beside a carved wooden booth, vines wrapped around the lettering, a cottage tucked behind the fence. Moonshot dresses like a gentle thing, but it’s built on patience: this is a game that pays you almost nothing in the base game and asks you to collect masks for a round you might not see for a long while. Pragmatic Play have made the village fete the wrapper for a proper grind.
It runs on a 5×4 grid with 1024 ways to win, an RTP of 96.50% and medium volatility, with wins capped at 5,000x the bet. The mask collection system is what sets it apart from the studio’s Fruit Party and Gates of Olympus, though fans of Big Bass Splash will recognise the collect-and-level-up rhythm. Bets run from 0.20 to 240.00 per spin.
Ways, Symbols and the Paytable
Wins pay left to right on adjacent reels, starting from the leftmost. There are no paylines to follow, just the 1024 ways, and only the highest win per way counts. When several ways win at once, all of them are added together into the total.
Every win is multiplied by the bet per way rather than the total stake, which is how a 1024-ways game keeps its totals tidy. Wins are displayed in coins, and the free spins win is added to the payway win at the end of the round rather than paid spin by spin.
The wild appears on reels 2, 3, 4 and 5 and substitutes for all symbols except for the one symbol shown in the rules, which is not named there.
The symbol set splits into two groups. The picture symbols carry the village-fete theme: the vase, the cherry, the plum, the blueberries, the potion bottle and the teacup. The royals, A down to 10, fill out the bottom of the table.
Values are multiples of the total bet:
- Vase/Urn: 0.5x for 2, 1.5x for 3, 3x for 4, 4x for 5
- Cherry and Plum: 1x, 2x and 3x for 3, 4 and 5
- Blueberries and Potion bottle: 0.8x, 1.5x and 2.5x for 3, 4 and 5
- Teacup and A: 0.5x, 1x and 1.5x for 3, 4 and 5
- K and Q: 0.3x, 0.7x and 1.2x for 3, 4 and 5
- J and 10: 0.2x, 0.5x and 1x for 3, 4 and 5
Those are small numbers across the board, and only the vase pays anything at all for a two-symbol match. Everything else needs three adjacent reels before it pays a thing.
The real money in Moonshot isn’t meant to come from the paytable. It’s meant to come from the masks and the free spins round they feed.
Golden Masks and Multipliers
Golden Mask symbols land at random in the base game on reels 2 to 5, and they stand in for the mask-head symbol. The twist is the count. One mask carries a x1 multiplier, 2 masks together mean x2, and 3 mean x3.
The multiplier applies to every winning combination that includes the mask-head symbol. So a stacked set of mask-heads across the middle reels, backed by the right number of golden masks, is where the base game’s bigger wins come from.
A base game spin without any masks on the reels can still win, but it wins at face value, which at this paytable means a modest multiple.
Free Spins and the Progressive Mask Ladder
The scatter appears on all reels. 3, 4 or 5 of them anywhere award 10, 15 or 20 free spins respectively, and special reels are in play for the round. That’s the standard part. The interesting part is what happens to the masks.
Every mask and golden mask that lands during the round is collected. Every 40 masks collected raises the level, and the levels change what the golden masks are worth:
- Level 1: golden masks hit as x1, x2 or x3 at random
- Level 2: golden masks hit as x2 or x3 only, plus 3 additional free spins
- Level 3: golden masks hit as x3 only, plus 3 additional free spins
Once level 3 is reached, all remaining spins and any retriggers play out at that level. Getting there means collecting 80 masks across the round, so the round’s best version asks for a long run of spins before it shows up.
The floor of the multiplier ladder rises with each step too, which is the real point. Level 2 removes the x1 dud. Level 3 removes x2 as well.
Retriggers are generous on the surface. Landing scatters during the round adds more spins:
- 2 scatters: 5 additional free spins
- 3 scatters: 10 additional free spins
- 4 scatters: 15 additional free spins
- 5 scatters: 20 additional free spins
2 scatters is a low bar for a retrigger, and those extra spins matter when the ladder needs feeding. The free spins win is added to the payway win and paid once the round completes, with the whole cycle’s total recorded as one win.
Buy Free Spins
The free spins round can be bought from the base game for 80x the current total bet. On the triggering spin, 3, 4 or 5 scatters can hit at random, so a bought round can start with as many as 20 spins, and it can also start with a modest 10 and a long climb ahead of it.
The RTP when buying is the same 96.50% as the base game, so there’s no mathematical penalty for skipping the wait. What it changes is the wait, not the odds inside the round.
Our Honest Verdict
Overall Rating: 7.7/10
The village fete is a costume for a long game. Most of a session in Moonshot is quiet spins and small pays, and the one reason to sit down at it is the free spins ladder: watching masks stack up towards level 3, where every golden mask is worth x3, gives the round a destination most collect features don’t have.
That ladder is the best thing here, because the 2-scatter retrigger keeps a good round alive long enough to reach its top step. The worst thing is the distance: 80 masks to get there, and a round that stalls at level 1 plays out like the base game with extra steps.
This suits players who like a build and don’t need the base game to entertain them on the way. Anyone wanting frequent hits will find the meadow a sleepy place. For the patient, the party at the top of the ladder is worth the walk.
Moonshot FAQs
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What is the RTP of Moonshot?
The RTP is 96.50%, and it’s the same 96.50% if you buy the free spins round, so there’s no return penalty for using the buy option. -
Is Moonshot medium volatility?
Yes, Moonshot is a medium volatility game. Wins in the base game tend to be small, with the serious potential sitting in the free spins round and its mask multiplier levels. -
How many paylines does Moonshot have?
Moonshot doesn’t use paylines. It has 1024 ways to win, with prizes awarded for left to right adjacent symbol combinations starting from the leftmost reel. -
How do the Golden Mask multipliers work?
Golden Masks substitute for the mask-head symbol, and how many appear decides the boost: a single mask is worth x1, a pair x2 and a trio x3. The resulting multiplier then applies to every win that contains the mask-head symbol. -
How do you level up in the Moonshot free spins round?
Every mask and golden mask that lands during free spins is collected, and each 40 masks raises the level. Level 2 restricts golden masks to x2 or x3, level 3 locks them to x3, and each level-up awards 3 extra free spins. -
Can you buy the bonus on Moonshot?
Yes. The free spins round can be bought from the base game for 80x your total bet, and on the triggering spin 3, 4 or 5 scatters can hit at random, awarding up to 20 free spins straight away. -
What is the maximum win on Moonshot?
The maximum win is capped at 5,000x your bet. If a round’s total win reaches that figure, the round ends immediately, the win is paid and any remaining features are forfeited. -
How do you retrigger the Moonshot free spins round?
Scatters landing during the round retrigger it: 2, 3, 4 or 5 scatters add 5, 10, 15 or 20 free spins respectively. Retriggers played after level 3 is reached still run at level 3.
