Space Wars

Space Wars Slot Review

A ringed planet curves across the middle of the screen, asteroids drift past its edge, and a violet nebula stains the space above the reels. This deep-space scrap between googly-eyed aliens, from NetEnt, is one of the few slots where the bonus round never really ends: every single winning spin earns a re-spin with the winning symbol stacked on the reels, so the feature you’re waiting for is the feature you’ve already got. It runs on a 5×4 grid with 40 fixed bet lines, an RTP of 96.75%, and a top prize of 1,000x the bet, with stakes from 0.4 to 200 per spin.

There’s no menu of bonus rounds here. That single re-spin does all the work, a leaner design than Twin Spin Megaways or Gonzo’s Quest, and closer in spirit to Starburst. For a game this old, it still holds its orbit.

Reels, Lines and the Paytable

The cast is a menagerie of alien creatures, from a crab in a captain’s hat to a pink spiky thing that looks genuinely delighted to be there. A tall metallic capsule with antenna-like stalks stands guard at the right edge of the reels. There’s no card-suit filler: every symbol belongs to the game’s own world.

Wins pay left to right across the 40 fixed lines, in succession without gaps, and only the highest win per line counts. Simultaneous wins on different lines add together, so a busy spin can collect several small payouts at once. The top of the paytable is led by a red crystal rather than any of the monsters.

Values below are multiples of the total bet, and they adjust to whatever stake you’ve selected, so they read as multiples rather than fixed credit amounts.

• Red Crystal – 25x for five, 6.25x for four, 0.75x for three
• Orange Crab (captain hat) – 10x for five, 3.125x for four, 0.5x for three
• Green Antenna Alien – 5x for five, 1.875x for four, 0.375x for three
• Green Striped Monster – 4.375x for five, 1.5x for four, 0.25x for three
• Blue Round Creature – 3.75x for five, 1.25x for four, 0.25x for three
• Pink Spiky Creature – 3.125x for five, 1x for four, 0.25x for three
• Yellow Owl Creature – 1.5x for five, 0.5x for four, 0.1x for three
• Dark Green Alien – 1.25x for five, 0.5x for four, 0.1x for three
• Light Green Alien – 1x for five, 0.375x for four, 0.075x for three
• Blue Octopus and Purple Furry Creatures – 1x for five, 0.375x for four, 0.05x for three

Wins land on roughly 16% of spins, which keeps the base game ticking over without ever feeling generous. Payouts scale cleanly down the table. Five of the low creatures return your stake; five crystals return 25 times it.

The betting itself is straightforward. Choose a stake from 0.4 up to 200 and it applies to every spin; if your balance can no longer cover it, the bet drops automatically to the highest value you can afford. There’s no side bet, no feature-buy shortcut and nothing to configure beyond the stake itself.

Autoplay handles the repetition if you want it, repeating your selected bet for a chosen number of rounds. A mid-spin stop button brings the reels home early where possible. Neither touches the maths; they’re convenience, not strategy.

Wilds and Re-Spins

Wild Symbols

Wilds appear only on reels 2 and 4, in the main game and during re-spins alike, and substitute for all symbols. When a wild completes a line, it pays the highest possible winning combination for that line.

With two of the five reels able to carry them, they’re a constant presence in the maths rather than a rare treat. A wild on reel 2 can extend a line from the leftmost reel; a pair, one on each, can turn a three-symbol win into something considerably bigger.

Re-Spins

Every winning spin gets a follow-up. Once a bet line win has been evaluated, a re-spin plays out automatically: no scatters to collect, no threshold to cross, no minimum win size. A three-symbol line of the lowest creature is enough to set it off, which is why the feature comes round so often.

When the re-spin starts, the symbol from the winning line appears stacked on the reels, giving the follow-up spin a shot at building a bigger combination of the same symbol. That’s the whole engine of the game: win small, then watch the stacked symbols try to win bigger. The chain always ends after one attempt, because a re-spin can’t award another.

Re-spins play at the same bet as the round that triggered them, and the total win from the re-spin is added to whatever the triggering round already paid. There’s no choice involved and nothing to activate; the feature simply runs.

The practical ceiling follows from the stacking. With the right symbol filling the grid, the game pays up to 1,000x the bet, and that figure is the maximum it pays.

The route to the ceiling runs through five stacked crystals, which is a long shot by any measure, but the maths keeps the base game lively while you wait. Two wild reels plus a stacked top symbol is the combination everything else is building towards. Most sessions will top out well short of it, on wins built from the mid-table creatures.

Our Honest Verdict

Overall Rating: 7.2/10

Playing Space Wars is watching a scrap that never escalates, and liking it anyway. You spin, you win something small, and the re-spin gives your winning symbol a chance to fill the screen. That’s the loop, and with a win coming round roughly one spin in six, it’s a loop you’re inside constantly rather than waiting for.

The stacking is what earns the keep: a re-spin that turns your three crystals into five is a real payout, and because wilds sit on two of the five reels, the follow-up rarely feels like a formality. The limit is just as real. One re-spin that can’t chain, no second feature of any kind, and a bottom half of the paytable that mostly pays in change, so the 1,000x ceiling is a distant light rather than a live hope.

This is one for players who want their slots fast, honest and easy to read, and a natural home for Starburst fans after the same stripped-back feel with stacked symbols doing the work. Anyone hunting free spins rounds or five-figure ceilings will find the war over before it started. For everyone else, the little alien skirmish still punches above its weight.

Space Wars FAQs

• What is the RTP of Space Wars?

  The RTP is 96.75%, comfortably above the typical average for an online slot.
• How many bet lines does Space Wars have?

  The game is played with 40 fixed bet lines, which pay from the leftmost reel to the rightmost without gaps. You can’t adjust the number of lines.
• Where do wild symbols appear in Space Wars?

  Wilds can only appear on reels 2 and 4, in both the main game and re-spins. They substitute for all symbols and pay the highest possible winning combination on the line.
• How do you trigger a re-spin in Space Wars?

  Any winning spin sets one off. The re-spin plays automatically once the win has been evaluated, with no scatter symbols or minimum win size required.
• Can re-spins be retriggered in Space Wars?

  No, one re-spin is your lot per winning spin. Each one is played at the same bet as the round that triggered it, and its win is added on top of the original payout.
• What is the maximum win on Space Wars?

  The maximum win is 1,000x your bet, achieved by filling the reels with the top-paying stacked symbol during a re-spin.
• What is the hit frequency of Space Wars?

  Wins land on roughly 16% of spins, so the base game produces a winning spin around one time in six.
• What are the minimum and maximum bets on Space Wars?

  Bets run from 0.4 to 200 per spin, and the selected bet value applies to every spin, including re-spins.
• Who makes Space Wars?

  Space Wars is made by NetEnt, the Swedish studio behind Starburst, Gonzo’s Quest and Twin Spin.
• What does the stacked symbol do during a Space Wars re-spin?

  The symbol from the winning bet line appears stacked on the reels for the re-spin, giving it a chance to form a larger winning combination of that same symbol. The re-spin can’t award another re-spin.
• What happens if my balance can’t cover my bet in Space Wars?

  The bet is automatically reduced to the highest available value your balance can cover, so play continues rather than stopping.