Striking Blitz: Running Wins 3×3 Slot Review
A gold-framed fruit machine floats in dark space, lightning crackling down its cabinet, gems and ice spilling out behind the reels. Striking Blitz: Running Wins 3×3 uses that retro cabinet as a disguise: the three reels are the least interesting thing about it, and almost everything the game pays happens somewhere else entirely.
Fugaso have taken a 3×3 grid, five paylines and a traditional fruit paytable, then bolted on a hold-and-collect bonus game with its own reel, its own respin counter and four jackpots. The cabinet promises nostalgia; the machinery underneath is anything but. It runs at 96.30% RTP , with a maximum win of 12,000x. It’s a very different animal from the studio’s Super Thunder Express: this one keeps its win potential locked inside a single purple bonus screen.
Base Game & Features
The base game is a straight three-reel affair. Three reels, three rows, five paylines, and wins formed by three matching symbols across one of those lines. Only the highest combination on a line counts. Nothing here breaks with tradition.
The paytable is pure fruit machine, and the values are per three of a kind:
- Bells – 30x your stake
- BAR – 20x
- Watermelon or Grape – 16x
- Orange or Plum – 4x
- Cherry – 1x
The Wild substitutes for every symbol except the Bonus and Super Bonus symbols. That’s its whole job, and it does it without ceremony.
Bonus Symbols and the Boost Feature
Two special symbols drive everything. The Bonus symbol lands only on reels 1 and 3. The Super Bonus symbol lands only on reel 2. Three Bonus symbols across the reels trigger the Running Wins game, and the Super Bonus symbol has its own job inside it.
Before that, the Super Bonus symbol can work in the main game too. When it lands alongside a Bonus symbol, the Boost Feature fires: the values of both Bonus and Jackpot symbols, Mini through Grand, are summed for a bigger reward in the main game.
Lucky Riches Feature
Whenever a Bonus or Super Bonus symbol lands in the main game, there’s a chance the Lucky Riches Feature activates. When it does, the game adds enough Bonus and Super Bonus symbols to the reels to trigger the Running Wins game outright. It’s a random bridge across the gap that a three-reel game can otherwise leave you waiting on.
Striking Blitz: Running Wins Bonus & Jackpots
Three Bonus symbols start the Running Wins game, and this is where the 3×3 grid stops behaving like a fruit machine. The round begins with three re-spins. Only Wilds, Bonus symbols and Super Bonus symbols can land while it runs.
Every time a new symbol lands, the re-spin counter resets to three. The game continues until all three re-spins are used without a fresh symbol. Win amounts sit on the symbols themselves, so the total builds visibly as the round goes on.
The Bonus Feature
Super Bonus symbols are the collectors here. They appear on reel 2 and stay there for the whole round, gathering the values of every visible Bonus symbol and every jackpot symbol, Mini through Grand. When the game ends, the total win is the sum of everything the Super Bonus symbols have accumulated.
The Power Up Reel
Running above the main reels during the bonus game is an extra Power Up Reel, and it’s the layer that makes the round more than a simple collect. Three symbol types can land on it, each enhancing the symbols directly below its position:
- Power Multiplier – x2, x3, x5 or x10, multiplying Bonus and Jackpot symbols on the reels below before their values go to the active Super Bonus symbols. Land one above reel 2 and it multiplies every active Super Bonus symbol instead.
- Power Charge – adds between 1 and 15 times the current bet to the symbols below, or to all active Super Bonus symbols when it lands above reel 2.
- Power Respin – resets the respin counter to 3. Two landing on the same spin don’t stack; the counter simply resets.
That respin reset matters more than it looks. A round that keeps catching symbols never ends, and a Power Respin arriving at the right moment can extend a run well past its three-spin budget. The respin symbol only exists inside the bonus game.
Running Wins Jackpots
Grand, Major, Minor and Mini jackpot symbols can appear at random during the Running Wins game, and each one that lands triggers its corresponding jackpot. Their values feed the Super Bonus collectors like everything else, so a jackpot symbol landing under a Power Multiplier gets multiplied before it’s banked.
Buy Bonus
There’s a buy button. Purchasing it activates the Bonus Game at the bet value that triggered it, and it’s unavailable if your balance can’t cover the cost.
The alternative is Running Spins, a toggle that makes each spin five times more likely to trigger the Running Wins game. It stays active until you switch it off, which makes it a standing choice about how you want to play rather than a one-off purchase.
Our Honest Verdict
Overall Rating: 7.1/10
Playing Striking Blitz is mostly waiting under a very pretty lightning show. The reels spin, fruit lines up occasionally, and the real reason to sit down at this cabinet is the purple screen that arrives when the bonus triggers. That wait can be a long one, and the game knows it, which is why the Lucky Riches Feature and Running Spins both exist to hurry it along.
The bonus round is genuinely good, and for a specific reason: a respin counter that resets on every new symbol means a hot run can keep paying well past its three-spin budget, with the Power Up Reel multiplying whatever sits underneath it. The weakness is just as specific: the whole experience rests on how often that purple screen shows up.
This is one for players who enjoy the chase and the build, and who like the reels themselves as a warm-up rather than the main event. Those after regular small wins from a classic fruit machine should look elsewhere. For everyone else, the gems are real, even if the cabinet is mostly a display case.
Striking Blitz: Running Wins 3×3 FAQs
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How does the Running Wins bonus game trigger?
Three Bonus symbols landing on the reels at once start the Running Wins game. Bonus symbols only appear on reels 1 and 3, and a random Lucky Riches Feature can also add enough of them to trigger the round after any single Bonus or Super Bonus symbol lands. -
What does the Power Up Reel do in Striking Blitz: Running Wins 3×3?
It’s an extra reel displayed above the main reels during the Running Wins game. Power Multipliers multiply the symbols below them, Power Charges add bet-based values, and Power Respins reset the respin counter to 3. Symbols on the Power Up Reel enhance whatever sits directly beneath their position. -
Can the Running Wins bonus round be extended?
Yes. The round starts with three re-spins and every new symbol that lands resets the counter to 3. A Power Respin symbol on the upper panel also resets it, so a lucky run can keep the bonus going for a long time. -
What jackpots are available in Striking Blitz: Running Wins 3×3?
Four: Grand, Major and Mini. Any of them can drop during the Running Wins game and immediately pays its prize. Because they behave like the other collect symbols, the Power Up Reel can multiply or boost their values too. -
Can you buy the bonus on Striking Blitz: Running Wins 3×3?
Yes. The Buy Bonus activates the Bonus Game at the bet value that triggered it. There’s also a Running Spins option that makes each spin five times more likely to trigger the Running Wins game, and it stays active until you turn it off. -
What is the RTP of Striking Blitz: Running Wins 3×3?
The RTP is 96.30%, which sits just above the typical industry average. -
How many paylines does Striking Blitz: Running Wins 3×3 have?
Five paylines, on a 3×3 grid of three reels and three rows. Wins need three matching symbols across a line. -
Who makes Striking Blitz: Running Wins 3×3?
Fugaso. The studio also made Super Thunder Express, among other titles.
