Barb’s Best Bets: You’ll Go Wild For BerryBurst Online Slot This Holiday Season
The Big Holiday Giveaway sponsored by NetEnt that was offered on six NJ gambling websites ended on Dec. 23.
However, the five slot games featured in that promotion are so much fun, you probably want to keep playing them long after the holiday season is over. My last Barb’s Best Bet article was all about Secrets of Christmas.
Another NetEnt slot game featured in the Big Holiday Giveaway that I think you will enjoy immensely is BerryBurst.
Why play NetEnt slots at NJ online casinos
If you’re a seasoned slot player on NJ online gambling sites, the name NetEnt probably needs no introduction. So any time you can take advantage of a special promotion featuring NetEnt slots, you’re instantly sold.
But special promotions like the Big Holiday Giveaway get the attention of lots of new players, too. In the process, they are introduced to some of the best online slots on the market.
The best of the best
The online slot industry has grown tremendously during the past decade, and New Jersey players can now choose from hundreds of slots. Some are clearly better than others, but the overwhelming task of deciding on your own which are worth playing can be hit or miss.
That’s where the Barb’s Best Bets articles come in because I do the research and testing for you beforehand and every slot I recommend has to meet my very high standards for excellence.
It is no coincidence that the overwhelming majority of Barb’s Best Bets are NetEnt slots.
Mobile-device friendly
NetEnt is one of the world’s leading slot manufacturers. The company has been in business since the 1990s, but it wasn’t until a decade later that NetEnt started creating slot games for the online casino market.
In 2011, NetEnt introduced mobile games. Today virtually all NetEnt slots, including BerryBurst, are mobile-device friendly. You can play BerryBurst on your smartphone or tablet as well as on your computer — your choice.
State-of-the-art technology
NetEnt slots are technologically advanced in other ways, too. While some games offer more special features than others, all of them have a readily identifiable theme, outstanding graphics, and an awesome soundtrack.
In addition, the games allow for a very wide range of bet sizes, so almost any player can enjoy them from penny players to high rollers.
Exceptionally high RTP
Most importantly, NetEnt slots have another feature that more than anything else sets them apart from most other online slots. That is their exceptionally high return to player or RTP.
I have yet to come across a single slot from this manufacturer with an RTP less than 96 percent. This puts them in the very top group of online slots offered to NJ players. BerryBurst has an RTP of 96.56 percent.
The published RTP refers to the theoretically likely percent of wagered money you will have left after many thousands of playing sessions, not necessarily how you will fare in any given session.
Even so, for any slot player at any level who is serious about maximizing win potential while minimizing the risk of depleting his or her bankroll, your best insurance is to play slots with a high RTP.
BerryBurst is also listed as having low medium volatility. This means that the slot pays out frequently. Although the preponderance of these payouts is small, their frequency makes this game an excellent choice for small stakes players with limited bankrolls.
BerryBurst bet sizes
The smallest amount you can bet per spin on BerryBurst is 10 cents and the largest is $200. So this is a game that can appeal to a very wide range of players. If you want to bet more than the minimum but less than the maximum, you have many choices.
Simply adjust the game level (1-10) and coin size (1 cent to 50 cents) on the screen up or down to find the bet size that suits you best.
Low stakes players should welcome the option to limit their bet to just 10 cents per spin. Conversely, the maximum bet of $200 is probably more than sufficient for most high rollers. However, high stakes players with large bankrolls might prefer the high volatility variation of this slot game called BerryBurst Max with additional special features and larger payouts.
That game has the same bet range as BerryBurst but a 96.23 percent RTP. The top payout possible is $1 million compared to $600,000 for BerryBurst.
BerryBurst Max is not recommended for players with limited bankrolls due to the high volatility.
Where can you play BerryBurst and BerryBurst Max?
BerryBurst is available at the following NJ online casinos:
All but Caesars, Tropicana, and Virgin also offer BerryBurst Max.
Ocean Online Casino has BerryBurst Max, but not BerryBurst.
The similarity between BerryBurst and Starburst
BerryBurst is strikingly similar to the immensely popular Starburst slot game, which NetEnt introduced back in 2012. In fact, Starburst was the inspiration for BerryBurst.
So if Starburst is one your favorite NJ online casino slots, you will probably find BerryBurst equally enjoyable.
Tailor-made for holiday enjoyment
Like Starburst, BerryBurst is a simple but very colorful slot. These two features combined make it the perfect choice for the Christmas holiday season. All the preparation for the big day can be quite stressful, so when you finally find some “me time” to enjoy your favorite online slots, you should choose wisely. A fast-paced, action-packed game, particularly one with foreboding imagery, may not be the best choice.
Instead, pick a game that’s relaxing and not overly complicated. But it should also be a feast for the eyes, like BerryBurst or Starburst, so it’s not boring either.
In these games, you don’t need a ton of action to maintain your attention. Whether it’s the brightly colored gemstones over a backdrop of a starry sky in Starburst or some of the most vibrant and delicious looking fruit you have ever seen bursting from the BerryBurst screen, you’re hooked.
The entertainment is only beginning, but better brace yourself for a long, leisurely session because you’re not going anywhere.
The oversize fruit symbols in BerryBurst are bigger and brighter than the Starburst symbols. The raspberries, oranges, grapes, and limes are bursting with color and look so real and delicious, you will be immediately tempted to order a gift basket of fruit online for anyone on your Christmas list you didn’t shop for yet. You will also want to hurry to the market to buy the freshest fruit you can find for yourself.
Difference between BerryBurst and Starburst
Like Starburst, BerryBurst is a video slot with five reels. However, an important difference is that Starburst has 10 fixed paylines, whereas BerryBurst doesn’t have any fixed paylines but is instead a cluster pays slot.
What constitutes a Cluster Pays slot winning combination
In Starburst and most other slot games, winning combinations are formed when three or more like symbols appear on adjacent reels on a given payline, starting with the reel farthest to the left.
However, in a cluster pays slot such as BerryBurst, winning combinations can only occur when symbols that are horizontally or vertically adjacent to the same symbol form a cluster.
However, not every cluster is a winner.
The minimum size that the cluster must be to produce a win varies for different games. In BerryBurst, if a cluster includes at least five adjacent matching symbols, it is a winner. The larger the cluster, the bigger the payout, with the maximum payout for any given symbol based on a cluster of 15 like symbols.
On some spins, you may see multiple clusters of the same symbol that are not adjacent. Those are paid out as separate clusters. Clusters that are smaller than five matching adjacent symbols do not form a winning combination in Berryburst.
BerryBurst symbols
Regular symbols
It won’t take you long to become familiar with all of the regular BerryBurst symbols, as there are only seven of them. The four higher paying symbols are fruits. The remaining three regular symbols are playing cards suits.
Here are the seven symbols:
- Raspberries
- Orange slices
- Grapes
- Limes
- Hearts
- Diamonds
- Spades
The clubs suit is not represented.
The highest paying symbol of the bunch is the raspberry. Next is the orange, followed by grapes and limes, which both have the same payout. The lowest paying symbols are the three playing card suits.
The following wins apply to level one. If you select a higher playing level, your wins will be greater.
Let’s start with the least likely scenario. If you’re lucky enough to have a cluster of 15 adjacent like symbols land on the reels, these are the payouts for each symbol:
- Raspberries: 5,000 coins
- Oranges: 3,000 coins
- Grapes or limes: 2,500 coins
- Hearts, spades, or diamonds: 1,000 coins
Each smaller size paying cluster from 14 down to five pays correspondingly less. So, just as you might expect, the smallest and most frequent winning cluster of just five matching symbols pays very little indeed.
These are the payouts:
- Raspberries: 30 coins
- Oranges: 20 coins
- Grapes or limes: 10 coins
- Hearts, spades, or diamonds: five coins
Therefore, many of your wins will not amount to much, probably only equal to your bet size or even less. But this is a game of patience. Sooner or later you will get larger wins.
The game’s only special feature, an expanding wild symbol, will play an important role, not only in making the game a lot more exciting, but also in helping you get over the hump and hopefully turn a profit.
Expanding wilds
If you are looking for a slot game with a progressive jackpot and/or a slew of extra bonus features like scatter symbols, multipliers, and games within games where you get to pick from different prizes, you will have to go elsewhere. BerryBurst has none of those.
But it does have another very exciting and potentially lucrative feature — an expanding wild symbol! This feature is a carryover from Starburst.
The wild symbol in BerryBurst is an ice cube marked W. It may not be something you’ll be reaching for too often in the winter season, but whenever it shows up anywhere on the reels in this game, it will surely quench your thirst for added winnings.
Why this feature is so lucrative
The wild symbol can appear on any reel, as well as on more than one reel. In the main game, anytime one or more wild symbols land anywhere on the reels, it immediately expands to cover the entire reel.
In so doing, the wild symbol can also substitute for other symbols on either side of it, either to form a winning cluster or build a bigger winning cluster.
All wins from the expanded wilds are then awarded. But wait — there’s more. The expanding wilds feature triggers a re-spin. Since the expanded wilds remain in place while the other reels are spinning, more wins can be expected. Also, if a wild symbol shows up again on a re-spin, it becomes an expanding wild, too, and you get another re-spin.
If you’re lucky, the expanding wilds feature can produce some huge wins.
All re-spins are at the same bet level and coin value as the spin that triggered them.
Big wins are possible
Here’s what happened when I played the game in demo mode.
Betting a hypothetical $6.00 per spin, during the main game, the wild symbol showed up on two reels simultaneously, giving me a re-spin with both of those reels completely wild. On the re-spin, a wild symbol showed up again, triggering another re-spin with a completely wild reel. The $6 wager returned more than $200!
However, that’s small potatoes compared to what you could win in this slot game. It would take some fantastic luck, but the expanding wild symbol could show up not just on two reels simultaneously, but on every reel, thereby making the game completely wild!
The bottom line
BerryBurst should appeal to lots of players, but probably not to everyone. If you are looking for a slot that will get your adrenaline pumping with non-stop action, you will probably find the sameness of this game spin after spin rather tedious.
But what this simple game lacks in bells and whistles and over the top thrills and chills, it more than makes up for in good bang for the buck and consistent, high-quality entertainment.
You should be prepared for the likelihood that most of the payouts will be small, as would be expected in a game of low-medium volatility. And yet the frequency of the payouts is probably more in line with what would be expected for a medium volatility game.
In other words, there tend to be more non-winning spins than you may be accustomed to for a game of this type.
On the other hand, the bonus feature comes up often, so there’s a very good chance to bounce right back into the win column. Winter, spring, summer, or fall, BerryBurst will quench your thirst for a high-returning slot game that’s not only non-complicated but also great fun to play.