Introduction to Aftermath
Aftermath is a casino slot from NetEnt, throwing you into a post-apocalyptic, dystopian world, where the remnants of human civilisation fight for survival and the last of the resources. Holed up in makeshift shelters when not scouring the desolate wastelands for useful trinkets, they also work on something that can bring a bit of joy and relaxation during these hard times. The product of that tedious tinkering is a 4x6 grid, on which you can form wins in a scatter-pays fashion, while increasing the multiplier with every consecutive hit. Survivors have also come up with a bunch of extra features to enhance the experience by expanding the playing area and transforming or removing symbols. Their best inventions yet are Bonus Spins and Super Bonus Spins, where the multiplier doesn't reset between rounds and Wilds can land with multipliers to additionally enhance it. This scrappy gift from the group of rag-tag wastelanders can yield you wins up to 25,000x the bet, although what's money good for when the world has ended?
Theme, Gameplay & Payouts
Aftermath is a video slot from NetEnt with 4-6 reels, 6-8 rows, and a scatter-pays win evaluation that requires 8+ symbols to land anywhere in view. You can choose your stake from a range of options, starting from a Min.bet of 0.2, which makes the game affordable for most budgets, up to a Max.bet of 40, suitable for the most daring high-rollers. The math profile runs on a default RTP of 96.05%, which is in line with the industry standards, promising stable long-term returns. Two alternative variants of 94.06% and 92.04% have also been released, so pay attention to the version you're playing. You can expect high wins to carry more value on average at the cost of a decreased frequency due to high volatility, while the max win available on any single round is 25,000x the bet. The base hit frequency sits at an average rate of 22%, and it takes 220 spins on average to trigger the bonus round.
The makeshift playing panel put together from barbed wire, rusty sheets of metal, and pieces of chain-link fence sits in the middle of a city that's long been overgrown by nature after the nuclear fallout. Cars with unfortunate characters that didn't earn the rank of survivor, cracked surfaces of streets, and crumbling buildings prove that the situation has been dire for quite some time. In the middle of this post-apocalyptic landscape stands a small settlement built from scrap, likely a settlement of the individuals you'll meet on the reels as high-paying symbols. Despite the omnipresent destruction, the game looks exceptionally good, with premium 3D graphics, plenty of visually appealing effects, and an atmospheric reggae soundtrack. The setup is also fully responsive, adapting seamlessly to all screen sizes of PCs, smartphones, and tablets.
Winning combinations must contain at least 8 matching symbols landing anywhere in view. The paytable hierarchy consists of three groups of paying icons, with the low-paying ones represented by playing card ranks from Q to A, awarding 0.5x the bet for a set of 16 or more matching instances. They are followed by brass knuckles, an axe, and a sword, which pay 2x the bet when matching 16+ units anywhere in view. Three survivors act as high-paying symbols, offering payouts of between 4x and 10x the bet for landing at least 16 identical symbols on the grid.
Wilds are depicted by gold text on a gold frame, and they substitute for all regular symbols mentioned above. The reels also hold Scatters represented by an image of a raised fist and several special symbols depicting a bomb, a grenade, a Molotov cocktail, and a can on a string.
Special Features & Slot Mechanics
What is the max win in the slot Aftermath?
You can win up to 25,000x the bet.
What features are available in the slot Aftermath?
The features are Cascading & Multiplier, Special Features, Bonus & Super Bonus Spins, and Feature Buy (Elevate).
Cascading & Multiplier
Cascading, also called Avalanches, allows you to score multiple consecutive wins within the same game round. Every initial combination is removed from the grid, causing the remaining symbols to drop and new ones to populate the board. This can potentially lead to more hits, thus extending the sequence until no new combinations can be formed. In Aftermath, every cascade additionally increases the win multiplier by 1, which affects any successive wins within the same round.
Special Features
When a special symbol lands on the grid, it activates its respective feature once all Avalanches have been processed.
Bomb = removes symbols from 8 positions surrounding it and doubles the current win multiplier. If the outer perimeter is caught in the explosion, the grid expands.
Upgrade = replaces itself and a random number of low-paying symbols with the highest or the second highest-paying symbol.
Change = replaces itself and 8 positions surrounding it with one of the regular symbols from those positions.
Purge = removes itself, wall segments, and low-paying symbols. If the outer perimeter is caught in the explosion, the grid expands.
Bonus & Super Bonus Spins
Gathering 3, 4, or 5 Scatters anywhere on the grid at the end of a base game spin triggers 8, 10, or 12 Bonus Spins, respectively. If one of the triggering symbols is a Super Scatter, Super Bonus Spins are awarded. In each mode, the win multiplier and the grid size remain persistent and do not reset between spins, and each Scatter awards +3 spins. In the regular variant, Wilds can land with a +2 multiplier. In the Super variant, they can carry values between +3 and +10, and one Wild is guaranteed to land on every spin.
Feature Buy (Elevate)
In the Elevate menu, you can choose from a selection of enhanced spins and instant feature triggers.
5x = Scatter Hunt with an increased chance of triggering Bonus Spins.
10x = guaranteed activation of at least 1 special feature.
25x = guaranteed multiplier between x5 and x10 at the beginning of a spin.
100x = Regular Bonus Spins.
500x = Super Bonus Spins.
Final Thoughts on Aftermath
After spending more time than we planned in the dystopian world of Aftermath because of a genuinely premium-quality setup, we can honestly say that it's a place we'd be eager to return to. Despite the grim reality of the game's setting, it creates an irresistible charm with its unique artwork and an unbelievably captivating soundtrack, which makes the small disclaimer on the intro screen suggesting that it's "best played with sound" not just an empty promise. The entire audiovisual package, especially the phonic side, bears strong marks of influence from creators at a studio like Nolimit City, which wouldn't be a huge surprise, given that both are part of the Evolution group. Whether that's the case or not, hats off to NetEnt for delivering a massively entertaining theme driven by remarkable graphics and stellar music.
Together with a cool scene, Aftermath also brings a rich technical setup, even if put together from scraps found elsewhere in the industry. Scatter-pays and a progressive multiplier lead the action, with occasional help from a few special symbols that transform the grid in various ways. Actually, the assistance is not that occasional, as we've witnessed the features trigger quite frequently. They've not always been a massive influence, but often advanced the round nonetheless, giving a chance for more wins with a higher multiplier and potentially more spaces to form combinations. Turning the multiplier and the grid size increase persistent during the bonus game was quite predictable, but welcome all the same, making the round increasingly more attractive as the Avalanches and feature triggers empowered the setup along the way. Altogether, the configuration proved engaging and diverse while being composed of familiar elements.
Aftermath offers a collection of trending mechanics, with scatter wins and multipliers as its driving force, in an exquisite post-apocalyptic setting coloured with a fantastic soundtrack.
