Introduction to Spark of Creation
Spark of Creation is a casino slot from ELK Studios that lets us experience how life was created. This is one of the more out-there and interesting themes that we’ve seen from the studio in recent times, even though we were quite impressed with the theme behind the recently released Deadcode. Spark of Creation takes the most basic elements of our world and turns them into somewhat cute Creatures, which are about to be our best friends, as here they’re the core of the fan favorite CollectR mechanic. The CollectR mechanic doesn’t use typical paylines as we often see in slot releases, instead utilizing a few characters as moving collectors that will pick up paying symbols and the occasional feature symbol, as seen in games like Huff N’ Puff CollectR, Knight Fight, or the series that populated the feature, Pirots. Spark of Creation takes this beloved mechanic and goes off with it, introducing new Creature Evolutions, Feature Symbols, and more to keep the spins rolling for a chance to hit the max win of 10,000X the bet.
Take a trip through the forest of creation, where mysterious creatures will collect paying symbols, and the goal of the game is to keep the Avalanches going for as long as possible with the help of various Feature Symbols and bonuses. If your interest has been piqued, be sure to check out the Spark of Creation demo.
Theme, Gameplay, & Payouts
Spark of Creation is a video slot from ELK Studios with 5 Reels, 6 Rows, and uses CollectR mechanics to form wins, having Creatures pick up color corresponding payout symbols. You can choose between making a Min.bet of 0.2 and a Max.bet of 100. Spark of Creation comes with an average RTP of 96%, medium/high volatility, a hit frequency of 25.1%, and offers a solid max win of 10,000X the bet.
You find yourself in the middle of a forest, which seemingly comes with a tinge of magic to it, and here you will find the four creatures that will act as your Collectors, each representing an element. As you spin, you will be accompanied by a magical, somewhat mysterious soundtrack and calming sound effects to nail the mystical vibes. You can play the game on most notepads, mobiles, and desktops.
The paying symbols come in four different colors, each connected to one of the elemental Creature Collectors, and can only be picked up by the color corresponding to the Creature. The symbols come in green, blue, purple, and red, and each will pay out 0.05X the bet when collected.
Special Features & Mechanics
What is the max win in the slot Spark of Creation?
You can win up to 10,000X the bet.
What features are available in the slot Spark of Creation?
The features are Wild Symbols, CollectR, Avalanche, Multiplier Bubbles, Evolution Meter, Creature Evolve and Abilities, Feature Symbols, Multiplier Strike, Free Spins, and Feature Buy (X-iter).
Wild Symbols
Wild Symbols substitute for any symbols and can be picked up by any Creature.
CollectR
Instead of regular paylines, the CollectR mechanic uses 4 differently colored creatures that move around the playing grid vertically or horizontally, picking up corresponding colored paying symbols as well as Feature and Scatter Symbols. Creatures will only collect symbols that they’re next to, and can’t pass through other creatures or other colored symbols. But, when two or more Creatures are next to each other, they can either trigger the Switcheroo, switching places, or the Clash, where one winner is left on the playing grid and surrounding symbols are removed.
Avalanche
After Creatures have collected any form of symbols, and no more can be picked up, the Avalanche kicks in, allowing all symbols to fall down with new symbols entering from above to fill in the empty positions. Avalanches will continue until no more symbols can be picked up, thus ending the spin.
Multiplier Bubbles
The first time a symbol is collected, a Multiplier Bubble is created, starting with 2X, and each time a symbol is collected on a Multiplier Bubble, the value is doubled, up to a maximum of 1,024X.
Evolution Meter
The Evolution Meter keeps track of the collected symbols of the current spin, and when full, it will add a pending Creature Evolve to one of the 4 creatures. These Creature Evolves will stay pending until no more symbols can be collected, and can only stack up to a maximum of 1 per Creature.
Creature Evolve and Abilities
A Creature Evolve will trigger the corresponding Creature Ability, which changes depending on level, up to a maximum of level 3. The Creature Abilities are as follows:
Nature Creature Ability = Will remove paying symbols and increase the Multiplier Bubble values on a 3x3 grid around itself by up to 3 times at max level.
Water Creature Ability = Adds up to a maximum of 5 random Feature Symbols to the playing grid.
Air Creature Ability = Choose one random Creature and create a path of payout symbols of its color from its position, up to a maximum of 10 symbols.
Fire Creature Ability = Removes other Creatures and their corresponding payout symbols from the playing grid, up to all 3 other Creatures at max level.
Feature Symbols
There are 4 types of Feature Symbols that can randomly land or be added through other features, and they can only be activated by being picked up by a Creature, and they are as follows:
Firefly = The creature that picks up the Firefly gets its ability put into a pending state, and will trigger after no more symbols can be picked up.
Spark = A collected Spark Symbol increases the Evolution Meter.
Transform = Changes a cluster of payout symbols into the corresponding Creature that picked it up. May also change a random number of payout symbols into Feature Symbols.
Black Hole = Absorbs all symbols and creatures on the playing grid and returns them to the grid in random positions.
Multiplier Strike
The Multiplier Strike feature can randomly happen on any spin, where in a random area ranging from 3x3, 4x4, 5x5, or 6x7, will all have its Multipliers increased.
Free Spins
You can trigger the Free Spins or Super Free Spins by having the Creatures collect 3 Scatters or 2 Scatters and 1 Super Scatter Symbol. Both of these bonus games are played with 5 spins, and during the features, by collecting 1 Scatter Symbol, you will be awarded +1 Spin. The difference between the bonus games is as follows:
Free Spins = The progress of the Evolution Meter, the level of the Creatures, and all Multiplier Bubbles are persistent between spins.
Super Free Spins = Same mechanics as the Free Spins, but now with a guaranteed Multiplier Strike on each spin.
Feature Buy (X-iter)
Through the Feature Buy option, you can instantly trigger various bonuses and features for a price based on the current bet.
2.5X = Triggers the Bonus Hunt, making each spin more than 4 times the chance to trigger the bonus game.
5X = Triggers the Mega Hunt, making each spin more than 8 times the chance to trigger the bonus game.
25X = Triggers the Enchanted Forest, which starts the spin with a Multiplier Strike, Creatures have a chance to appear upgraded, and every Free Spin becomes a Super Free Spin.
100X = Awards the Free Spins feature.
250X = Awards the Super Free Spins feature.
Final Thoughts on Spark of Creation
While we would say that the CollectR mechanic is a fan favorite, it hasn’t always been as prevalent as it is today, as for a long time it was bound to the Pirots series, with the occasional release like Dam Beavers, or the uniquely strange Rogue Rats of Nitropolis, which we’re not even sure how we would categorize. So, running off the press of Huff N’ Puff CollectR, just a few months later, we see Spark of Creation, which has done a few changes to the core foundation of the mechanic, which, at least in our opinion, has probably been for the better.
While we did state that there have been some core changes to the foundation, the game doesn’t actually play all too differently. One of the major parts of the CollectR mechanic was Symbol Upgrades, which was how you increased the payout of the paying symbols, but that’s nowhere to be seen here. Instead, we have Multiplier Bubbles, which work as any other Position Multiplier feature, and many other bonuses to keep the spin and Avalanches going, such as Creature Upgrades. This can come as a bit of a dividing change, as while Symbol Upgrades could easily be missed or just not all that interesting, they also helped with payouts and could make even smaller spins have solid payouts.
Our personal experience with this change is that many more symbols now need to be picked up, even if they’re hit by Multiplier Bubbles, which moves the gameplay to be more feature-heavy than collect-heavy for the more sizeable payouts. This can make spins feel longer, but it also creates a more dynamic and sometimes even more explosive gameplay loop. As a result, we felt like there were never any spins where nothing happened, as there are so many bonuses, from Feature Symbol, Creature Evolution Abilities, and even the Free Spins, that keep most spins fun and engaging, and it might just be a change that will take some getting used to, especially if you’re a big CollectR fan.
Spark of Creation successfully refreshes the CollectR mechanic with new mechanics such as Creature Upgrades and other bonuses to keep the spins going, all combined with a mysterious theme and a therapeutic soundtrack to boot.
