Covers the classics people search for by name, the Scandinavian studios, and the slots that make a budget last.
Updated
This page carries figures checked on the date above, and that window has now passed. Studios publish new RTP settings and casinos change their rules: re-check the sources at the foot of the page.
Starburst is fourteen years old. NetEnt released it in January 2012. It's a 5x3 grid with ten lines, gems and a single feature. The appeal is easy to see: it's quick to learn and low on stress.
It also scores 4.8 on our Spin Score, the lowest of any slot with its own guide on this site. That isn't a typo and it isn't a grudge. Two things drag it down: there is no free spins round at all, and the max payout in NetEnt's own stats box is 800x your stake.
Neither of those makes it a bad game. They make it a small one.
At a glance
Best for
Small budgets and players who want gentle, steady spins
The catch
No free spins round, and a low ceiling on wins
The feature
Expanding wilds on reels 2 to 4, up to three respins
Hit frequency
23%, per NetEnt
Play instead if...
You want low volatility with a real bonus: Blood Suckers
Slots that share what makes Starburst what it is, in Spin Score order, at most two per provider. Starburst itself is scored in the spec sheet above. Spin Score = 40% RTP, 15% max win, 30% free spins round, 15% base game. How we score
The top pick for a Starburst player who wants more going on without jumping to high volatility. Hacksaw rates it 3 out of 5, and it scores 7.7 because both halves of the game work: cascades leave Golden Squares behind, and a Rainbow symbol turns them into coins, clover multipliers and Pots of Gold. Three free spins tiers follow. Max win is 10,000x per Hacksaw. The catch is the four RTP settings, 96.34% at the top and 88.36% at the bottom, so check the info screen.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Return to playerData · 40%8.0
Max winData · 15%7.2
Free spins roundEditors · 30%8.0
Base gameEditors · 15%7.0
What it is: A 6x5 cluster-pays slot with cascades that leave Golden Squares behind. When a Rainbow lands, those squares reveal coin values, clover multipliers and Pots of Gold that collect them.
Free spins round: Three free spins tiers where Golden Squares stay lit between spins, ending in a top round with a Rainbow on every spin.
Base game: Cascades mark Golden Squares on every win and a Rainbow turns them into coins, clovers and pots, so base spins often chain into something.
RTP, volatility and max win as Hacksaw Gaming publishes them, checked on November 3, 2026. A casino may run a lower RTP setting: check the game’s info screen.
Bright, silly and medium volatility (3 out of 5 on Hacksaw's meter). Gift Box wilds carry multipliers from x2 to x200, three of them start sticky respins, and the free spins turn reels 2 to 4 into stacked wild reels whose multipliers add together. That's Starburst's middle-reel idea grown up. It scores 7.2, with a 10,000x max win per Bigwinboard. Four RTP settings again, from 96.28% down to 88.22%, and Bigwinboard's own review text quotes 96.24% as the top, so look before you spin.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Return to playerData · 40%7.8
Max winData · 15%7.2
Free spins roundEditors · 30%7.0
Base gameEditors · 15%6.0
What it is: A colourful 5x4, 16-line slot built around Gift Box wilds with multipliers from x2 to x200. Three Gift Boxes start sticky respins and the free spins add stacked multiplier wild reels.
Free spins round: Dork Spins turn reels 2 to 4 into stacked wild reels with multipliers up to x200 that add together.
Base game: Gift Box wild multipliers land on any reel and three of them start the sticky Gift Bonanza respins.
RTP, volatility and max win as Hacksaw Gaming publishes them, checked on November 3, 2026. A casino may run a lower RTP setting: check the game’s info screen.
Gemix shares Starburst's love of gems and its lack of free spins, and still scores 7.1. Why? Its top RTP setting is 96.83%, and its 7x7 cascading grid charges a crystal meter that fires Chain Lightning, Light Beam, Crystal Warp or Nova Blast. Our editors give the base game an 8. Max win is 4,513.5x per Bigwinboard, which rates volatility 6 out of 10. The downside is Play'n GO's five-setting habit: 84.9% is the lowest listed.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Return to playerData · 40%9.5
Max winData · 15%5.8
Free spins roundEditors · 30%4.0
Base gameEditors · 15%8.0
What it is: A 7x7 cascading cluster-pays grid where wins fill a crystal charge meter that fires one of several grid effects.
Free spins round: No free spins; the crystal charge features (Chain Lightning, Light Beam, Crystal Warp, Nova Blast) stand in for a bonus.
Base game: Cascades and a crystal charge meter that triggers grid-changing effects make the base game the main show.
RTP, volatility and max win as Play'n GO publishes them, checked on November 3, 2026. A casino may run a lower RTP setting: check the game’s info screen.
Another NetEnt game, and the closest in spirit: medium volatility (4.4 out of 10 on NetEnt's scale) and a base game that keeps busy. Symbols travel a spiral after each win, and four random features can fire on any spin. Free spins come from walking a key symbol to the centre. It scores 6.9 despite a 300x max payout in NetEnt's stats box, even lower than Starburst's, because the RTP is 96.62% and both rounds score well. Bets go up to 200.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Return to playerData · 40%8.9
Max winData · 15%2.0
Free spins roundEditors · 30%6.0
Base gameEditors · 15%8.0
What it is: A 5x5 cluster-pays slot where symbols move along a spiral after each win. Random features fire on base spins and free spins trigger when the key symbol reaches the centre.
Free spins round: Free spins come from steering a key to the centre of the grid, then you pick one of four modes based on the random features.
Base game: Avalanches, exploding wilds and four random features (Starfall Wilds, Dragon Destroy, Irish Luck, Magic Transform) run in the base game.
RTP, volatility and max win as NetEnt publishes them, checked on November 3, 2026. A casino may run a lower RTP setting: check the game’s info screen.
ELK's bullfighting slot has no standard free spins either, but its walking wild does more than Starburst's wilds. The Toro moves reel to reel, giving respins and turning matadors into wilds, and three matadors start a respin challenge. ELK's data sheet gives 96.4% RTP, a 24.9% hit rate and 2,250x exposure, almost three times Starburst's ceiling. It scores 6.5. Volatility is medium, 6 out of 10 on ELK's own scale.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Return to playerData · 40%8.2
Max winData · 15%4.6
Free spins roundEditors · 30%5.0
Base gameEditors · 15%7.0
What it is: A 5x4, 178-line slot where a walking wild bull gives respins and leaves wilds behind, and three matadors start a respin challenge.
Free spins round: There are no standard free spins; the Toro Goes Wild bonus game and Matador Respin Challenge come from the bull and matador symbols.
Base game: The walking wild Toro gives chains of respins as he moves reel to reel, knocking matadors into wilds.
RTP, volatility and max win as ELK Studios publishes them, checked on November 3, 2026. A casino may run a lower RTP setting: check the game’s info screen.
The one genuinely low-volatility pick on this list, and probably the best like-for-like swap. NetEnt lists a 98.0% RTP, the top of our scale, and a 45% hit frequency. Three scatters give ten free spins, and a separate pick-a-coffin bonus adds a second feature Starburst simply doesn't have. The record notes casinos may run lower settings. Max payout in NetEnt's stats box is 900x, so the ceiling is just as low. It scores 6.4.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Return to playerData · 40%10.0
Max winData · 15%3.0
Free spins roundEditors · 30%5.0
Base gameEditors · 15%3.0
What it is: A 5x3, 25-line vampire slot. Three scatters give 10 free spins, and three bonus symbols on a line open a pick-a-coffin bonus.
Free spins round: 10 free spins from three scatters plus a separate pick-a-coffin bonus game; simple, with one twist each.
Base game: Mostly straight line hits between the scatter and bonus triggers.
RTP, volatility and max win as NetEnt publishes them, checked on November 3, 2026. A casino may run a lower RTP setting: check the game’s info screen.
Demo buttons open the free-play version on the game studio’s own site: no deposit, no account. We are not paid for them. How we make money
How Starburst plays
Ten lines, and they pay both left to right and right to left. NetEnt's page lists 10 play lines; paying both ways is how the game is commonly described, so confirm it in the paytable. Bets run from 0.10 to 100 per spin.
The one feature is the Starburst Wild. It can only land on reels 2, 3 and 4. When it does, it expands to cover the whole reel and the game gives a free respin with that wild held in place. Another wild on that respin expands and holds too, and you can chain up to three respins in a row.
That's the whole game. Short. Pleasant.
NetEnt gives a hit frequency of 23%, so a little under a quarter of spins return something, and many of those returns are smaller than the stake. Volatility is 3.1 on NetEnt's 0 to 10 scale, which we class as low. Our editors score the base game 6 out of 10: the wild respins come round often enough to break up the rhythm.
Why it scores 4.8
The Spin Score puts 30% of the weight on the free spins round. Starburst doesn't have one. The wild respin is the only bonus-like event, so it earns 2 out of 10 there, and that alone costs it more than any other factor.
Max win is the second drag. NetEnt's stats box on the game page shows a max payout of 800x. Our record flags that this box can differ from a theoretical cap quoted elsewhere, so treat 800x as NetEnt's stated figure, not a hard limit we've verified. On our log scale, 800x scores 2.8 out of 10.
The RTP of 96.08% is fine, a 7.2 on our scale. Put together it comes out at 4.8. You can see the whole method on how we score slots.
I think the score is fair for what it measures. It doesn't measure "relaxing", and Starburst is very good at that.
RTP and what to check
NetEnt publishes one figure: 96.08%. Our record doesn't list any lower setting for Starburst, unlike most of the Play'n GO and Hacksaw games ranked here. Even so, open the info screen and confirm the number before you play, since it costs nothing.
Remember what that 96.08% means. It's an average over millions of spins. Over a short session, low volatility keeps swings small, but the expected value of every spin is still negative. A slow, gentle loss is still a loss. Our RTP guide goes through this properly.
Who it suits
Someone who wants to spin at the minimum stake for a while, watch some colours and not be ambushed by a long drought. First-timers learning what a payline and a wild are. People who find bonus rounds stressful.
If you're after the chance of a big feature, this is the wrong game. There isn't one to wait for.
The list above is built from low and medium volatility slots, ordered by Spin Score. Blood Suckers is the closest swap: also NetEnt, also low volatility, with a higher RTP and a real free spins round. If you'd accept a bit more swing, Le Bandit and Dork Unit both rank far higher. Gemix keeps the gem theme. Skip anything with a bonus buy if gentle play is why you liked Starburst in the first place; buying features is the opposite of that.
96.08%, according to NetEnt's game page. Check the figure in the game's info screen at the casino you use.
What is the max win on Starburst?
NetEnt's stats box lists a max payout of 800x your stake. Other sites quote different caps, so we attribute this one to NetEnt rather than treat it as settled.
Does Starburst have free spins?
No. The only feature is the Starburst Wild, which expands on reels 2 to 4 and gives a respin, up to three in a row. Casino "free spins" offers on Starburst are promotions with wagering terms, not a feature in the game.
Is Starburst low volatility?
Yes. NetEnt rates it 3.1 out of 10 and lists a 23% hit frequency. Wins come often but are small.
Why do casinos use Starburst for free spins bonuses?
We can't speak for operators. What we can say is that any free spins bonus carries wagering terms, and a low max payout limits what those spins can return. Read our free spins bonuses guide before accepting one.
Further reading
Official sources
NetEnt: Starburst– RTP 96.08%, volatility 3.1/10, hit frequency 23%, max payout 800x in the stats box, bets 0.10-100, release, features, checked November 3, 2026
NetEnt: Blood Suckers– RTP 98.0%, volatility 2.7/10, hit frequency 45%, max payout 900x, checked November 3, 2026
