Cygnus 5 Slot (ELK Studios)

The Cygnus 5 slot game is played on 6 reels and 4 rows, and there are 4,096 ways to win. The grid can grow up to 8 rows wide, which means that at its full size there are 262,144 ways to win. Wins come from landing between 3 to 6 matching symbols from left to right on consecutive reels. Symbols must start on the leftmost reel and pay from left to right with no gaps.

Bets for this game start at 20p and go up to £100. You can adjust your bet amount using the pile of coins button. Non-UK players can make use of the Quick Play function that gives the option of speeding up the spins. There is also an Autoplay function, which goes up to 100 spins. 

The RTP rate is 94%, which is below the online average of 96%. The hit frequency is 25%, which means a win takes place on average every 4 spins. You’ll find a volatility rating of 'high', i.e. a rating of 8 out of 10 plus an impressive maximum win of 50,000 x the bet.

Jenny Mason

Queen of bingo

Jenny Mason has more than 17 years of experience in the online gambling industry and has worked for some of the UK’s top betting brands. She started at OLBG in 2014 and her role involves creating great content and looking after the marketing activity. Jenny is knowledgeable in all areas of online sports betting and has an interest in slots and bingo.

Did you know the Cygnus 5 slot takes its name from the Cygnus constellation, located in our very own Milky Way galaxy? ‘Cygnus’ is the Latinised Greek word for ‘swan,’ reflecting what the constellation looks like. So there's your new fact for the day!

The Cygnus slot is part of a series of slot games where this swan-shaped constellation appears in all 5 games. The game info tells us that the Cygnus society transcends time and space - which sounds intriguing.

Set in a celestial Ancient Egyptian temple, the game’s visuals are striking. Statues of gods, marble pillars, and intricate gold patterns surround an open roof through which constellations and a radiant full moon light up the night sky. During the bonus games, the atmosphere transforms into a rich, purple-hued scene, adding to the otherworldly vibe.

The dramatic music has a spiritual nod to Eastern influences, including sitars and flutes. And the traditional slot sounds work well with the frequent avalanches dropping into place.

Like all Cygnus games, the grid looks striking with eye-catching mystical symbols encased in small, stonelike discs. 

• Blue gemstone: 3, 4, 5 or 6 = 0.05, 0.10, 0.15 or 0.20 x the bet
• Green gemstone: 3, 4, 5 or 6 = 0.05, 0.10, 0.15 or 0.20 x the bet
• Red Gemstone: 3, 4, 5 or 6 = 0.05, 0.10, 0.15 or 0.20 x the bet
• Falcon: 3, 4, 5 or 6 = 0.10, 0.15, 0.20 or 0.30 x the bet
• Serpent: 3, 4, 5 or 6 = 0.10, 0.20, 0.25 or 0.40 x the bet
• Cat: 3, 4, 5 or 6 = 0.20, 0.25, 0.30 or 0.50 x the bet
• Sun & Moon: 3, 4, 5 or 6 = 1.00, 2.00, 3.00 or 5.00 x the bet
• Wild: Substitutes for paying symbols apart from the bonus, super bonus, multiplier and prism symbols
  
  

The Cygnus 5 Mobile

ELK Studios is a mobile-first studio so you know that you’ll enjoy a top gaming experience mobile on your phone whether you use Android or iOS. The gameplay is great in both portrait and landscape modes. It’s also fully optimised for tablets and desktops, if playing on desktop a 1600×900 resolution and 16:9 aspect ratio is ideal.

There are 6 bonus features, including Alalanches, Free Spins and Super Free Spins, Meteor Strike, Multiplier Symbols and Prism Symbols.

Avalance

Any winning symbols explode and leave space for extra symbols to drop down. An additional row of symbols is added to a maximum of 8 rows. The avalanche feature continues until there are no new winning combos.

Free Spins

Landing a scatter or super scatter symbol that reaches the leftmost column triggers the free spins (Free Drops) bonus round. This round gives you 7 free spins, and the current win multiplier is carried over from the base game. If you manage to trigger the Super Spins trigger, a Meteor Strike will occur with every drop/spin.

If a scatter reaches the leftmost column, extra free spins are awarded, or if a super scatter reaches the leftmost reel during the bonus game, the round is upgraded to the Super Free Spins round.

Meteor Strike

The Meteor Strike Feature is randomly triggered and replaces a number of payout symbols on the grid with feature symbols. 

Multiplier Symbol

A multiplier symbol that reaches the leftmost column or the bottom increases the current active multiplier before transforming into a wild symbol. The multiplier increases, and the win multiplier is applied to all subsequent wins in the round. If you reach the top of the multiplier pillar (to the left of the grid)  it pays the remaining amount needed to take you to the max win. When the next game starts the multiplier resets.

Prism Symbol

A prism symbol is a crystal pyramid image that you can see in the screenshot below and is activated when it reaches the bottom. It then turns all symbols along one or more lines randomly into the same payout symbol or wilds. A prism hitting another prism starts a chain reaction as its light beam transforms all symbols along the line into the same payout symbol or wilds. Multipliers, scatters, or super scatters along a direction selected by a prism momentarily transformed into the selected symbol. These symbols revert back after the win is paid out.

X-Iter Feature Buy

If you're a non-UK slot player, you can use the feature buy functionality which ELK Studios calls X-Iter:

The Cygnus 5 slot marks the fifth instalment in this popular series, revisiting the Ancient Egyptian theme of the original Cygnus game. This game is set in a grand temple adorned with images of Egyptian gods wheras previous games in the series ventured into settings like deserts and amphitheatres.

The grid’s expanding feature is a highlight, growing up to 8 rows high for an impressive 262,144 ways to win, compared to the standard 4,096 ways. The Avalanches work well for wins as they can repeat several times and are even better when the expanded reels kick in.

The new Prism mechanic is another standout. Here, all symbols along one or more lines are transformed into the same payout symbol or wilds. Impressively, if a Prism hits another Prism, it starts a chain reaction as the Prism’s beam of light transforms all symbols along the line.

Like all ELK Studios games, the design work is outstanding, and this is a big draw for this series. The symbols and artwork on the grid stand out as some of the best out there. It's been a while since I've reviewed an ELK Studios slot which doesn't feature an animal  as so many of its games have an animal theme. 

A 50,000 times the bet max in is ELK Studios' highest amount, along with Nitropolis 3, Cygnus 2, Buffalo Toro, Nitropolis 4, Cygnus 4 and Nitropolis 5.

With a low RTP of  94.00% this is the norm for ELK Studios slot games as it hasn't produced a game at 96% or more since 2021.

Fans of Egyptian-themed slots, should check out these top games Cleopatra, Hand of Anubis, Wings of Horu,  Book of Ra Deluxe and Book of Dead - they are definitely worth exploring. 

All in all, this was an enjoyable slot. It’s not a standout of the series, but it will appeal to fans of the games and new players alike. It gets a 4 out of 5 from the OLBG team. 

The Cygnus 5 slot review was written by our slot game experts on the OLBG Expert team. I will begin with Jenny Mason, our prime slot reviewer, who has 17+ years of experience in iGaming, working for top UK brands. Jenny is an expert in slots and bingo. It was then verified by Chris Taylor from our OLBG Expert team who has written over 10,000 slot game reviews in an iGaming career spanning over 2 decades.   

Chris Taylor

The king of slots

Chris Taylor is an industry veteran originally from Gibraltar. Having worked in the online gambling industry since 2004, Chris loves slots and has reviewed over 10,000 online slot games. Running a slots-focused website for 13 years, Chris is the go-to guy for everything slots-related.