World Eaters

World Eaters Review

What started as an eccentric and charming release called Slurpy has now metastasized into a somewhat grotesque sequel featuring monsters that gobble up entire neighborhoods in one fell swoop. ELK’s World Eaters slot certainly lives up to the name in that regard, and there are even 5 different worlds on the menu in this game. You start in the idyllic beach setting of the Whale world, and each world offers a unique feature that eventually brings you to the next world.

Before we get to all that, however, let’s cover the basics. You start by choosing your preferred bet level between €0.20 to €100 per spin, which should satisfy most types of players. You win when at least 1 of the 2 monster Collectors atop the 5x5 grid can eat symbols that match their color, which happens when the cluster of matching symbols has a clear path to the top row. The winning symbols are houses of different shapes and colors, paying between 0.05x to 0.2x per symbol that’s eaten.

World Eaters Slot - Reels Screen

An “inverse” cascading reels mechanic kicks in when you win, as symbols cascade upwards instead of downwards in the World Eaters slot. Symbols can land stacked multiple symbols high per position, indicated by a number, and multiplier wilds that partake in a win add their multiplier value to build the global win multiplier. This multiplier resets per round, and uncollected coin symbols are collected in a piggy bank collector that eventually explodes to trigger a coin and matching symbols feature.

As mentioned, there are 5 worlds in World Eaters, and each world offers a unique feature symbol that triggers 3 times before you move to the next world. All symbols are stacked in the bonus round, which plays out on an expanded 7x7 grid. A UFO symbol can unleash the Ultra Beast multi-eyed alien Collector, which eats all symbols in view up to multiple times. This can help close you in on the 10,000x max win of the World Eaters slot, and this is a medium volatility game with a below-average RTP of 94%.

World Eaters Features

We strongly suggest that you test the World Eaters free play demo both before and after reading about this game’s features. This way, you will know what we are talking about, and it will help you to quickly grasp what is going on when you play the demo a second time after reading the description below. Let’s get started!

Collectors, Stacked Symbols, and Inverse Cascading Reels

There are 2 Collector monsters at the top of the grid per spin, and they will eat all symbols of matching colors that have a clear path to the top row. Each symbol that a Collector eats adds its value to the total win, and stacked symbols are indicated by a number that equals the number of symbols in that position.

The gaps left by the eaten symbols are filled by existing symbols moving upwards, with new symbols added from the bottom until the grid is full once again. The Collector on the left is removed as a new Collector comes in from the right, and this whole process repeats for each cascade until you hit a non-winning cascade. The Collectors come in 4 colors: blue, green, purple, and red, as do the winning symbols that tend to land in clusters.

Global Multiplier

The Global Multiplier starts at x1 and boosts all wins once it’s been increased above that starting level. You need multiplier wild symbols to be part of a win to increase the Global Multiplier, as these multiplier wilds add their value to the Global Multiplier within each round. The Global Multiplier resets to x1 between each round.

Coins and the Piggy Bank Collector

Coins pay their value when they have a clear path to the top of the grid and are also boosted by the global multiplier, just like regular wins. Uncollected coins are collected by the Piggy Bank Collector at the end of the round, and this can trigger a Coin Row Drop if the Piggy Bank explodes. This happens randomly as coins are collected, filling the bottom row with coins and the rest of the positions with matching symbols. Avoid changing your bet level to keep your current Piggy Bank status intact.

Grey Houses

Grey House symbols usually serve as blocker symbols that do nothing. However, if the Grey House symbol is adjacent to a winning symbol, either horizontally or vertically, it will be transformed into a single symbol of the same type and eaten with the rest of the winning symbols of that type.

World Features Symbols

There are 5 different worlds in the World Eaters slot, and you change to a new world when the current world’s feature has triggered 3 times. Here is an overview of the 5 worlds and their respective feature:

• Whale - while serving as a blocker symbol, the whale will remove all pay symbols on the same reel when there are no more wins in a round. The whale also removes itself.
• Pipe - allows Collectors to collect matching symbols from the locked bottom row, but only if there is a clear path to the top row.
• Fireworks - turns any Grey House blocker symbol into a multiplier wild if the firework symbol is present together with at least one Grey House.
• Tree & Forest - tree symbols spread forests to all adjacent empty positions after a win, and the forest symbols then turn into matching symbols or multiplier wilds.
• Volcano - the volcano symbol makes the Collector that collects it go berserk, removing the other Collector as well as all unmatching pay symbols. This stacks matching symbols up to be collected, and a new cascade occurs. This repeats until you land a non-winning cascade.

You start in the Whale world, as the 4 other worlds are unlocked. Once you have triggered the Whale feature 3 times, you move on to the Pipe world, then the Fireworks, Trees & Forest, and finally the Volcano world. Progression is saved for each bet level.

World Eaters Free Spins

The Bonus Round triggers when you land 3 scatter symbols on the same spin or within the same cascading sequence. Either way, you get 3 free spins (or super drops, as they are called in this game), and the grid expands to 7x7 for the duration of the bonus round. The whale, pipes, fireworks, trees, and volcano symbols do not appear, but you may land a UFO feature symbol instead.

In addition, all pay symbols are stacked with at least 2 symbols per position in the bonus round, and you win +1 extra free spin per scatter that lands. The aforementioned UFO symbol unleashes the Ultra Beast, which replaces the current Collectors. It eats all the symbols on the grid, awarding their total value. This can repeat for multiple cascades, until the Ultra Beast is replaced by the regular Collectors again. Also, Ultra Beast rounds are not subtracted from the free spins counter.

World Eaters Slot - Free Spins

World Eaters Bonus Buy (not UK)

The X-iter Bonus Buy menu is available in certain regions, and here’s an overview of what’s up for grabs in the World Eaters slot:

• Bonus Hunt - pay 3x your stake to increase the bonus round chances.
• Mega Bonus Hunt - Pay 10x your stake to increase the bonus round chances even more.
• Epic Bonus Hunt - Pay 25x your stake for the highest possible bonus round chances.
• FS Bonus - Pay 100x your stake to trigger the free spins bonus round.
• Super FS Bonus - Pay 500x your stake to get the bonus round with a starting global multiplier of x10.

Theme & Graphics

World Eaters is a strange mix of idyllic, cartoon-style visuals and bizarre monsters slurping up rows of buildings like it’s their morning cereal. The serene tropical beach backdrop adds to the strangeness of this game’s theme, with the idyllic sound of the waves hitting the shore being a stark contrast to the apocalyptic scenario playing out. The path to the different worlds is stacked up on a scroll to the left, and the flying piggy bank hangs out in the top right corner. The repetitive soundtrack adds to the weird vibe as a new pair of monsters pop up for each round.

World Eaters Free Play

There’s no doubt that this is the kind of game you just have to try for yourself and see, as no description will truly make you understand if you’ll like what ELK has come up with here. This is why we encourage you to check the free World Eaters demo located at the top of this review page. It is the only way to make sense of everything you’ve read thus far and understand how the strange mechanics come together. We also hope you take the time to read our verdict below, and also leave a comment to tell us what you think after you’ve sampled the World Eaters free play version.

Pros and Cons of World Eaters

Our Verdict

You can say what you will about ELK Studios, but one thing is for sure: they are never boring. World Eaters is a good way to follow up their highly original charmer called Slurpy, as it takes the already unorthodox concept in a completely different and more bizarre direction. With the introduction of 5 different worlds, you get a more varied experience in World Eaters compared to the more domestic original game. The worlds could’ve perhaps been more tailored to each monster, though, instead of just “random” idyllic backdrops.

Another thing that sticks out like a sore thumb is the rather annoying soundtrack. This is far from the standard we’re used to from ELK, unless it's designed to get on your nerves on purpose, in which case, it does a great job. Luckily, you can turn it off while keeping the game sounds. The symbol-eating win system is just as fun this time around, but can be equally frustrating when things don’t go your way. However, it’s highly satisfying to see the symbols being gobbled up in lengthy cascading sequences, which do happen once in a while.

The coin symbols seem a tad superfluous in this game, though, at least in my humble opinion. There is more than enough going on already, but I guess you don’t mind it too much when the piggy bank coin collector finally explodes and triggers its feature. The global multiplier growing from wild wins works pretty well, although it seldom amounts to all that much in the base game. The grey house symbols only truly come to their right in the fireworks world, where they can be transformed into multiplier wilds. Again, not the most elegant solution in my opinion.

The stacked symbols shine mostly in the bonus round, since all symbols are stacked there. However, the stacks are often limited to 2 symbols per position, at least on the initial win or wins. The Ultra Beast can do serious damage during the bonus, though, so keep your eyes peeled for that UFO symbol. Having 3 ante bet options without specifying the increase in bonus round chances is a bit strange, and we hope ELK becomes more transparent in the future. Clearly, World Eaters will not be for everyone, but fans of Slurpy should definitely give it a try.