Cygnus 5 Slot by ELK Studios

Fifth entry in ELK's Cygnus series, and it loops back to where the original started - an Egyptian temple under moonlight, gold-trimmed pillars flanking the grid, twin sphinx statues standing guard on each side. Circular coin-style symbols in deep blues, reds, and greens spin against that temple backdrop while the multiplier pillar glows on the left edge.

Two mechanics define this installment. The Prism is a crystal that activates when it drops to the bottom of the grid. On the next avalanche, it fires beams of light in random directions, converting every symbol along those lines into the same paying symbol or into Wilds. If a beam hits a second Prism, chain reaction - both fire. Symbols where two beams cross become Wilds automatically. Multiplier, Bonus, and Super Bonus symbols caught in a beam get temporarily converted for that win evaluation, then revert. Wilds already on the grid ignore Prism beams entirely.

Meteor Strike is the other addition. It fires randomly after a drop or symbol refill, swapping random payout symbols for feature symbols - multipliers, prisms, bonus icons. The X-iter menu at 10x your bet guarantees a Meteor Strike on the first drop, and 25x guarantees at least two Prisms. At 100x you buy straight into the regular Bonus (7 free drops), while 500x gets Super Bonus where Meteor Strike fires on every single free drop. During Super Bonus without the buy option, the same guarantee applies - Meteors on every drop.

The multiplier pillar has six steps. Your first multiplier symbol sets the starting value, each additional one advances it, and after activation those multiplier symbols convert to Wilds before payout. Rows expand from 4 to 8 as avalanches chain, pushing ways from 4,096 up to 262,144. Cygnus 4 used a three-level pillar system - this one simplifies back to a single pillar but adds Prism chain reactions as the primary escalation path. Reach the top of the pillar and it awards the remaining amount to hit max win instantly.