Wild Swarm 2

Wild Swarm 2: Slot Overview

In some ways, it's quite amusing how an activity as vilified as online gambling can be (in certain quarters, let's not get into the debate) is also rife with cute, loveably presented games. Fruits are a common one, as are leprechauns, cuddly wild animals, and candy. Another charming as-it-gets creature that buzzes in and out of the gambling scene is bees, and 2018 saw the release of Push Gaming's Wild Swarm, one of the more enduring options in the bee slot category. Fast forward 6 years or so, and the team has returned to the honey pot for another foray. The result is Wild Swarm 2 and, is a mix of older parts from the original game, a retuned engine, and some aftermarket add-ons.

We're still in the forest for Wild Swarm 2 - one that's just as easy on the eyes as the first one was. The music is as jolly as pie, too, and Wild Swarm 2 does a great job of washing away the real world to pull you into a make-believe one where, when putting aside the monarchist tendencies of the queen bee, everyone flits about gathering nectar to make honey for the good of the hive like an insectoid communistic wet dream.

Held together by planks of wood is Wild Swarm 2's 5-reel, 4-row gaming panel, where 20 paylines are inlaid for the purposes of win evaluation. Where the original Wild Swarm was a medium-high volatile slot, Wild Swarm 2 bumps this setting up to high, and where the original offered an exceptionally high RTP of 97.03% (highest setting), the sequel doesn't disappoint either with a default RTP of 96.67%. Bets of 10 c to $/€100 per spin are up for selection, as are four bonus buy options.

Nipping along to the pay symbols, we find leafy J-A low pays, then a purple flower, a white flower, a jar of honey, a crown, and honey dripping dollar sign as the highs. For hitting 5 matching low pays, the rewards are 0.5 to 0.7 times the bet, or 1.25x to 15x for hitting 5 matching high pays. The Wild Honey and Sticky Wild symbols are wild, substituting for all other paying symbols. They also have the same payout value as the highest-value pay symbol. However, Sticky Wilds do not appear in the base game.

Wild Swarm 2: Slot Features

If you've fired up the first Wild Swarm slot, then there will likely be cosy warmth produced by going through Wild Swarm 2's familiar features while raising an eyebrow in anticipation of the new parts, which largely involve reel multipliers.

Sticky Wild

The wild symbol with the bee on it is the Sticky Wild, appearing only in free spins and the Swarm Mode feature. Any Sticky Wilds landing anywhere are sticky, so they are held in place until the feature ends.

Chest Feature

Landing a Chest symbol in the base game, free spins or Swarm Mode triggers the Chest feature. Next, 5 Hidden Chest Prizes are presented for the player to pick from. When one is selected, the prize is revealed and awarded. Prizes in the base game include bet multipliers of 2x to 1,000x, free spins, Swarm Boost, which grants an instant increase of the Hive Meter, or Instant Swarm Mode. Prizes during free spins or Swarm Mode include bet multipliers, 1-6 extra free spins, or a Sticky Wilds Reel with a multiplier.

Collectable Bees

During the base game, when a bee symbol lands, it flies to the hive where it is collected, leaving behind a wild honey symbol in its place. The two types of bees are the worker bee, which increases the hive meter in the hive by +1 segment, and queen bees, who increase the hive meter by +5 segments when flying to the hive. When the hive has reached the maximum level of 5, and a bee symbol lands, there is a chance the hive explodes, triggering the Swarm Mode feature. The Queen Bee has a higher chance of triggering the feature.

Free Spins

• Landing 3 scatter triggers 7 free spins and 3 guaranteed Sticky Wilds.
• Landing 4 scatters grant 8 free spins and 4 guaranteed Sticky Wilds.
• Landing 5 scatters award 10 free spins and 5 guaranteed Sticky Wilds.

The feature can also be awarded as a Chest Prize in the base game. These guaranteed Sticky Wilds are applied to reels with multipliers. When Sticky Wilds hit, they remain in position until the round ends. Reel multipliers of x2 and x4 are placed above reels 2 and 4 for the free spins feature, respectively. Filling these reels with Sticky Wilds applies the Reel Multiplier value to each Sticky Wild below it. Filling that reel also awards +1 free spin. Sticky Wild Multipliers are additive.

Swarm Mode

Swarm Mode is activated when the Hive explodes after collecting a bee on level 5 or by picking it from the base game Chest feature. Swarm Mode starts with 10 free spins, and Reel Multipliers are placed above each reel – x2, x3, x4, x6, and x8 in this order. Before the first spin, a stack of Sticky Wild symbols is randomly placed on one of the reels (this does not grant extra free spins). At the end of Swarm Mode, a new Hive appears with a random level of 2, 3, or 4 and is partly filled by 40%-60%.

Bonus Buy

Here, players can buy free spins triggered by 3 scatters for 74x the bet (RTP 96.83%), 4 scatters for 139x the bet (RTP 96.88%), 5 scatters for 332x the bet (96.87%), or random scatters for 125x the bet (RTP 96.84%).

Wild Swarm 2: Slot Verdict

Doing a sequel to a beloved piece of work must be a daunting proposal, surely. It's a balancing act of keeping familiar aspects in there, adding new stuff, all the time trying not to come across as too radically different, thereby repelling the fan base like a celebrity's over-the-top cosmetic surgery, nor being so the same that the entire venture feels pointless. Push Gaming has shown on more than one occasion that it is up to the task of turning out solid sequel-y slots, such as those in the 'Fat' range, and who can forget the toothy follow-up Razor Returns? Now, the studio has turned its worker bees' attention to producing Wild Swarm 2, which, for the most part, should thrill players who dug what the team did the first time around but who wouldn't say no to a little bit more.

Or a lot more when dealing with winning potential, which has risen from 2018 levels to a higher 10,000x the bet win cap. The jump has no doubt been made possible in part due to the inclusion of Reel Multipliers. Such is the power of multiplication in an online slot. Cleverly, Wild Swarm 2 teases them out in the free spins round, bestowing just two reels in that phase before going full force in the Wild Swarm Mode by chucking multipliers above each and every reel. The next part of the puzzle is completed by filling reels with Sticky Wilds as if sticky wilds weren't desirable enough on their lonesome. While all this is going on, Wild Swarm 2 delivers lashings of the warm fuzzy time in the woods presented in the original release.

In other words, Wild Swarm 2 is as charming and cuddly as ever while possessing greater capabilities to cut loose on the reels. Not sure if Wild Swarm 2 will make the same sort of impact as Razor Returns; it doesn't feel so, but the game is still a good one, suitable for returning fans of the first or anyone looking for a bee slot sporting a potent sting in its tail.