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If there’s one thing slot developers love right now, it’s a scatter-pays grid slot. With Aftermath, NetEnt takes us into a gritty, post-apocalyptic scrapyard where survival means chaining together tumbles, unlocking the grid, and praying to the multiplier gods.
NetEnt has toyed with expanding grids before (think In and Out), but Aftermath goes further, with a 25,000x max win on a 96.05% RTP. But be warned: this game makes you work for it.
The Base Game: Pennies and Multipliers
You kick things off on a claustrophobic 4×6 grid enclosed by a chain-link fence. The game uses a “pay anywhere” system, land eight matching symbols anywhere in view, and they pop, triggering an avalanche that drops new symbols into the gaps.
I’ll be blunt: the base symbol values are deliberately, almost painfully, weak. Eight card symbols pay a tenth of your bet, and even eight of the top Crowned Leader return only 2.5x, which can be a bit jarring at first. But there’s a reason for this: the multiplier generator.
Every winning combination adds +1 to your spin multiplier. Because the base payouts are so low, the multiplier has to do all the heavy lifting. In my session, a clean run of three consecutive avalanches returned just 4.25x my stake. Why? Because those early combos are being multiplied by x1 or x2 before the meter has time to really heat up. The base game is a slow burn, and you will see your fair share of dead spins.
Modifiers: Timing is Everything
To help you out of the base game grind, NetEnt has included four special modifier symbols. Interestingly, these only activate after your avalanches run dry.
- The Bomb: Destroys surrounding symbols, blows open locked positions on the fence to expand the grid, and doubles the multiplier instead of just adding to it.
- The Upgrade: Transforms itself and random low-pays into premium symbols.
- The Change: Turns a local cluster into one matching symbol.
- The Purge: The holy grail of modifiers. It wipes out all low-paying symbols and grid walls, leaving only premiums behind.
This delayed-activation mechanic is a double-edged sword. Because they wait until the tumbles stop, their timing dictates their value. In one frustrating spin, I landed two Bombs. They blew the grid wide open and pushed my multiplier to x6, but because the tumbles had already finished, that x6 applied to nothing, and the round ended paying 1x.
When it works, though, it works beautifully. The Upgrade symbol proved to be the most reliable for extending my spins, frequently turning dead ends into fresh avalanches.
The Free Spins: Where the Multiplier Stays
Landing three or more scatters triggers the Free Spins, and this is where Aftermath shifts from a base game grind into something far livelier.
Inside the bonus, the multiplier does not reset between spins. Furthermore, any grid positions you blow open with a Bomb or Purge stay open for the rest of the feature (up to the full 6×8 layout).
There are two tiers to the bonus:
- Standard Free Spins: You can land Wilds that add +2 to the multiplier, though they aren’t guaranteed to drop.
- Super Bonus Spins: Triggered if a “Super Scatter” is part of your initial trigger. This tier is an absolute beast. It guarantees a Wild worth between +3 and +10 on every single spin. When a winning combo includes one of these Wilds, its value goes straight into your persistent multiplier.
If you are a casual player looking for frequent, punchy base-game wins, Aftermath will likely frustrate you. But if you’re a high-volatility chaser who loves the tension of building a massive multiplier and unlocking a grid piece by piece, NetEnt’s scrapyard is absolutely worth a visit. Just make sure you bring the bankroll to survive the apocalypse.
