Grand Melee Demo: Sticky Respins on a Grid That Grows

How many Bonus symbols does the Grand Melee bonus need?

Five, anywhere in the game area. Thunderkick's rules also open a second route through a Sticky Respin whose chosen symbol is the Bonus symbol. Each one that lands then locks and lights the meter under the reels, and the respins run on while more arrive. Once the meter is full and the respin has ended, the free spins begin, one for every Bonus symbol on the grid. Across our 750 paid spins no more than 4 landed together, on 6 spins, and the bonus never started.

1,193 ways on paper, 466 on the starting four rows

Thunderkick's own count, printed on its game page, is 6 reels and 1,193 connecting pay ways. The rules screens add "up to" and let the game area grow to 7 rows, yet all our 750 paid spins began on four. A way runs rightwards from reel 1 over at least three reels, keeping its row or moving one up or down at each step.

Grand Melee connecting pay ways rules — Six green knights zigzag between the top two rows of a wooden 6 x 4 board on rules page 6, with a tick beside a pattern that moves one row at a time and a cross beside one that jumps two.

We counted the routes ourselves: 466 on four rows, 707 on five, 950 on six and 1,193 on seven. The page figure therefore describes the full seven-row grid, and LCB's "6 reels and 4 rows as well as 1193 ways" mixes two states.

A gold helmet under a crown, the Golden Knight, heads the paytable with 1.00 for three on a €1.00 stake, 2.50 for four, 5.00 for five and 10.00 for six. The Red Knight pays 0.80 to 5.00. Purple, green and blue knights follow, then shields marked A, K, Q, J and 10. None of the symbols is wild.

Grand Melee golden and red knight pays — Top of the symbols page at a 1.00 bet: the gold helmet pays 10.00 for six, 5.00, 2.50 and 1.00 for three, the red knight under it 5.00, 2.50, 1.50 and 0.80.

Small pays add up because one grid holds many ways. On spin 9 of our filming session, red knights on rows 3 and 4 of reel 1 and rows 2 to 4 of reels 2 and 3 connected in 12 ways of three, and 12 times 0.80 came to 9.60.

Grand Melee red knight pay ways win — Red knights glow on reels 1 to 3 on filming spin 9 at a 1.00 bet. The counter in the middle is still running at 9.25 while the payout box already reads 9.60.

Five of the chosen symbol, or nothing locks

A Sticky Respin can start on any spin. The game picks one symbol at random, never one of the three modifiers, and shows it in the arch above the reels. If five or more copies are on the grid they lock and the rest spin again, each new copy locking as it lands, until a respin brings none. Wins on the locked ways count when the respins stop, and the grid returns to four rows.

Grand Melee Sticky Respin feature rules — Green knights stay locked on a 6 x 4 board on rules page 1 while the free reels blur, and another green knight sits in the arch between Grand and Melee.

That selection promises nothing. Our 750 spins showed a chosen symbol 50 times: 30 had 5 to 11 copies and respun, while 20 found 2 to 4 and the spin ended there. Of the 30 respins, 16 paid something, and the fullest finished with 16 symbols locked.

What the Upgrade and the two Expansions do inside a respin

Three feature symbols change a respin. Symbol Upgrade turns every current sticky symbol into a more valuable one. The two Expansion symbols both become the sticky symbol: Symbol Expansion then fills its whole reel with sticky copies, while Game Area Expansion adds a row at the bottom, up to seven rows, of random symbols that can include feature and Bonus symbols.

Grand Melee Game Area Expansion rules — On rules page 4 the Game Area Expansion symbol glows in the top row among locked purple knights, with arrows pointing up from the bottom row and a purple knight in the arch.

All three acted only during respins in our log: Symbol Expansion 4 times, Game Area Expansion 5 times, Symbol Upgrade 3 times. Each Game Area Expansion added a single row, so no spin of ours went past five rows and the full 1,193 ways never came into play.

On spin 370 the Golden Knight was chosen with 5 on the grid. The first respin dropped a Symbol Expansion on reel 1, which filled the reel with knights, and 3 more locked after it. In the end 12 ways of five Golden Knights connected at 5.00 each for 60x the stake, the most any of our spins paid.

Free spins, one for each Bonus symbol left on the grid

Five or more Bonus symbols anywhere in the game area trigger the Bonus Game, and a Sticky Respin that chose the Bonus symbol locks each one and lights the meter below the reels. That is where the rules screens we captured end. Thunderkick's rules document adds that the game triggers or retriggers once the meter is full and the respin has ended, and that the meter resets with every spin and free spin. Each Bonus symbol left on the grid is worth one free spin, and the game page promises a Sticky Respin on every one.

Grand Melee Bonus Game meter rules — Bonus symbols, each a crown between two swords over a pink banner, sit locked on reels 1 and 3 of rules page 5, and the BONUS meter under the reels is lit in gold.

We never saw it. Neither our 750 logged spins nor the 80 we filmed reached the Bonus Game, so this section rests on the rules, and we cannot say how long a round lasts or what a retrigger adds. In the log 237 spins showed at least one Bonus symbol, and the most on one spin was four, 6 times.

750 spins without free spins, and a balance last ahead on spin 69

We paid €750.00 for 750 spins at €1.00 and got €413.10 back, 55.1% against the listed 96.17%. One spin in five paid, 20.0%, and just over half of those returned the stake or less.

750paid spins at €1.00 in the demo
55.1%of the stakes paid back
60xbest single spin
0free spins rounds triggered

Spins that reached 10x numbered 9, and only spin 370 passed 50x. The balance touched €5,021.40 on spin 30, stood above the starting €5,000.00 for the last time on spin 69 and reached its low, €4,663.10, on the final spin. The worst losing run lasted 19 spins.

Running balance of our 750 paid spins at €1.00: €5,000.00 at the start (dashed line), minus every stake, plus every win. Free spins did not start in this run.

For a game rated High, a session with no bonus round is a thin sample. Thunderkick's game page gives 96.17%, the build in this demo, and a casino may load the 94.18%, 92.15%, 90.15% or 87.15% version in its place.

Connecting routes are not new on this site. Hellapeños spreads 100 connecting paylines over 5 reels, 3-3-4-4-4 rows, and Tutan Kha-boom stacks 99 pay ways on a 3x5 grid. Both sell their bonus, which this game does not.

Without the bonus, Grand Melee rests on the respin. The 30 spins with one paid €150.50 of our €413.10, including 3 of the 9 that reached 10x, and the modifiers turned up 12 times. That makes it a game for watching a grid lock up symbol by symbol, and a poor pick for anyone who wants free spins on demand.

Things to know before the first knight locks

Past the help screens, we answer from the server's responses to our spins.

Can the Grand Melee bonus be bought?

No. Thunderkick's rules and information sheet describe no feature buy, and the demo server lists none for this game, so the only way in is five Bonus symbols or a Sticky Respin that chooses the Bonus symbol.

Does every chosen symbol lead to a respin?

No. The symbol shown above the reels needs 5 or more copies in the game area before anything locks. Of the 50 choices in our 750 spins, 20 found only 2 to 4 copies, and those spins ended at once with no respin.

What does a retrigger add to the free spins?

The rules list retriggers, and a full BONUS meter after a respin retriggers the Bonus Game, but no page we could read gives the number of extra spins. With no bonus round in our log, we have no figure of our own.

Why do some listings give 1,193 ways on a six-by-four grid?

They join two states of the game. The base area has four rows, and 1,193 is the count for the full seven. By our own arithmetic four rows give 466 connecting ways, five give 707 and six 950.

Can the Bonus symbol be the chosen symbol of a Sticky Respin?

Yes, the rules allow it, and it is the second way into the Bonus Game. In our 50 selections the game never chose it, so we have not seen that route in play.