Gridlock Rescue

1. 01

   Draw k is int(k, W), W = 316 being the sum of the symbol weights; the symbol is the one whose weight range the value falls in. Weights, in the order Wren Ninefold, The Bolt Warden, Glint, Key gauntlet, Grappling launcher, Glass shield, Signal flare, Cable-car token, Rivet, Prism emblem, Alarm beacon, Energy cage: 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 40, 44, 48, 52, 10, 8, 14.

2. 02

   The first 15 draws fill the grid column by column, top to bottom. A wild drawn on reel 1 or 5 becomes the last low symbol.

3. 03

   Each cascade refills the cleared cells with further draws: columns left to right, top to bottom.

4. 04

   The cage is one more entry in the weighted table (14 of 316), and may land on any reel. Breaking cages takes no draw: after each complete grid (a spin's 15 draws, or a cascade's refill), the reels holding a wild are read first; then, in one pass, every cage on such a reel or a reel next to one (in the free spins, every cage, if any wild is on the grid) becomes a wild, before ways are counted. Each paying symbol's ways are counted on their own, a wild standing for any of them, so reels 1 to 3 holding wilds alone count toward every paying symbol at once.

5. 05

   Free spins run the same way on the same stream; a bought feature has no spin before it, so its draws begin at k = 0 with its first free spin. The whole spin, feature included, is reproducible from one nonce.

float(k) and the rest of the notation are defined in the byte stream.

5 reels × 3 rows, 243 ways, left to right. Winning symbols clear and new ones fall in; each cascade in a spin climbs 1× → 2× → 3× → 5×. Wilds land on the three middle reels; a broken cage is a wild on any reel.

The Bolt Warden’s cages (Energy cages) land like any other symbol and pay nothing, so a cage breaks every way through its cell. When a Prism emblem is on the grid, Wren Ninefold breaks the cages on the Prism emblem’s reel and the reels either side of it, and every broken cage becomes a wild, on any reel. A way made of wilds alone, such as a broken cage on reel 1 with wilds on reels 2 and 3, pays as every paying symbol at once, each for as many reels as it reaches. This happens on every drop, before wins are counted; a cage broken this way does not break others, and a broken cage stays wild until it is part of a win. Jailbreak: in the free spins, one wild anywhere breaks every cage on the grid. About one spin in 11 breaks a cage.

3, 4 or 5 scatters on the first drop of a spin award 10, 12 or 15 free spins; 3, 4 or 5 on a free spin add that many again, up to 60 free spins in all. The feature can be bought for 12.86× the bet with 10 free spins, for 15.41× with 12, or for 19.29× with 15. Each price is what those spins return on average, less the house's share: no tier is a better buy than another.

Bought, the three return 96.47%, 96.52% and 96.48%, as measured (each give or take 0.19 points at most); most buys return less than they cost.

When two scatters are in view, the reels still turning stop more slowly. That is decided only by the reels that have already stopped and happens every time two are in view, whether a third comes or not: it says nothing about what the turning reels will show.

One spin, feature included, pays at most 5,000× the bet: a spin that reaches it stops there and is paid exactly that.

The return printed here was measured, not derived: 96.51%, give or take 0.10 points, over 60 million spins. 35.6% of spins pay something; the free spins come about one spin in 170 and pay 8% of the return.