Vexmoor’s Takeover

1. 01

   Draw k is int(k, W), W = 298 being the sum of the symbol weights; the symbol is the one whose weight range the value falls in. Weights, in the order Doctor Vexmoor, The Pearl Paragon, Sloshby, Shrink ray, Blueprint tube, Bolt-drone, Crab bot, Coil spring, Spark bulb, Hex Engine, Domination globe: 10, 16, 20, 24, 28, 40, 44, 48, 52, 8, 8.

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 takeover takes no draw: on each free spin's first grid (its 15 draws), if a cell shows Hex Engine, each low symbol's cells are counted; the low with the most (a tie going to the one later in the order above) has every one of its cells turned into Doctor Vexmoor, the first symbol, before ways are counted. Refills are not taken over.

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. In the base game the Hex Engine is an ordinary wild.

Hostile Takeover: in the free spins, when a Hex Engine is in the landed grid, the commonest minion on the grid (Bolt-drone, Crab bot, Coil spring, Spark bulb) is taken over: every one of its cells becomes Doctor Vexmoor before wins are counted. If two or more minions are tied, the one later in that list is taken. Only the landing of a free spin is taken over, not symbols that fall in later, and the Pearl Paragon never changes sides. About one free spin in 5 is taken over.

3, 4 or 5 scatters on the first drop of a spin award 8, 10 or 14 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 31.52× the bet with 8 free spins, for 39.37× with 10, or for 55.1× with 14. 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 96.29%, 96.30% and 96.29%, as measured (each give or take 0.26 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 8,000× the bet: a spin that reaches it stops there and is paid exactly that.

The return printed here was measured, not derived: 96.31%, give or take 0.15 points, over 60 million spins. 36.2% of spins pay something; the free spins come about one spin in 145 and pay 22% of the return.