Bet365 Vegas Slot Review: Cyrus The Virus

A game about a virus and strange microscopic germs doesn’t sound like a recipe for a winning slot, but then if you think that way then perhaps you have not yet come across the exciting new game from Yggdrasil Gaming Cyrus the Virus. The game is available to play right now at Bet365 Vegas and if the name of the slot sounds familiar, then that is because it is also the name of the psychopathic killer (played by John Malkovich) who was Nicholas Cage mortal enemy in the film Con Air.

In this somewhat cuter affair, Cyrus the Virus (although we’re not quite sure which of the seven viral beings are Cyrus to be brutally honest) is joined by half a dozen of his microscopic friends as they populate the reel in this 5×3 reel slot which features just 10 paylines in total. There’s no other symbols on the reels apart from the Virus symbols and the Wild symbol, which we will come onto in a bit more detail in the section below.

The 10 paylines are in play on every spin and you can play from £0.10 per spin up to £40.00 per spin depending on the size of your bankroll and there is an in game jackpot of 2,000 coins to be won, which can be won direct from the base game. Set against the backdrop of what looks like a green petri dish, or may well just be some rather worrying mould, Cyrus the Virus is an unashamedly cutesy slot that has an unusual theme and higher variance than most. The question is though; do these elements combine to make it into a playable and enjoyable slot? Let’s take a closer look and find out.

Key Information

The first thing to note is that with Cyrus the Virus you may only have 10 paylines but what you do have that is different to most slots, is that the paylines operate both ways across the reels, from left to right and also from right to left. There are five paylines running left to right and five running right to left and as a result, in the Cyrus the Virus slot, the four outer reels on each spin are resolved first, and the middle reel is the last to finish as you are fully invested in the spin until the end this way.

When you do land a winning spin then the markers that identify each of the 10 paylines will zap the symbols that form part of the winning payline and in doing so reveal how much each winning payline has cost you. With each of the symbols able to be stacked three symbols high on the reels, it is possible for you to land multiple winning paylines on a single spin and it is through these multiple payline wins that the bigger value wins can be landed on the slot.

The only feature of the Cyrus the Virus slot is the Wild symbol which appears only on the middle reel of the game. When you land the Wild however, it will expand to cover the entire middle reel and in addition to awarding you any immediate wins, you also get a free respin of the four outer reels with the Wilds locked in place for the respin. This again offers you the chance of an additional win following landing the Expanding Wild on that middle reel.

Other than this single bonus feature, there are no other features on the slot. The game is about pure slot gaming at its most basic level, albeit with a more volatile payout structure which means players with smaller bankrolls really need to adopt a very careful strategy when playing the slot.

How to win at the Cyrus the Virus Slot

We have already ascertained that there are not any bonus games to target on the Cyrus the Virus slot which can help you stand more chance of a bigger win. The only bonus feature is the Wild symbol and to be honest, this feature, while offering you a decent chance of a win when triggered, doesn’t massively increase the chances of you landing the higher paying virus symbols across the paylines.

When you do this, the rewards for landing more of these symbols is vastly increased rewards and in truth the only strategy that works to land you bigger wins is to play at a level you can afford to have a great many spins at and to take a longer term view of the slot, rather than short term as in most of your short term sessions, you will likely not end up the right side of profit.

The speed of the Cyrus the Virus slot is made possible by this simplicity and as a standalone slot game, the slot works very well indeed. There’s superb presentation, as always from Yggdrasil Gaming, and the mechanics of the slot are a distinct reminder of the hugely popular Starburst slot from NetEnt, although to be fair, I think that giant still has the edge in terms of more middle of the road volatility and more exciting gameplay. You can at least trigger two Wilds on Starburst and get more paylines on that game than you do Cyrus the Virus.

Patience is the key to landing the bigger wins and due to the variance of the slot, you may have to play a long while to hit a bigger win, or you can play just a few spins and land a fabulous win. That’s the type of slot Cyrus the Virus is and if that sounds like something you would enjoy, as a great many slot players do, then it will certainly tick all the right boxes for you.