| Provider | Microgaming |
|---|
What on Earth is a Microgaming video slot built around a comic sci-fi premise: aliens have come to Earth, but they are more interested in abducting fruit than humans. The game runs on a 5-reel, 3-row layout with 9 adjustable paylines. With an RTP of 95.98% and low-medium volatility, it sits in the lower-mid range of Microgaming's back catalogue - playable and genuinely entertaining, but not a game you would choose for maximum return potential.
Bets run from £0.01 per line up to £45 per spin across all 9 paylines. You can adjust how many lines are active on each spin, which is increasingly rare in modern slots. Minimum cost to cover all lines is £0.09 per spin.
Theme and Symbols
The reel set blends classic fruit machine iconography with an outer-space backdrop. Symbols include an orange styled as a sun, a cherry trailing like a comet, purple plum-planets that orbit like Saturn, a green melon asteroid, and a spaceship control console. The top symbol is a blue alien peering from a porthole, which appears regularly enough to feature prominently in most winning sessions.
Fruit symbols dominate the lower end of the pay table. Five oranges across a payline return 150 coins; five cherries pay 100. The control console and alien porthole are the mid-tier symbols, each returning 400 coins for five of a kind on a maximum coin bet. The wild is the What on Earth logo - an image of Earth overlaid with the game title. It is the highest-paying symbol on the reels, awarding up to 7,500 coins for five in a line, but it only substitutes for the two top symbols (the alien porthole and the control console), not the full symbol set.
The restricted wild substitution is worth understanding before you play. In most slots the wild fills in for every symbol. Here it only covers the two highest-value base symbols, which limits how often it contributes to wins involving the lower-value fruit icons.
Scatter Symbols and Bonus Triggers
Three scatter symbols exist, each triggering different bonus games depending on which combination lands. The red rocket appears on all five reels. The blue spaceship and green UFO are restricted to reels 3, 4, and 5. Scatter combinations must land on adjacent reels to activate the bonus round - they do not pay on scattered positions across non-consecutive reels.
Scatter payouts from red rockets appearing on any reels: 3 scatters pays 3x your total stake, 4 scatters pays 25x, and 5 scatters pays 100x. These scatter pays are separate from the bonus activation.
Beam 'Em Up Bonus
The primary bonus feature is the Beam 'Em Up Bonus, activated when three or more scatter symbols land on consecutive reels. You are presented with five aliens in their spaceships. Selecting one reveals a multiplier applied to your triggering stake, ranging from 3x at the low end to 200x at the top. The outcome is a single pick - straightforward, quick, and luck-dependent.
Within the Beam 'Em Up Bonus, two further outcomes are possible depending on which alien you select. Picking the Contest symbol triggers the Beam 'Em Up Contest. Picking the Globe symbol activates the Destination Bonus.
Beam 'Em Up Contest
In the Beam 'Em Up Contest, your chosen alien races against others to beam up as many earthlings as possible before a countdown timer expires. The more earthlings your alien captures, the higher the multiplier awarded. The range is 3x to 200x your stake. It is the most interactive of the three bonus types, though the outcome is determined by a random draw rather than any skill element.
Destination Bonus
The Destination Bonus sends you to one of four cities - London, New York, Cairo, or Beijing. You pick a local character to beam up, with each city offering different earthlings worth different multipliers. The rarest pick, the globe symbol, awards 400x your total stake, making this the highest-paying outcome in the entire game. In practical terms the 400x prize is rare, but it provides the ceiling that separates What on Earth from many other low-volatility picks.
There are no free spins in this game. All bonus outcomes are multiplier-based, applied once per trigger. The absence of a free spins round is unusual for a Microgaming 5-reel slot, but the three-tier bonus structure compensates by offering varied gameplay within each activation.
How It Plays
What on Earth is a low-medium volatility game, which means the base game delivers small wins frequently and the bonus rounds arrive at a reasonable cadence. Sessions are unlikely to see dramatic swings in either direction. The 9-payline structure is narrower than most modern slots, which reduces the frequency of multi-line wins but keeps the game readable - you can track exactly which lines are active and which symbols matter.
The three different bonus outcomes add variety that most pick-and-click features lack. Hitting the Destination Bonus and revealing the 400x globe on a meaningful stake is the memorable moment this slot is built around - it does not happen often, but the anticipation of the City pick gives the bonus some tension that a straight multiplier reveal does not.
The RTP of 95.98% is slightly below the mid-range for Microgaming titles. Games like Thunderstruck II (96.65%) and Avalon (97.13%) return more over time. If RTP is a priority, those are stronger choices. What on Earth earns its place based on the bonus variety and a theme that takes an unlikely premise and executes it with a light touch.
Autoplay is available via Expert mode, offering up to 500 automatic spins. There is no bonus buy option, and no progressive jackpot. The max cash jackpot from a single spin at maximum coin bet is $75,000, based on the 7,500-coin wild payout at maximum denomination.
Related Microgaming Slots
Players who enjoy What on Earth often move between Microgaming's classic 5-reel, 9-payline library. Big Break uses a similar pick-bonus structure with a surfing theme. Spring Break (96.1% RTP) covers comparable volatility territory with a beach setting. Ladies Nite offers the same reel configuration with a free-spins round instead. For a broader look at what the studio makes, the Microgaming games page covers the full catalogue available at UK-licensed online casinos.
What on Earth - Key Stats
- Provider: Microgaming
- Reels: 5
- Rows: 3
- Paylines: 9 (adjustable)
- RTP: 95.98%
- Volatility: Low-Medium
- Min Bet: £0.01 per line / £0.09 all lines
- Max Bet: £45 per spin
- Wild: What on Earth Logo (substitutes for top 2 symbols only)
- Scatter: Red Rocket (all reels), Blue Spaceship, Green UFO (reels 3-5)
- Bonus Features: Beam 'Em Up Bonus (3x-200x), Beam 'Em Up Contest (3x-200x), Destination Bonus (up to 400x)
- Free Spins: No
- Progressive Jackpot: No
- Max Win: 400x stake (Destination Bonus globe) / 7,500 coins (wild paytable)
Where to Play What on Earth
These online casinos carry Microgaming games including What on Earth. Read our Donbet review or browse all casino reviews.
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