Star Trek The Next Generation Review
Skywind Group released Star Trek: The Next Generation in August 2019, building a 5x4 video slot around one of television's most recognizable sci-fi franchises. The setup is a 50-payline grid with a bet range of $0.50 to $250, targeting a broad audience from casual fans to high-stakes players.
The headline mechanics are a respin system tied to enemy ship encounters, expanding symbols, a win multiplier, and a free spins round where crew members deploy to alien planets and return as wild reels. On paper that's a dense feature set for a branded title, and the high-volatility classification signals that payouts will be concentrated rather than frequent.
At 95.5% RTP, the game sits a touch below the 96% benchmark that has become standard across most mid-tier providers — a relevant consideration for longer sessions. The max win is undisclosed, which is an unusual gap in the spec sheet that players should factor into their expectations before committing real money.
RTP, Volatility, and What the Numbers Actually Mean
Star Trek: The Next Generation runs at 95.5% RTP — that's 0.5 percentage points below the 96% threshold most informed players use as a baseline when evaluating whether a slot is worth extended play. For context, Skywind's own portfolio average tends to cluster around 96%, so this title comes in slightly below the studio's typical offering.
High volatility on a 50-payline grid means the hit frequency is suppressed in favor of larger, less regular payouts. With 50 lines active, you'd expect more surface-area coverage than a 20-line game, but the volatility classification confirms that dead spins will still stack up between meaningful returns. Budget management matters here — underfunding a session on a high-variance title accelerates bankroll depletion before the bonus mechanics have a chance to trigger.
The undisclosed max win is the most notable data gap in this game's spec sheet. Without a confirmed ceiling, it's impossible to benchmark the upside against comparable licensed slots. Blueprint Gaming's Star Trek: Red Alert, for example, publishes a clear max win figure, which makes comparative value assessment straightforward. Skywind's omission here is a genuine transparency shortcoming, not a minor footnote.
How Star Trek: The Next Generation Plays
The game runs on a 5-reel, 4-row layout with 50 fixed paylines. Bets start at $0.50 and cap at $250, giving the title genuine range across both recreational and higher-stakes play styles. The base structure is straightforward enough — standard symbol matching across the grid — but the respin mechanic introduces a mid-game interruption that breaks up the spin-and-wait rhythm.
Respins are triggered through enemy ship encounters during the base game. When activated, the respin sequence can deliver additional wild symbols onto the reels or increment a win multiplier, adding a secondary layer of variance on top of the standard payline math. Scatter symbols drive entry into the free spins round, which is where the crew deployment mechanic activates.
Expanding symbols are also part of the feature set, capable of filling reel positions beyond their initial landing spot. Combined with the wild and multiplier elements, the game's feature interactions create a reasonably complex outcome space for a 2019 release. The 5x4 layout provides enough reel real estate for expanding symbols to have meaningful impact when they land in useful positions.
Bonus Features Breakdown
The respin feature is the base-game engine. Triggered by enemy ship encounters, it layers in either extra wilds or a climbing multiplier depending on the outcome — two distinct reward paths within the same trigger, which adds some unpredictability to the respin sequences.
Free spins are the headline bonus. During this round, crew members are sent to alien planets on research missions. When they return, they convert into wild reels — full-reel wilds that can stack across multiple positions simultaneously. The number of wild reels active at any point during free spins determines the upper range of what the round can pay out. This is a well-structured mechanic for a branded slot: it uses the IP's narrative logic (away missions) to justify a feature that has genuine mathematical weight.
Expanding symbols round out the feature list. These can activate in both the base game and during free spins, and their value scales with how many reel positions they cover. Scatter symbols are the free spins entry point. There is no published bonus buy feature, so access to the free spins round is gated entirely behind natural triggers — relevant for players in markets where bonus buy is a primary playing style.
Spindex Live Tracked-Bet Data
Star Trek: The Next Generation has logged approximately 3,000 tracked bets across our five crypto-casino data sources over the past 30 days. That's a modest volume figure — for comparison, high-traffic titles on Spindex typically clear 20,000+ bets in the same window — which places this slot in the mid-tail of activity rather than among the platform's most-played games.
The top recent hit recorded in our data sits at 357x. Without a published max win, it's hard to know whether that represents a near-ceiling result or a mid-range outcome, but 357x on a high-volatility game with a $250 max bet translates to a $89,250 nominal payout at maximum stake — a meaningful number in absolute terms.
The relatively low tracked-bet volume suggests this title hasn't built a large repeat-player base on crypto platforms, at least not in the current 30-day cycle. Whether that reflects the 95.5% RTP, the undisclosed max win creating uncertainty, or simply the game's age (released 2019) is difficult to isolate from the data alone. Players researching this slot based on community buzz will find it's a quieter title rather than a trending one.
Theme and Presentation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is a branded, space-adventure licensed slot built around the TV series of the same name. The thematic categories — Space, Aliens, TV series, Branded — accurately describe the content scope.
As a licensed title, the game draws on recognizable IP assets from the show. The crew deployment mechanic in free spins directly references the series' away-mission format, which is a more thoughtful integration of IP logic than many branded slots achieve. Whether the visual execution matches the license quality is subjective, but the structural connection between the show's narrative and the bonus mechanics is genuine.
Who This Slot Is Best For
The primary audience for Star Trek: The Next Generation is players who already have an affinity for the franchise and want a slot that does more than slap a logo on a generic grid. The crew-based free spins mechanic and the enemy ship respin trigger give the game enough thematic coherence to reward that interest.
High-volatility players who are comfortable with extended dry spells in exchange for concentrated bonus payouts will find the feature structure aligned with their preference. The $250 max bet also means this title is accessible to players who want genuine stake flexibility without switching to a VIP-tier product.
Casual players or those prioritizing RTP should probably look elsewhere. The 95.5% return rate and the missing max win data are two friction points that make this a harder recommendation for anyone without a specific reason to play it. Players who want a licensed space slot with better-published specs might find Blueprint's competing Star Trek titles more transparent on the numbers front.
Final Verdict
Star Trek: The Next Generation earns its place as a mid-tier branded slot with a feature set that goes beyond surface-level licensing. The respin mechanic, the crew-based wild reel free spins, and the expanding symbol layer create a game that has real mechanical depth relative to many IP tie-ins from the same era.
The drawbacks are real, though. A 95.5% RTP in 2024 is a below-average return for a non-progressive video slot, and the absence of a published max win figure is an unusual omission that limits the game's transparency. Spindex's tracked-bet data shows modest activity and a top recent hit of 357x — useful context, but not the kind of live signal that suggests this slot is currently running hot.
The base game pacing does drag before the bonus triggers arrive — a common issue with high-volatility branded slots that front-load their appeal in the free spins round. For players willing to accept those conditions in exchange for a mechanically solid licensed experience, Star Trek: The Next Generation delivers. For everyone else, the RTP alone warrants checking alternatives first.
- +Mechanically layered for a branded slot — respins, multipliers, wild reels, and expanding symbols all active
- +Crew deployment free spins mechanic ties IP narrative directly to the bonus math
- +Wide bet range ($0.50–$250) suits multiple player types
- +50 fixed paylines provide solid base-game coverage on the 5x4 grid
- -95.5% RTP is below the 96% benchmark standard for modern video slots
- -Max win is undisclosed — unusual transparency gap for a 2019 release
- -Low tracked-bet volume on Spindex suggests limited current community traction
- -No bonus buy feature; free spins access is natural-trigger only
- -Base game can run dry for extended periods before bonus mechanics engage
Best for
Star Trek: The Next Generation delivers a mechanically layered experience for a branded slot, with respins, multipliers, and a crew-based free spins round doing most of the heavy lifting. The 95.5% RTP is slightly below average, and the unlisted max win ceiling is a transparency issue. Best suited to fans of the IP who want more than a basic licensed reskin.






