Overload
A single-step instant game. The player picks an operating mode and a bet and presses OVERLOAD: current surges from the reactor core through five mechanisms (a–e) to five collectors, each showing its value. Every powered collector adds its value, and the total is the round's return multiplier × the bet (the total includes the stake). Purple seals can appear on live mechanisms; three or more trigger a reactor breach: every live line connects to its collector, then the total is boosted by the mode's breach ladder. One press = one round: one stake, one draw, one payout, and nothing is decided after the press.
The outcome is decided by the RNG at the bet: one draw picks one entry of the mode's exact catalogue — which collectors are powered, the wiring, and how many seals appear. The current, the sparks, the seals and the breach sequence are presentation: the client animates the outcome the server returned and cannot change it.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Game ID | overload |
| Engine version | 1.1.0 (catalogue 2) |
| Type | single_step |
| Volatility | Player-selectable: Spark low, Surge medium, Meltdown high (registered as medium) |
| Max Win | 500× bet (a total meltdown in Meltdown mode; Spark 100×, Surge 250×) |
| RTP variants | 92.00% / 94.00% / 96.00% / 97.00% — exact for every accepted round, uncapped or under any operator or money cap (a round whose cap would fall below 2× is refused); payouts round down to the minor unit |
| Minimum stake | 100 minor units (1.00 in 2-decimal currencies), over any lower operator setting |
| Random draws | One per round, at the bet |
| Theme | A reactor core, five mechanisms, five collectors and a breach ladder |
How a round works
| Phase | Description | Player input |
|---|---|---|
| Set up | Choose the operating mode and the bet | Mode selector, bet |
| Surge | The stake is debited, ONE draw decides the whole circuit, and the round settles in the same call | Press OVERLOAD, tap the power core, or Enter / Space |
| Reveal | The client runs the current to the collectors; seals appear on live mechanisms; three or more seals play the breach (every live line connects, then the ladder's boost); the result and the balance are shown as it settles | None |
The round is complete when the response arrives: there is no round to resume, cash out or abandon. Returns at or below the stake are shown neutrally ("Partial return", "Stake returned"), never as a win.
Operating modes
The three modes share the machine. Each has its own collector values and its own breach ladder; the higher the values, the rarer the connections:
- Spark — frequent returns, controlled voltage.
- Surge — more volatility, more possibility.
- Meltdown — rare connections, extreme current.
| Mode | Bet value (mode) | Collector values a · b · c · d · e | Full board | Breach boost 3 / 4 / 5 seals | Smallest breach | Max win |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spark | spark | 0.25× · 0.50× · 1.00× · 1.25× · 2.00× | 5× | ×2 / ×5 / ×20 | 4× | 100× |
| Surge | surge | 0.50× · 1.50× · 2.50× · 3.50× · 4.50× | 12.50× | ×3 / ×8 / ×20 | 16.50× | 250× |
| Meltdown | meltdown | 2.00× · 3.00× · 4.00× · 6.00× · 10.00× | 25× | ×4 / ×10 / ×20 | 44× | 500× |
Breach names follow the seal count: 3 seals REACTOR BREACH, 4 CHAIN REACTION, 5 TOTAL MELTDOWN. A breach pays every live line's collector × the boost, so it always pays well — at least 4× in Spark, 16.50× in Surge and 44× in Meltdown before any max-win cap — even on a round whose current powered nothing. Every one of the 32 line patterns can occur in every mode. The values and boosts are the same in every RTP variant; a lower variant only makes an empty round a little more likely.
Every accepted round returns the RTP
Each mode's catalogue entries carry integer weights over an exact draw range, built so that the mode returns the variant's RTP exactly — not approximately, and never above. There is no decision after the press, so no way of playing returns more or less than the RTP: choosing a mode changes the spread of results, not their average.
| Variant | Mode | RTP | Below the RTP (points) | Max win | SD of one round (stakes) | Rounds to 99.9% house-ahead (normal approximation, optimistic for right-skewed outcomes) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| rtp-92 | Spark | 92.00% | 0 (exact) | 100× | 1.794 | 4,804 |
| rtp-92 | Surge | 92.00% | 0 (exact) | 250× | 3.780 | 21,317 |
| rtp-92 | Meltdown | 92.00% | 0 (exact) | 500× | 7.053 | 74,216 |
| rtp-94 | Spark | 94.00% | 0 (exact) | 100× | 1.809 | 8,676 |
| rtp-94 | Surge | 94.00% | 0 (exact) | 250× | 3.818 | 38,671 |
| rtp-94 | Meltdown | 94.00% | 0 (exact) | 500× | 7.128 | 134,758 |
| rtp-96 | Spark | 96.00% | 0 (exact) | 100× | 1.822 | 19,822 |
| rtp-96 | Surge | 96.00% | 0 (exact) | 250× | 3.856 | 88,746 |
| rtp-96 | Meltdown | 96.00% | 0 (exact) | 500× | 7.202 | 309,543 |
| rtp-97 | Spark | 97.00% | 0 (exact) | 100× | 1.829 | 35,503 |
| rtp-97 | Surge | 97.00% | 0 (exact) | 250× | 3.875 | 159,311 |
| rtp-97 | Meltdown | 97.00% | 0 (exact) | 500× | 7.238 | 555,928 |
"Rounds to 99.9% house-ahead" is the normal approximation (3.09 × SD / edge)² for a casino whose every round is played in that mode. It is an indication, not a guarantee, and it is optimistic for right-skewed outcomes such as Meltdown's: the real horizon is longer.
Max win and caps
The round's effective cap is the lowest of the mode's max win, the operator's multiplier cap (when one is set for your casino) and the money cap (the tenant's or the jurisdiction's maximum win per round ÷ the stake). It is fixed at the bet, before the draw, and a round never pays more than cap × stake. Overload has no default operator cap.
Caps are RTP-neutral (rule fair-cap-v1): when a cap binds, the weight it removes from the entries above the cap moves to empty rounds, so every accepted round still returns the variant's RTP exactly — the cap lowers the spread, not the return. A bet whose effective cap would fall below 2× is refused (HTTP 422, before anything is debited or drawn), so an operator multiplier cap must be at least 2× for the game to play, and at large stakes the money cap can refuse a stake (the game shows "This stake is above the maximum for this game. Lower your stake.").
| Effective cap | Spark (max 100×), rtp-96 | Surge (max 250×), rtp-96 | Meltdown (max 500×), rtp-96 |
|---|---|---|---|
| below 2.00× | refused before the draw (no round is played) | refused before the draw (no round is played) | refused before the draw (no round is played) |
| 2.00× | 96.000% — exact (trim) | 96.000% — exact (trim) | 96.000% — exact (trim) |
| 5.00× | 96.000% — exact (trim) | 96.000% — exact (trim) | 96.000% — exact (trim) |
| 10.00× | 96.000% — exact (dead) | 96.000% — exact (trim) | 96.000% — exact (trim) |
| 20.00× | 96.000% — exact (dead) | 96.000% — exact (dead) | 96.000% — exact (trim) |
| 50.00× | 96.000% — exact (dead) | 96.000% — exact (dead) | 96.000% — exact (dead) |
| 100.00× | no effect (above the mode's max) | 96.000% — exact (dead) | 96.000% — exact (dead) |
| 250.00× | no effect (above the mode's max) | no effect (above the mode's max) | 96.000% — exact (dead) |
The money cap binds only at large stakes — with a 500,000.00 max win per round, Meltdown above a 1,000.00 stake and Surge above 2,000.00 — and the RTP stays exact there too.
Recommendation. Operators who want to limit their exposure should set a 100× operator cap: the RTP stays exact under it, and it shortens how long a lucky streak can keep a player ahead of the house edge. A 100× cap flattens the top of the Surge and Meltdown ladders: a breach that totals more pays the cap, and the game shows it as MAX WIN. The spread at rtp-96:
| Operator cap | Spark: SD / rounds to 99.9% house-ahead (normal approx., optimistic) | Surge: SD / rounds to 99.9% house-ahead (normal approx., optimistic) | Meltdown: SD / rounds to 99.9% house-ahead (normal approx., optimistic) |
|---|---|---|---|
| none (the mode's max) | 1.822 / 19,822 | 3.856 / 88,746 | 7.202 / 309,543 |
| 250× | — (above the mode's max) | — (above the mode's max) | 7.132 / 303,614 |
| 100× | — (above the mode's max) | 3.770 / 84,834 | 6.391 / 243,752 |
| 50× | 1.709 / 17,438 | 3.353 / 67,100 | 4.271 / 108,888 |
| 20× | 1.598 / 15,244 | 2.323 / 32,201 | 2.486 / 36,876 |
Payout rounding
The payout is floor(stake × multiplier) in the currency's smallest unit — never rounded up — so the money returned can sit slightly under the RTP at stakes where a multiplier does not divide evenly. Whether a stake pays exactly depends on the mode:
| Mode | Every payout exact at stakes that are multiples of | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Spark | 4 minor units | every multiplier is a multiple of 0.25× |
| Surge | 2 minor units | every multiplier is a multiple of 0.50× |
| Meltdown | every stake (1 minor unit) | every multiplier is a multiple of 1.00× |
(A cap that is not itself one of those multiples can round a capped payout.) At other stakes the rounding costs less than one minor unit per paid round — a few tenths of a point of return at most near the minimum stake, less as the stake grows (rtp-96, the table below). Below 1.00 it would cost more, which is why the game's minimum stake is 1.00.
| Stake (2-decimal currency) | Spark, rtp-96 | Surge, rtp-96 | Meltdown, rtp-96 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.10 (below the 1.00 floor) | 94.189% | 96.000% | 96.000% |
| 0.50 (below the 1.00 floor) | 95.638% | 96.000% | 96.000% |
| 1.00 | 96.000% | 96.000% | 96.000% |
| 1.01 | 95.779% | 95.844% | 96.000% |
| 1.05 | 95.787% | 95.850% | 96.000% |
| 1.50 | 95.879% | 96.000% | 96.000% |
| 2.50 | 95.927% | 96.000% | 96.000% |
| 9.99 | 95.969% | 95.984% | 96.000% |
| 10.00 | 96.000% | 96.000% | 96.000% |
| 10.01 | 95.978% | 95.984% | 96.000% |
| 100.00 | 96.000% | 96.000% | 96.000% |
Provably fair
For tenants with provably fair enabled, the round's one draw is derived from the committed server seed at the bare round block (clientSeed:nonce, no sub-nonce — Overload is a single-step game like Slotty Slots, Shatter and Strike), purpose label surge, a uniform integer in [0, W − 1], where W is the total weight of the mode's catalogue for the round's variant and cap. The published paytable carries the rules — collector values, boosts, seal rates, line weights and wirings — and the catalogue's SHA-256 (catalogueHash); the verifier regenerates the catalogue from the rules and checks the hash before reading the draw. The round record stores the mode (mode) and the round's effective cap (capHundredths); with them and the published paytable that priced the round, the verifier reproduces the weights, the draw, the entry, the circuit and the payout, and the verification page does the same in the browser and compares it with what the round booked. See Provably Fair.
Integration notes
- Bet:
POST /games/overload/roundswith{ "betAmount": <whole minor units>, "mode": "spark" | "surge" | "meltdown", "currency": "…" }. The mode is required. Refused with HTTP 422 before anything is drawn or debited: an unknown or missing mode (20001, "mode must be one of spark, surge, meltdown"), a stake that is not a whole number of minor units (20001), an effective cap below 2× (20001, "This stake is above the maximum for this game. Lower your stake.", withdetails.reasonmax_win_capanddetails.engineCode30605), a stake under the 1.00 floor (30007) or above the maximum bet (30008), and an insufficient balance (40001). - The response settles the round: the stake debit, the draw and the credit happen in the one call (there are no actions, no cash-out and no open round:
GET /games/overload/rounds/activealways answers{ "round": null }). The response'sbalanceis the balance after the debit and the credit, and its outcome carriesmode,maskandpowered(the powered collectors, 0–4 = a–e),wiring,seals,breach,boost,baseHundredths,liveHundredths,fullMultiplierHundredths(the circuit's total),multiplierHundredthsandmultiplier(what the round paid, after the cap),capped,winAmountandcatalogueVersion— everything the client needs to animate the result, and no RNG internals. - Game metadata (
rules):catalogueVersion,catalogueHash, the fourwirings, and per mode the collectorvalues, the breachboostsandmaxMultiplier, plusoperatorMaxWinMultiplierwhen the operator set a cap — never line weights, seal rates, chances or the RTP.