Cluster pays confusing

so i tried some cluster pays slots last night and honestly felt like i was watching a fever dream. i’m used to the old school lines and reels and knowing what counts as a win, but these clusters… my brain just kept going “wait, so what counted there?” half the time i think i win, nothing happens, then suddenly some giant blob on the side triggers and i’ve got free spins coming out of nowhere. i swear one round had me convinced i hit nothing, then bam, mini win screen.

i get that clusters mean adjacent symbols, but what about weird gaps? if there’s a symbol in the middle breaking it up, does that kill the cluster, or is it forgiving if the rest touch? and do all clusters pay the same, or are there weird exceptions i’m not catching?

is there any trick to figuring these out faster, or is it just something you learn after enough head scratching and “wait, i won what?” moments?