Gems Bonanza, a grid-based slot game developed by Pragmatic Play, is the latest addition to the developer’s increasing library of such games. Play’n GO is one of the masters of the genre, and Gems Bonanza takes notes from them by including a plethora of symbol gathering systems, meters, modifiers, and bonuses. The firm is known for its grid-based slots, but they have also released a number of games with a South American theme. Let’s check out the results for Gems Bonanza.
Grid slots from Pragmatic Play appear to get even more expansive with each new version. Here, we’re dealing with an 8×8 grid, with 64 symbols being added at the start of each spin. On one side of the board is a bird’s-eye view of the temple, while the other is surrounded by a furnace object that is spewing molten gold. The vocals are set over synthesized music that would work well as a background score for meditation or relaxation.
By using the device’s plus and minus buttons, stakes may be adjusted from 20 percent to $100 every spin. Pragmatic gave it a high degree of volatility, 5 stars, indicating that the direction of the activity is equally likely to change in any direction. Although it might theoretically pay out less frequently on average, it does allow for potentially extended streaks of consecutive wins, which is ideal for a grid position. The return to player (RTP) is respectable at 96.55% (in the default configuration), which is significantly higher than the industry standard.
A winning cluster, or block, is formed when five of the same symbols line up in a row or column. If this occurs, the tumble function will operate as follows. The paytable is, as one might expect from the title, a veritable treasure trove of precious stones. When landing in groups of 25 or more, seven different colored gemstones pay off between 50 and 1,000 times the wager. The wild card, which does not score on spins or tumbles, is useful for bringing blocks closer together. To substitute any pay sign, it is instead placed to the board during the Wild Gem or Lucky Wilds feature.
Slot Machine Features, “Gems Bonanza”
Gems Bonanza is packed to the gills with extras from Pragmatic Play, so there’s always something happening or about to happen. The bonus purchase, Gold Fever, and Spin Features join Tumbles.
By “tumbling” away the winning icons, the Tumble function makes room for more to fall in from above. If another win occurs, the process will continue like this until no more winning clusters appear, at which point the wheel will spin again.
Special colored marks appear at random spots on the board underneath the symbols during the base game. When a victory takes place on top of a colored dot, one of five modifiers is activated at random. When the current tumbling sequence completes, they all go into action.
When blue appears, the Nuclear modifier is activated, wiping the screen clean so that fresh symbols can fall in and increase the player’s odds of winning.
Wild Gem, earned by rolling a pink die, turns every instance of a certain symbol type into a wild throughout the board.
The Yellow/Brown Ribbon Awards Squares – Blocks of the same symbol, 2×2 in size, are added to the screen at random.
When the red marker reaches the edge of the board, the Colossal Symbols feature is activated, placing a 3×3, 4×4, or 5×5 block of the same symbol at random.
Getting the all-clear The Lucky Wilds feature adds anything from 5 to 15 random wilds to the grid.
Nuclear, Wild Gem, Squares, Colossal Symbol, and Lucky Wilds are the sequence in which their corresponding modifiers will be activated if several features are won on the same spin.
The Gold Fever Progressive is up next. The Gold Fever meter, found to the right of the reels, fills up in increments with each winning cluster that bursts during tumbles. When there are no more tumbles, the counter goes back to zero. Players may fill the meter all the way to the top by gathering 114 winning symbols. Following the conclusion of the current tumbles, the Gold Fever Progressive function will become active.
The first tier of the Gold Fever bonus is the first of five. Every level’s win multiplier begins at x2 and is applied sequentially to all spin modifiers. Players keep collecting symbols until the Gold Fever meter is full, at which point they advance to the next level. In contrast, the victory multipliers for levels 2, 3, 4, and 5 are 4, 6, 8, and 10, respectively. When all the modifiers have been utilized but not enough symbols have been gathered to progress to the next level, the feature will cease. Or after all of the level 5 spin features have been used.
The bonus purchase option has finally made its way into more Pragmatic Play slots. Players may ensure a full meter on the next spin and activate the Gold Fever bonus by betting 100 times the current total. The functionality operates under the same guidelines as if it had occurred naturally.
Treasure Chest: The Slots’ Final Say
Pragmatic Play seems to have done some research on the industry standard for grid-based slots, since their offering is quite similar. In particular, the victory counter and the Gold Fever gauge harken back to Play’n GO. Despite this, Gems Bonanza is a good grid space if you can get beyond the name. It’s visually appealing, even if the abundance of precious stones makes it feel cold, and it has other advantages as well.
The gameplay’s good flow is particularly noteworthy. During our testing of Gems Bonanza, we didn’t notice any particularly long lulls in action. The luminous markers on the board, which threw up consistent modifiers when victories happened over them, are mostly responsible for this. The efficiency of the various modifiers varied widely. Rarely would the use of nuclear weapons provoke further action. In most cases, it would just clear the board and do nothing more. The appearance of high-value symbols makes gigantic symbols potentially helpful. The second beneficial one was Lucky Wilds, which would sometimes illuminate a large number of wins and trigger the Gold Fever feature.
Gold Fever was a highly unpredictable bonus round. Some were hardly noticeable while others were intense. They would also trigger often; nevertheless, progressing above level 2 is quite difficult. When the higher multipliers come into play, the payouts skyrocket, sometimes reaching 10,000 times the original wager. If you can keep going to higher and higher Gold Fever levels, there is a chance.
In conclusion, Gems Bonanza is a high-quality grid slot that boasts exciting features and massive potential. Not as intricate or cutting-edge as the greatest of its kind, but still a good time.