Hot Gems Slot
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Released in 2012, Hot Gems is a fun video slot that is played over 5 reels, 3 rows, and 25 fixed paylines. The game was created by software supplier Playtech, which certainly is not in the habit of developing boring slots, as becomes apparent from Hot Gems’ thrilling gameplay, colorful graphics, and fun animations.
This may be one of the older creations of the well-known developer, but it manages to remain on par with newer titles from Playtech’s portfolio thanks to its innovative features, such as exploding symbols and collapsing reels. Players will also benefit from wilds, scatters, and a profitable round of free spins with a multiplier. Hot Gems leans toward the higher betting spectrum, with wagers starting at $5 and reaching $625 per spin. Coin denominations range from $0.20 to $25.
Theme
Hot Gems takes players on a journey deep underground, where they join a quirky dwarf on a mission – to dig up as many precious stones as possible. The game is set in a mine and starts with a short animated clip that shows the aforementioned dwarf mining for gemstones. Some players may complain that the visuals are a bit old-school, but this hardly detracts from the game, as the mining theme is beautifully executed.
Every once in a while, the dwarf appears on the main game screen and does a little dance across the reels. The latter are set against an earthy backdrop, which further complements the mining theme of Hot Gems. The developers have opted for colorful symbols depicting gemstones in different hues – red, yellow, purple, blue, orange, and green – but there are also other thematic symbols, such as lanterns and mining carts, that form the high-paying combinations.
Symbols
One of the main reasons Hot Gems continues to enjoy popularity among spinners is its attractive paytable. The game offers substantial payouts on high-value combinations, with the biggest prize standing at 5,000 credits for five dwarf symbols on a payline. The dwarf is the highest-value symbol in the slot, but if you take a look at the paytable, you will notice a huge discrepancy in the payouts for five, four, and three matches. While five dwarf icons return 5,000 coins, players will receive only 250 and 100 credits for four and three matches, respectively.
The other high-value symbols depict a lit lantern, a pickaxe, and a cart full of sparkling gemstones. There is also a scatter symbol featuring the Hot Gems logo, which can earn you up to 100 credits and pays even money for two matches. The scatter has no other function aside from awarding payouts for matches on adjacent reels.
The free spins in Hot Gems are unlocked by a separate bonus symbol that reads “Free Games”. The slot also features a wild symbol, which improves your chances of earning a payout, as it substitutes for all icons except the scatter and free-spins symbols. The lowest prizes are awarded by the colorful gem symbols, which can earn you anywhere between 2 and 80 credits.
Combinations and Jackpots
Hot Gems may be one of Playtech’s older offerings, but it has retained its popularity thanks to its appealing features. There is a wild symbol that increases your chances of success, but it appears only on reels 2, 3, and 4. One of the most interesting features here is the collapsing reels. Every time you hit a winning combination in the base game or during free spins, the matching symbols will explode and disappear to make room for other icons. The reels will then collapse, and new symbols will drop into the empty spaces to refill them. This process continues until there are no more matches.
You can earn a risk-free payout by activating the free spins feature, but you need the Free Games symbol to land concurrently on reels 1, 3, and 5. The first free spin starts with a 1x multiplier, but with each subsequent win, the multiplier will increase by one until you eventually reach the maximum of 5x. A losing spin will reset the multiplier meter to 1x. The only downside of this feature is that it is impossible to re-trigger additional free spins with the same combination of symbols.
The game also features Autoplay. You can activate it and go grab something to eat while the reels continue spinning on their own, potentially awarding you more winning combinations. The game allows you to play anywhere between 10 and 99 spins without interruption, but if you wish, you can adjust the settings so that Autoplay switches off when the bonus feature is triggered.
To sum it up, Hot Gems may be an older Playtech game, but it has aged beautifully thanks to the ingenuity of the company’s software experts. Practically the only thing lacking here is a dedicated bonus side game, but the fun collapsing reels feature and the round of free spins with 5x multipliers on wins more than compensate for this omission.