Gem Rush is a mining-themed online slot game developed by Slotmill. Unlike the well-known gold rushes in history, this game takes players on an underground adventure in search of precious gems. It features unique gameplay elements, including avalanches, dynamic ways, a Gem Crusher, power-ups, free spins, and Burst Mode.
Gem Rush starts its mining journey above ground, offering players a distinctive and somewhat otherworldly environment. The rocky landscape and the pinkish sky create a sci-fi atmosphere with elements of the Old West provided by the wooden mine entrance. The Gem Crusher, a cheeky-looking character, perches beside the grid, waiting to spring into action. The game grid consists of 5 reels, with each reel having 7 positions. In the base game, up to 15 positions are initially occupied by blocker tiles, which have no value and obstruct winning combinations. However, these blocker tiles can be eliminated, as we will explain below.
The lower-value symbols are the card ranks (J-A), offering a payout of 0.4 times the bet for landing a five-symbol combination. Mining tools such as picks, barrels, helmets, and lamps provide slightly higher rewards, with a payout of 0.6 times the bet for achieving a five-symbol winning combination. The more valuable gem symbols come in blue, green, red, and pink, awarding players with payouts ranging from 1 to 2 times the bet for landing a combination of five symbols. Although these individual payouts may not be exceedingly high, Gem Rush incorporates a progressive win multiplier and the potential for a significant number of ways to win. Additionally, gold nuggets serve as wild symbols, capable of substituting for all other symbols except the scatter, increasing the chances of forming winning combinations.
A line win in Gem Rush initiates an avalanche mechanic, removing the winning symbols from the board and allowing other symbols to cascade into the vacant spaces. These avalanches persist until no new winning combinations are formed.
In addition to the main reels, there is a secondary set of mini-reels connected to the Gem Crusher beside the grid. With each win, a new block drops into the Gem Crusher, which can contain a Power-Up modifier. These modifiers are activated during the subsequent avalanche:
Multiplier Increases: This modifier boosts the progressive win multiplier by +1 to +5. It's important to note that the progressive win multiplier resets between base game spins.
Wild Conversion: This modifier selects a symbol type on the reels and transforms all instances of it into wild symbols.
Gem Conversion: Similarly, this modifier selects a symbol type on the reels and converts all instances of it into gem symbols.
Random Wilds: It introduces 3 to 7 wild symbols in random positions on the screen.
Column Wilds: This modifier transforms all symbols, except bonus symbols, on a randomly selected reel into wild symbols.
Dynamite: It removes five blocker tiles, allowing symbols to drop down into the gaps, expanding the number of ways to win.
Extra Spin: In the bonus round only, this modifier awards an additional free spin.
Free Spins: In Gem Rush, landing 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols during the base game awards 5, 7, or 10 free spins, respectively. During free spins, there are no blocker tiles in play, enabling the full 16,807 ways to win. Furthermore, the win multiplier and the Gem Crusher progression do not reset during free spins, significantly boosting the win potential of the round.
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