Diamond Mine 2 Megaways

Diamond Mine 2 Megaways: Slot Overview

Diamond Mine Megaways, the original, was Blueprint Gaming's first Megaways slot and borrowed heavily from the gold standard at the time – Bonanza, which came from the mechanic's maker Big Time Gaming. While a neat mining slot at the time, the deluge of Bonanza wannabes released since then has diluted the Diamond Mine Megaways experience in some ways. Perhaps Blueprint Gaming thinks so too, because the team has gone back to the drawing board, or mine shaft, and come up with a sequel. Diamond Mine 2 Megaways has practically everything its predecessor had, plus several add-ons to update the resource extraction-themed game.

The first thing you may notice is Diamond Mine 2 Megaways' outer appearance, and this hasn't changed a ton from the original. No bad thing, though, as the original was handsomely presented, spending its base game and free spins feature topside, which is a little unusual for a mining slot. So instead of wooden beams holding up a mine shaft as it burrows its way into the earth, wood is used, though mainly to prop up Diamond Mine 2 Megaways' 6-reel game grid. Behind it, when cascades occur, you can make out a mine entrance, but otherwise, the screen mainly consists of rocks, cacti, and a nice blue sky. It is a jolly spot, made more so by the neat twangy banjo soundtrack, even if this sort of view has become pretty commonplace by now.

Before hitting the spin button in the original game, players had one choice – pick a stake. In Diamond Mine 2 Megaways, players not only pick a stake of 10 p/c to $/€10, but they can also choose to activate an extra bet or shell out 100x for the Gold Bet, thereby triggering the bonus round. Activating the extra bet increases the stake by 20% whilst also increasing the chance of triggering a bonus. Helping players decide, perhaps, the default RTP for all three options is exactly the same at 95%. Mathematically, the game is medium to high volatile, indicating a fairly high potential for large swings in outcomes.

Each winning combination triggers a reaction feature. This feature removes winning symbols from the reels and drops symbols from above to fill the empty spaces. If a new win hits after the cascade, the feature triggers again. Pay symbols, meanwhile, have remained pretty constant, too, meaning colourful 9-A card ranks as the low pays, then for the high pays, a pick 'n shovel combo, a lantern, a prospector, and a diamond symbol. All payout for combinations of 3 OAK or greater, except the diamond, which will pay out for 2+. When hitting a winning combination with 6 matching symbols, the rewards are 1 to 1.5 times the bet when made up of card royals or 2 to 50 times the bet for the high pay symbols. Diamond Mine 2 Megaways gaming grid is divided between 6 main reels and a horizontally spinning tracker reel on the top. The number of symbols on the main reels can change on each spin, altering the ways to win up to 117,649 at the most. Appearing on the top tracker is a dynamite wild symbol, which substitutes for any regular pay symbol.

Diamond Mine 2 Megaways: Slot Features

Two additional symbol types in Diamond Mine 2 Megaways are mystery symbols, and scatters, while other features include free spins, Gold Spins, as well as a free spins gamble.

Mystery Symbols

TNT barrels are Diamond Mine 2 Megaways' mystery symbol. When mystery symbols hit, all in view reveal the same random symbol, but not scatters.

Scatter Symbol

Landing 3 or more scatter symbols triggers the bonus round, and players can choose free spins or Gold Spins. When 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 scatters hit, they award 8, 12, 16, 20, or 24 free spins, or the x5, x7, x9, x12, or x15 Golden Guarantee for Gold Spins, respectively. In the base game, scatters appear on the main reels only; in free spins, they appear only on the top reel.

Free Spins Gamble

Before entering the bonus round, players are given the option of gambling for up to 30 free spins. This takes place on a segmented gamble wheel displaying the possible gamble outcomes, so players know what they may or may not receive before taking the plunge.

Free Spins

During free spins, a win multiplier is added, starting at x1 and increasing by +1 after each cascade. Landing 3 or 4 scatter symbols awards +5 or +10 extra free spins, respectively.

Gold Spins

This round also has a win multiplier that increases by +1 after each reaction. It spins until the win multiplier reaches the Golden Guarantee. Each scatter that lands increases the Golden Guarantee.

Diamond Mine 2 Megaways: Slot Verdict

It was going to be a tall ask for Diamond Mine 2 Megaways to create the same amount of wow factor as the original did. Back then, the competition was sparser than it is now, and a well-made Megaways game built around mining was less easy to come by. These days, the Megaways floodgate has been well and truly thrown wide open, where it seems like every other studio and its pooch has gotten in on the action. As such, while there might be fool's gold lying around, there are also a lot of Megaways nuggets, too, meaning Diamond Mine 2 Megaways would have to work extra hard to stand out the way its older sibling did.

Not meaning to be a downer, but it's not clear Diamond Mine 2 Megaways has done so. Don't get us wrong, the testing session offered a nice trip to the mine, and the environment is as positive as ever. Since a lot, if not most, of the features in Diamond Mine 2 Megaways are available in Diamond Mine Megaways or Diamond Mine Extra Gold Megaways, it seems like the main reason to play it is to give Gold Spins a bash. This bonus round is something of a double-edged sword. On one side, Gold Spins avoid returning a winless bonus round since you're going to have to land wins to eventually hit the guaranteed multiplier, no matter how many free spins it takes. On the other side, once you do hit the guaranteed multiplier, that's it; game over, you've hit the limit. Since the lower multiplier levels aren't enormous (x5, x7, for example), prospective participants might feel like they're selling themselves short. Maybe not, though, because the wins that increment the multiplier could be good ones. Ah, well, it's a gamble and optional, too, so maybe something for curious punters to play around with. Presumably, it's technically possible to achieve Diamond Mine 2 Megaways' win cap of 10,000x the bet.

And so while Diamond Mine 2 Megaways wasn't shockingly new compared to the original, its Gold Spins are quite novel and might attract fans of the first in for a look, as well as newer prospectors after a gaming device you can't unearth in any old palace.