Forge of Gems

Forge of Gems: Slot Overview

Billed as 'the hottest game in town', Forge of Gems is the fourth instalment in Play'n GO's popular Gem range of slots. The series kicked off with Perfect Gems, continued with Frozen Gems, then Prism of Gems, and is now up to number four. Of course, there are loads of other gem themed games on the market, making it tough to make an impact. To do so, Play'n GO has come up with increasingly intricate gameplay as the series has progressed. In Forge of Gems, players get a Forge Reel with special modifying symbols, win multipliers, increasing ways, and Gemboxes, or free spins as they are commonly known.

Forge of Gems is located next to an actual forge where the gems are presumably made. On a side note, it would be kind of cool having a forge to create shiny little stones. These days creating gems in a lab is no big deal, and the process produces cheaper stones than those found in nature. There is some disagreement as to whether these human-made items are real gems, despite the fact many, if not most, people could not tell the two apart. Does it matter if the rock on someone's finger was forged in the heart of an asteroid or formed in the earth over aeons, or created by a boffin in a lab? The debate continues.

Plonked before the forge is a game grid made up of a 5x3 main panel and a special Forge Reel running along the top. In keeping with tradition, paylines have been dropped in favour of ways to win, ranging from 243 up to 36,288 thanks to splitter symbols. In terms of volatility, Play'n GO has classed Forge of Gems as very high, rating it 10 out of 10, while RTP can vary depending on casino and jurisdiction, with 96.2% being the highest value. Any device may be used to play the game, giving players the option to bet from 10 p/c to $/€100 per spin.

As before, gems make up the premium side of the paytable, where the four of them are worth 0.5 to 1 times the stake for a five of a kind win. Lower down, we find 10-A card ranks, worth 0.3-0.4x the bet for a five of a kind win. Diamonds are wild and pay out 3x the bet for five, though they are more likely to substitute for any pay symbols to help complete a winning way.

Forge of Gems: Slot Features

Forge of Gems comes with several features that interact and trigger each other, such as cascades, the Forge Reel and its various modifiers, plus free spins.

Cascades

Each symbol in a winning combination is removed from the board by the cascade feature. Then, symbols from the Forge Reel cascade down, and any additional gaps are refilled, potentially creating another win. This cascade process is repeated as long as new wins appear.

Forge Reel

When cascades activate the Forge Reel, these special symbols drop down onto the main grid and perform their modifier:

• Multiplier – increases the win multiplier by one. The win multiplier resets between paid spins.
• Vertical Wild – turns all symbols except scatters into wilds on the reel.
• Horizontal Wild – turns matching symbols on the row into wilds.
• Vertical Splitter – all matching symbols on the reel are split, increasing ways to win.
• Horizontal splitter – splits symbols on its row, except scatters, and is also wild.
• Blank symbols – these are removed when cascading.

Gembox

Appearing on all five reels is a red jewel scatter symbol. Landing 3 of them awards 20x the bet plus 8 or 10 free spins, 4 scatters award 30x the bet plus 10 or 15 free spins, while 5 scatters get you 40x the bet plus 10, 15, or 20 free spins. During the Gembox bonus, blank symbols never appear on the Forge Reel, and a multiplier symbol is guaranteed. The win multiplier does not reset between free spins, and whatever win multiplier was active on the triggering spin is carried over to the bonus round. Lastly, jewel scatters do not appear in free spins, so the feature cannot be retriggered.

Forge of Gems: Slot Verdict

Like the two previous Gem games, Forge of Gems lacks a little warmth, despite on-screen heat provided by the roaring hot forge. It sits in stark contrast to similarly themed games like Lava Lava or Hammer of Vulcan, which overflowed with personal touches. This isn't necessarily a good or bad thing, depending on personal preference, and does show that Play'n GO has plotted a course for the Gems games and are valiantly sticking to it. It just means that if you prefer the company of virtual chums, like classical Gods or fantastical creatures, then Forge of Gems might come across a little cold, a little generic at times.

One benefit is that pretty much all features are available in the base game, and none of the thematic concerns really matter when Forge of Gems is firing. Cascades pull in modifier symbols from the Forge Reel, which in turn piles on wilds, ways, and at times, multipliers. The concept worked well in games like Tropicool or Illogicool, and it works just as well in Forge of Gems. There is a feeling these Gems slots are getting increasingly Nolimit City-ish as the series progresses - now they throw a dash of ELK into the mix. Not so much in a copy and paste way, however, because even though the gameplay feels familiar, Forge of Gems merges everything flawlessly. Should the cascades, Forge Reel and persistent multiplier trio of features be stoked to full capacity, Forge of Gems is capable of turning out wins as high as 20,000x the stake.

All in all, Forge of Gems is a well-designed addition to the Gems range, which possesses a bunch of entertaining elements which have the ability to greatly enhance each other. If you're intrigued by the expanding reels/ways, splitting symbols action NLC is up to but not so jazzed by their themes, then Forge of Gems offers a similar style of play in a more staid environment.