Gem Crush

Gem Crush: Slot Overview

If you're sick and tired of soul-crushing commutes to work or having the views of the horizon out of your window blocked by human-made structures as far as the eye can see, then you might want to rest your psyche for a moment in Gem Crush from provider NetEnt. It would appear that Gem Crush has a getting back to nature, a mystical side of nature, as far away from the mundanities of modern life as one of its primary duties. So seriously does Gem Crush take these duties that chilling out threatens to take precedence over being a white-knuckle online slot capable of delivering thrills and spills.

As mentioned, Gem Crush is a mystically minded slot made in a similar spirit to other NetEnt games like Druid's Dream, Secret of the Stones, or Druid's Magic. For the base game, a 6x8 grid sits in a relaxing part of the great outdoors as water drizzles to either side of it, leaves waft lazily to the ground, and shafts of sunlight twinkle in from up top. It's a very harmoniously arranged scene, though on a laptop at least, which is how the game was reviewed; the grid is quite small as a result, and with its copious amount of positions, symbols are teensy as well. Magnifying glasses might not be a requirement, but the theme of 'small' permeates more of Gem Crush's parts, not just the visual components either.

Getting involved in Gem Crush, crushing gems presumably, means picking a stake of 10 c to $/€20 per paid drop. There is no ante bet, but free spins may be bought for the cost of 70 times the stake where additional features may be found. Medium/high volatile, the RTP comes in at 96.1%, or 96.13% when buying free spins.

The avalanche mechanic explodes winning symbols from the reels after they have created a cluster. These gaps are filled with symbols dropping in from above and avalanches only end when no more wins are created. Gem Crush is a cluster paying slot, which means when 5 or more matching pay symbols land next to each other in up/down or left/right directions, a win is formed. Gems are the order of the day as they make up all of Gem Crush's 8 regular paying symbols. The low pay symbols are blue, green, purple, and yellow gems, while the high pays are basically the same but framed versions of the same colour gems. When a cluster including 5-7 matching gems hits, the payout comes to 0.1 to 0.6 times the bet, whereas at the top end, a 30+ cluster is worth 10 to 80 times the bet. When wilds appear in the base game or free spins, they are able to substitute for any regular symbol to complete or improve winning clusters.

Gem Crush: Slot Features

Crushin' occurs with the help of an avalanche feature, as well as a multiplier, symbol transformations, free spins, and free spins features.

Multiplier

Randomly, a multiplier can activate and is displayed next to the reels. The values may be x2, x3, x4, or x5, which is used to multiply all wins.

Rainbow Gem

When the Rainbow Gem appears on the grid, it marks one symbol type to upgrade to another symbol type for the current spin. No more than 4 Rainbow Gems may appear during the free spins feature.

Free Spins

Getting 3 scatters anywhere on the gaming grid triggers 10 free spins. During free spins, 4 specific modifiers are in play:

• Increasing Multiplier – during free spins, the increasing multiplier does not reset for the duration of the round. The multiplier increases by 1 on every 2nd spin.
• Colossal Wild – on each free spin, at least one 2x2 wild symbol lands, substituting for all pay symbols.
• Symbol Transformation – up to 4 transformations may occur during free spins, and they last until the feature ends.
• XStrike – the multiplier increases by +1 each time this feature activates.

Gem Crush: Slot Verdict

Gem Crush started sleepily and proved to be a challenge to rise from its slumber. The game seemed perfectly happy, snoring away like a puffed-out puppy who's found the perfect spot in the sun and will not be awakened for pats, walks, or bickies. Littleness was another trope that seemed present in a lot of what Gem Crush does as well. From the itty-bitty gaming grid, itty-bitty symbols, and the itty-bitty results the whole shebang bothered to muster while under testing.

Not saying Gem Crush is physically incapable of rising to the occasion. The max win figure of 4,361.4x the bet, whilst nothing to write home about, is okay. Well, okay compared to what Gem Crush rustled up for the review. Cluster wins repeatedly failed to produce exciting results, and the game as a whole lacked the feeling that something big might, just might, be around the corner if only 'X' happened. This despite having a rising multiplier and 2x2 wilds on every single free spin. Maybe NetEnt was too successful in designing a relaxing environment for Gem Crush to inhabit, but the lack of danger, the lack of suspense, was ever present and proved stubborn to remove.

NetEnt has been in the slot game more than long enough to know its stuff, no doubt (although a lot of the people that made NetEnt great had to go when Evolution acquired the studio). As such, Gem Crush probably has a specific group of gamblers in its scope. To hazard a guess, it would seem to be players who would like to visit a mystical gaming world in a dreamy setting who are not too fussed about massive high-powered features or massive high-powered performance. If that sounds like a swell escape from the everyday grind, then Gem Crush's relatively gentle ways might be a match.