Frozen Gems

Frozen Gems is the latest slot from the developers at Play ‘n’ Go and sees them turning down the temperature for an ice-covered themed slot. The title relates partly to the shiny stones that make up half of the pay table, and partly to the way the bonus symbols thaw when they are in action. When the bonus symbols do thaw players can benefit from wilds, splitting symbols that can expand the reels and provide between 243 and a massive 8748 ways to win. The developers have tried this concept in several other slots and in the past, they have not exactly lit up the gaming world, however Frozen Gems maybe different.

Frozen Gems Overview

When it comes to the theme this slot brings back memories of Ice Joker another great slot from this developer and they have decided to stick with the wintry theme, with the five reels being surrounded by plenty of icy imagery. Whilst it is a little difficult to work out exactly where this slot is set it looks like a cave however it does seem a little claustrophobic. There are gemstones all over the game screen, stuck to the walls in a raw form although you will find that the more refined versions will turn up on your reels. There is some gold trim surrounding the grid and whilst the visuals are more than adequate this is not the best set of graphics this developer has ever provided.

Frozen Gems Game Play, Statistics and Symbols

Frozen Gems can be played on all devices which is ideal if you wish to play when you are out and about. To get underway you need to choose a bet that you are most comfortable with and this can start from a minimum of 20p per spin to £100 pounds per spin and with such a wide bet range the slot is going to appeal to a wide variety of players. Whilst the game is not hugely volatile it has a medium to high rating which the developers have set as a 7 out of 10 and means that you could have the odd curveball thrown at you. When it comes to the potential this is unusually high for Play ‘n’ Go, and therefore there are good rewards available when the game goes on a bender and you can watch the reels grow and multipliers being tossed at the reels randomly and such like. You need to be aware of the floating return to player which fluctuates at the operator’s choice. The default version will provide a return to player of 96.34% which is above average and the one that you really want to be playing with, as this can drop to 94.34% or less depending on which casino you decide to play at.

Wins are created in Frozen Gems when you land at least three matching symbols from left to right. When this happens the cascade system will kick in and this does have the ability to snowball into many of the other features. The individual wins are lower than usual, and the pay symbols start with the usual card Royals 10 through to Ace and landing five of a kind will award you with 0.3x to 0.5x your bet. The four gem stones are coloured in purple, red, orange and green will give you a slightly better win and these range from 0.65x to 1x times your bet. The wild symbol in this slot is worth a bit more providing a win of 2.5x your bet for landing 5. The wild however can also substitute for any of the regular pay symbols to create a winning combination.

Bonus Features

When it comes to the features the key is the frosty horizontal reel that can be seen at the top of your reels. On the reel above there are five bonus symbols and these will come into play when you land the winning combination, on each spin, the bonus reel can provide you with any of the following combinations.

You may land two x2 splitting wilds, complete with two wilds and one x3 splitting symbol. If you land three of the same winning symbols in the same sequence, then the respective bonus symbols will thaw and apply as follows. Landing the wild will see all the positions on the reels turned into wilds except for the scatters. If you land the x2 splitting symbol this will divide all the symbols apart from the scatter on your reels into two symbols, and finally if you land the x3 splitting symbol this again divides all the symbols apart from the scatters on your reels into three symbols.

At the maximum you can have up to 8,748 ways to win when you have the maximum number of symbols split and the help of the splitting modifiers, better still is that every win that activates the cascade feature to remove winning combinations from the screen to allow new ones to drop into the blank positions and give you more chances to win. The slot also has a win multiplier that starts at x1 and this is available in all phases of the game. After each cascade, the multiplier increases by +1 and there is no limit set on how high this can go.

The final feature available in Frozen Gems is the 9 free spins and these are awarded to you when you land three or more scatters in view along with a x5 bet win. Any additional scatters on your reels will reward you with an additional 5x prize, and it is worth remembering that these scatter wins will not be affected by the win multiplier. Whatever the multiplier was when you activated this spin is carried over to start the round off. The real benefit here is that the multiplier never resets as it does in the main game and should a scatter symbol land everyone will award +1 free spin and in the same vein as the multiplier there is no limit.

Conclusion

When it comes to the potential Frozen Gems does offer higher rewards than most of the slots from the developers at Play ‘n’ Go. The usual figures have been doubled to provide wins of up to 10,000x your stake. With The ever-present win multiplier, it compensates for the low value pay-outs and it is nice to find this outside of a bonus game. Overall, Frozen Gems comes across as something different which is always good. I would not class it as a breakthrough slot however it is slightly quirky which many players will delight in, although there will be some who feel as though they are being left out in the cold.