Gems Wild Tiles Slot Review

In the gaming world, there is a pretty distinct separation between slots and specialty games. While slots operate on reels and rely on players matching symbols across the screen, specialty games take more of an anything goes approach, with many having a more arcade-like feel to them.

But sometimes, you’ll come across a game that straddles the line between these two genres of casino gaming. One such example is Gems Wild-Tiles, a game that was originally developed by Leading Edge Design in partnership with IGT. This classic has made plenty of fans over the years because it combines elements of slots play with the excitement and freeform design that parlor games allow for. Today, this engaging title can be found in a number of places, including some social casinos where you can give it a try for free.

Digging for Rocks

Gems Wild-Tiles is a game that is played on a five-by-five grid. At the start of the game, the player must decide how many credits they wish to play for; in the versions we’ve played, the minimum bet is 40, with higher options offered. Once you’re ready to begin play, you can simply hit the start button.

At this point, two things will happen. First, you might see that one or more of the columns has the word “bonus” in the background. Don’t worry about that just yet – we’ll talk more about that feature later on. The more immediate concern will be all of the various precious stones that fall into play from the top of the screen. These come in all sorts of varieties: rubies, sapphires, diamonds, emeralds, and others may find their way onto the screen. There are even single and double versions of the rubies and sapphires, which can be combined to make winning combinations (but only pay out at the higher “double” rate if the whole combo is made up of the bigger-paying versions).

Once the screen is set, you can start collecting wins. If you have three or more matching gems in either a vertical or horizontal line anywhere on the screen, you’ll instantly earn a prize, and those rocks will disappear from play. The larger the combination, the bigger the win.

However, it is often beneficial to only hit three in a row. When this happens, you’ll see the middle position turn into a wild and stay on the reels, helping you to make further wins. After all simultaneous winning groups are paid out, the remaining stones will fall down into place, and now any new winning lines are paid out. You can even potentially make payouts of the wild symbols themselves, which offer the largest prizes in the game. This process continues over and over again until you run out of wins, at which point the round stops.

If you’ve won at the end of any play, you’ll have the option of playing a gamble game. As in many slots or video poker machines, this is a fair bet that gives you the chance to guess the color of a randomly chosen playing card. Get it right, and you’ll double your win; get it wrong, and you lose what you earned on that spin.

A Hidden Cache

There’s one other feature worth noting in this game: the bonus round. Remember how some columns might spell out the word bonus behind them? If you clear an entire column and reveal that word, you’ll get to play in the special feature after normal play is over.

In this additional second screen game, you’ll once again see a grid of positions. In each round, you’ll be tasked with revealing at least a certain number of gems, with that amount increasing each time you move on. Pick a spot, and you’ll not only receive the stone hidden behind it, but you’ll also get any other matches that appear on the board, each of which will be worth a fixed amount of credits.

If the total number revealed is more than the target, then you’ll move to the next round, where both the per-stone bonus and the target will have increased. This continues until you fail to find the minimum number of matching rocks, at which point you’ll collect your winnings and head back to the main screen again.

Diamonds are Forever

Gems Wild-Tiles is one of those games that will probably always have a place in the heart of many gamblers. It does a wonderful job of being simple to play and follow while still offering up enough excitement and variability to keep things interesting time and time again.

This isn’t a game for everyone: there are no decisions to make, and no skill involved, which will bore some players who really like to interact with their games. But for a relaxing time that still delivers plenty of thrills, this is an excellent choice.