Sparkling Gems Slot Review

Playing a game that involves gemstones and shiny, attractive graphics is one way to start feeling like a high roller – it screams opulence, and reminds you of what you might be able to spend your cash on should you win big. But it might surprise you to know that, when playing Sparkling Gems, very few of the icons are actually jewels.

In a bold move from Novomatic, they’ve decided to do away with the stereotypical and expected theme of gemstones, and have instead given gamers a 5-reel platform that is all about fruit. This game thinks outside the box in a lot of unconventional ways, so this will likely be one for all you lovers of the quirky and unusual out there.

Bad for Your Teeth

Any fruit that is gem based isn’t going to be kind to your teeth, but it’s likely you won’t mind too much as the way the fruit looks in Sparkling Gems is quite beautiful. Its old school texture adds depth, while the bright blue hue of the background is both calming and cooling.

In truth, it’s a fancy looking title from the brand, and one that easily stands out because of the luxurious feel emanating from the symbols and their matrix.

A delicate gold filigree border houses all the traditional imagery, whilst the title sits proudly atop of it, the wording sparkling crystal clear, highlighted by a purple shadow.

As for the controls and all the settings, they’ve been neatly tucked away at the bottom of the screen, ensuring that the game is the main focus of the players’ attention. This standard layout feels more effective than normal due to the lack of novelty this design has.

Shine Bright like a Diamond

When it comes to the traditional online casino titles that Novomatic delivers its players, many of them tend to remain purist and are often devoid of any bonus features. Sparkling Gems, while not barren, only has one bonus round to call its own and that’s the Diamond Glow Feature.

This is essentially a wild based special; the wild on its own will substitute other symbols in an attempt to make a combination, however, should the icons stack up on the third reel then the feature will begin. If this happens and you land a total of five wild symbols, you can get the massively impressive payout of €3,000,000!

Not many online slots will offer you that kind of money as a prize, though that also means it’ll be hard to achieve that total, making this a medium to high volatility game. Oh, and not forgetting that you’ll need to bet the maximum amount if you’re to ever find this sum of money in the first place, adding to the difficulty of the title.

Don’t Be a Bitter Lemon

The rest of the paytable is relatively small, with only a handful of symbols to find, of which the cherries and the lemon are at the bottom of the pile. Cherries always seem to be the last invited to any gambling party, but this time the lemons haven’t fared much better either.

That being said, the amount you stand to gain does depend on certain elements: how much you originally bet, and whether you find three, four or five matches of the icon. Three cherries will only get you x10 of your stake, but get five and you’re looking at x100, with the lemon coming in at the same values.

When users start to find the larger fruits, like watermelons, or even the non-fruit icons, that’s when the money really starts to tot up and the big wins come in; five golden bells can get you x250 of your wager. Aside from the top spot of the diamond, the red 7 is the only other high paying symbol at x1,000.

Diamonds in Your Eyes

If you’d like to be seeing diamonds and cash signs, you won’t have to fork out too much money to make that happen, just a small bet of €0.40 will do, though as we’ve already mentioned, the higher you can crank that total, the better the monetary rewards will be.

Having said that, this isn’t the most expensive of the Novomatic slot machines, with the €100 max pay-in feeling more than reasonable when compared with €1,250 in Slick Riches. Whatever amount you play with in the end, there’s a max bet button on hand to make getting to the top end a lot easier; thank goodness!

There are also several autoplay options for those that enjoy going hands free and having a bit more freedom when watching the cash spin in; this widget is found at the opposite end to the max bet, and is clearly labelled. Tap that and you’re away.