With its connection to precious minerals and metals, and sense of rugged adventure - delving into an otherworldly place not unlike the deep sea or outer space. Mining continues to be a popular theme for slots to explore with game developers each taking their own approach to the genre, from the comical to the gritty, from fantasy dwarves to the prospectors of the Old West.
So, let's don our hardhats and headlamps and take a look at three of the best subterranean slots available at Wildz.
Fire in the Hole xBomb
Nolimit City's Fire in the Hole xBomb begins with the top three rows of the six-row grid active. Each time a winning combo or a wild lands, the Collapsing Mine Feature brings another row of the grid into play. Winning symbols are removed, allowing new ones to fall in their place to create consecutive wins. Once the grid is completely open, with all six rows in play, there are 46,656 ways to win.
The titular xBomb Wild Symbols substitute for all symbols except scatters. When xBomb Wilds land, they explode, removing all adjacent symbols and increasing the game's win multiplier by +1.
There's also the Wild Mining feature, which triggers when 3, 4, or 5 of the same symbol land in a horizontal line, all symbols on the grid except scatter symbols are removed and 1, 2, or 3 wilds are added to the grid in the centre of the triggering symbols' position.
Scatter symbols come in the form of golden nuggets. Three or more unlock the Lucky Wagon Spins hold-and-win bonus feature, which is played on a new grid, with 2, 3, or 4 rows depending on how many scatters triggered the round. The round begins with 3 spins, which reset each time symbols land, while along the top of the grid, six mine carts carry modifiers and prizes, including coins worth up to 100x the bet, multipliers and dynamite bundles that unlock new positions on the grid.
Dwarf Mine
Dwarf Mine brings Yggdrasil's customary high production values to the mining slots genre and showcases another unique expanding reels mechanic that opens up the grid for a maximum of 16,807 win ways. The action takes place on a massive drilling machine that digs further into the earth, collecting gems and prizes as the games features are activated.
The game features two distinct bonus rounds. The first is a round of ten free spins, which is triggered when three bonus symbols appear on the grid. In addition to triggering this free spins round, bonus symbols also expand the grid by one row for each bonus symbol, potentially creating winning combos or getting more bonus symbols on the grid to unlock free spins.
In the base game, red, blue, yellow, and green crystals can be collected. Once you have five of the same type, a bonus round of five free spins begins, featuring the corresponding type of crystal as a special high-value symbol, with the red crystals having the highest value, awarding 4x the bet for five symbols. To give you a helping hand, you'll receive three crystals as a New Player Bonus to get you rolling.
Dynamite Riches Megaways
Red Tiger's earlier Dynamite Riches gets a fresh new spin in Dynamite Riches Megways and it's a much more dynamic and modern gaming experience, featuring the popular cascading symbols mechanic and boasting up to 117,649 ways to win.
Dynamite Wild Symbols are the key to unlocking the game's four bonus features. Each time a Dynamite Wild Symbol lands, it is collected and applied to the Feature Unlock Progress Bar.
15 Wilds - Unlocks the TNT Feature. All low-value symbols are removed from the reels on the current spin, allowing new symbols to drop onto the grid. 30 Wilds - Unlocks the Golden Wild feature. When triggered, up to 10 Golden Wild symbols drop on the middle four reels. 45 Wilds - Unlocks a multiplier of x2, x3, x5, x10, which is applied to the next win. If the free spins round is activated the multiplier carries over. 60 Wilds - Unlocks the Mega Wild Feature. Up to four Mega Wild symbols land on the middle four reels, covering the entire reel and carrying multipliers on x2 to x7.
3, 4, 5, 6, Gold Spin scatter symbols award 8, 10, 12, and 14 free spins respectively. Each win during the round increases a multiplier up to x20. Three scatters during the round award an additional +4 spins, and a further +1 for each additional scatter.