Diamond Vortex Slot Review
Released in August 2020, this game can be played at online casinos such as ComeOn!, Guts or Unibet.
Theme and general information
Diamond Vortex is a grid slot that is sort of set in deep space. There’s a spiral spinning in the background, perhaps leading to the vortex that sucks everything inside that comes too close. Stars are visible in the haze beyond.
The electric background music sounds a little eerie at times but can get the excitement going as well. Whilst visually on the simpler side, Diamond Vortex is a good-looking slot that sounds even better.
The grid reminds us of Play’n GO’s Honey Rush slot, using a hexagonal shape once again. Thus, we get 4x5x6x7x6x5x4 rows, where six matching symbols touching vertically or horizontally form a win.
The low value symbols are four simple crystals in blue, red, green and gold, whereas the high value symbols match them in colour but are of a more complex shape. The red crystal pays out 100x our stake for a cluster of 35 or more. The other three are still worth between 20x and 40x our stake for such a win.
There is a core wild and a sticky wild in play and a bonus symbol as well.
Bets can be placed from 0.20 to 100.00 per spin.
Various base game features
Once the game gets going and we collect winning clusters, things get moving within the hexagon. Every movement feeds of each other, but we need to pick them apart a little to explain how they work.
First of all, the hexagon is made up of three rings, which all get moving at some point. Then there are the special areas called Zones and Spots. The Zones sit on top of each ring, the Spots at the bottom. The Zones are fixed in place, the Spots, however, move in the direction of their respective ring until they reach a Zone. When that happens, the Transform feature is activated. This then transforms all symbols in that ring into the same random symbol, hopefully creating a win. It’s theoretically possible that all Spots and Zones align at the same time, filling the grid with the same symbol.
The grid movement is achieved thanks to the Rotate feature, which comes in play on every winning spin. The inner and out ring both move clockwise, whereas the middle ring moves counter-clockwise. Thanks to cascading wins, non-winning symbols remain in their rings and spin before new symbols fall in from above.
There are also the two aforementioned wild symbols. The Core Wild sits in the centre of the hexagon. Sticky wilds are only added during cascading wins. If they become part of a win, they will be moved towards the centre of the hexagon on subsequent rotations. If a Sticky wild ends up inside the core, the Consume feature is triggered. This increases the multiplier in the game by +1. Each consumed sticky wild will increase the multiplier up to a maximum of 20x.
If a cascading win ends on no further sticky wilds are added, the multiplier resets to the default 1x.
Plus Free Spins
Finally, there are the free spins, which are triggered when a bonus symbol lands in a Zone. We get 5 free spins, where Spots don’t return to their initial positions and the Core Multiplier does not reset. Each additional bonus symbol landing in a Zone would give us 5 additional free spins.
Verdict: A different kind of grid slot that is fun to play
The theoretical RTP (Return to Player) of Diamond Vortex is 96.2%, which is good value for a medium to volatile slot. As is often the case, this RTP can be lowered by operators depending on their license.
The maximum potential for Diamond Vortex sits at 5,000x our stake, which is just about average these days, at least for Play’n GO slots. It could have been more, but it’s not so bad.
Diamond Vortex sounds a little more complicated than it is once you start playing. The features all come together nicely and are triggered smoothly, which makes for visually appealing gameplay when things get going.
If you like grid slots, and no one does them better than Play’n GO, Diamond Vortex is a solid option for you to try out and have fun with.