Set Yourself Spinning in the Diamond Vortex

Diamond Vortex Slot

Diamond Vortex is a fascinating arcade slot from game developer Play’n Go. Unlike the usual 5x3 rectangular layout that slot machines employ, Diamond Vortex is made up of 7 reels but has 6 sides! The hexagon shaped is formed by the seven reels with varying rows, 4-5-6-7-6-5-4. This means that the outer reels (1st and 7th) are the smallest with only 4 positions whilst the middle reel (4th) has 7 positions on it. The vortex is located t the centre of the grid, the 4th row on the 4th reel, and it always remains wild. There are also three concentric rings going around the centre vortex. Exactly above the vortex wild are three ring positions that will always stay fixed. They are known as zones. Below the vortex wild are three hot spots that will move. The inner and outer rings turn clockwise after each spin whilst the middle ring turns anticlockwise. If there is no win on a spin, the hot spots return to their starting positions. This may sound confusing, but it’ll all become clear after a couple of spins.

Within this unusual slot, winning combinations are formed in clusters. You will need to land a cluster of at least 6 symbols to form a winner. Clusters must land adjacent to one another with only the highest win paying out. Once the cluster is formed, the symbols will disappear from the reels, making way for new ones to drop down. This is known as the Rotate feature, and we will be looking at this in greater detail later on.

Although the layout of Diamond Vortex may appear confusing at first, the gameplay is not as difficult as it sounds. Ultimately, you are going to want to form clusters of 6 or more symbols and the very middle symbol on your screen will always be wild. Once you adjust to the grid, the slot is immensely exciting and enjoyable.

It is clear that Play’n Go put a lot of effort into the design. To match the unique layout, the slot is set in outer space, where glistening gems sparkle in front of a milky way backdrop. The graphics complement the game and the animations bring it to life. As you can see in the video below, the crystals twinkle against the cold dark space background, making the game truly eye-catching.

The symbols are 8 brightly coloured crystals, 4 lower value and 4 higher value. The way to differentiate between lower and higher value symbols is by checking for a glimmer, as they are the same colour, red, green, blue or yellow. The sparkling red crystal is the most rewarding of the lot, paying between 0.20 and 20 times your stake for clusters of 6 to 35+ symbols.

In addition, there are also two wilds and scatter symbol. The first wild is the one we mentioned before, the diamond vortex at the centre point of your screen. The second wild symbol is represented by a ‘W’ diamond and will substitute for all symbols barring the scatter. The scatter symbol, on the other hand, is represented by a colourful planet with the word BONUS written on it.

The presentation of Diamond Vortex is top-notch. In addition to a gripping gameplay, the visuals are stunning. Plus, if you prefer to use your mobile, the Play’n Go slot’s unusual shape transitions perfectly onto smaller screens.

Before you get to spinning, you need to set your stake. The betting ranges from a minimum €/£0.20 to a maximum €/£100 per spin. You can adjust this by using arrows sitting just below the reels. In addition, you can also make use of the Autoplay function to set up to 100 spins going with optional win and loss limits. It is also possible to turn on a Turbo Mode when using Autoplay for high speed excitement.

Onto the actual features. Diamond Vortex has a few special characteristics, the first being the Rotate feature. This feature means that after a winning cluster is formed, the successful symbols are blasted off your screen, leaving vacant positions. The rings then spin and stop at random, filling up those empty positions and new symbols dropping down to fill up the grid. If the new symbols form a winning cluster, the process repeats.

In addition to the Rotate feature, Diamond Vortex is complete with Sticky Wilds. These are represented by a W diamond and are totally independent from the inner vortex wild. Whenever they land and help form a winning cluster, the wild will turn sticky. Thus, when the rings rotate, the sticky wild will move on position closer to the vortex. This goes on to trigger the Consume feature.

The Consume feature occurs each time a sticky wild reaches the centre vortex wild. When this happens, your multiplier will increase by 1x. The maximum the multiplier will reach is x20, which could result in some incredible wins. However, when no more wins are formed from the base game spin, the multiplier value will reset to 1x.

If you remember, the 4th reel has rings above the vortex that fix in position and hot spots below the vortex. If a hot spot lands in a zone in 1 of the 3 rings, you will trigger the Transform feature. This sees every single symbol in that ring morph into the same one, creating a winning cluster. In an ideal world, you will be able to land all 3 spots in the required zones. By doing so, all the symbols on the grid will transform into the same symbol, resulting in a massive cluster and whopping payout.

To round of the features in Diamond Vortex, there is also a free spins bonus round. This is triggered by landing a bonus planet symbol inside a zone. When you can do so, you will receive 5 free spins. As there are 3 zones above the vortex wild, you could end up with 5, 10 or 15 free spins for landing 1, 2 or 3 Bonus scatters in the zones, respectively.

During the bonus round, the Consume feature is in play. That means that for all sticky wilds that reach the vortex, they will increase the multiplier by 1x. Moreover, during this feature, the multiplier does not reset after each free spin. It keeps on growing and growing until the end of the bonus round. Better yet, you can re-trigger the free spins, so the multiplier could become enormous.

This means that the biggest wins from Diamond Vortex will come by landing as many sticky wilds as you possibly can. The more W diamond wilds that enter the vortex, the better. Especially as they contribute to the multiplier. It will be even better if this happens in the free spins round, as the multiplier does not reset.

The RTP of Diamond Vortex is 96.2%, which is slightly above the average. In addition, the slot is rated 7/10 for variance.

The unusual layout and extreme bonus mechanics can be tricky to grasp at first. However, once you pick it up, Diamond Vortex is an extremely exciting game with many potential ways of winning. If you manage to build up your multiplier to the 20x max, you will be able to claim the 5,000x stake top prize.

If it all sounds too confusing, then why not try the game in demo mode first, it really will all become clear very quickly. You can then switch to real money play and with a bit of luck, the rewards will soon be flowing.