Gems Slots

Borrowing from mobile puzzle games

Gems are a popular slot theme because they remind us of mobile puzzle games. When you see a grid of red, blue, and green jewels, you already know what to do without reading the rules. Developers use this to their advantage. A game based on ancient myths usually has to explain its bonus features. A gem slot just puts colored shapes on a screen, and you instantly know you need to match them.

This is why so many gem games use specific layouts. Wildman Super Bonanza and Gemine both use an 8x8 grid where you win by landing clusters of matching symbols. This setup would look strange with Viking or Egyptian symbols, but it makes perfect sense with gems. Jewel Bonanza uses the same large grid with very high volatility and a 98% RTP. Large cluster grids are mostly used for gem and candy games, and gems did it first.

How Starburst compares to newer games

Starburst is a classic gem slot, but it plays very differently from modern releases. It has low volatility and a maximum win of 800x your bet. You will not find tumbling symbols, clusters, or expanding grids here. It is a standard 5x3 game with expanding wilds and paylines that work in both directions. It was made at a time when gem symbols just meant a simple game, rather than a massive puzzle grid.

Comparing Starburst to a game like Wildman Super Bonanza shows how much the theme has changed. They use the same style of symbols but have entirely different goals. Starburst is built for a steady pace, while the newer 8x8 games are built for big bonus rounds.

When gems mix with other themes

The gem category can be a bit messy. Games like Aztec Smash and Mummy's Jewels 100 show up here just because their symbols happen to include jewels, even though they are clearly Aztec and Egyptian games. Cloud Princess is an anime game that happens to use gem shapes. Gems of Ra is another Egyptian crossover.

Because of this, it can be hard to find what you are actually looking for. If you browse the gem category hoping for a puzzle-style game, you have to scroll past a lot of unrelated themes. The best way to find true gem games is to filter your search for 7x7 or 8x8 grids. That leaves you with the games that actually play like gem matchers, rather than games that just use jewels as basic art.