Diamond Strike

Diamonds are a player’s best friend in Pragmatic Play’s Diamond Strike. This 15-payline, medium-volatility slot has a classic feel; design invokes the vintage “one-armed bandit” analog slot machines that made the genre famous. Despite the throwback feel, features are thoroughly modern: both original and lucrative.

Theme

Gameplay and visual design are wisely kept simple by the team at Pragmatic Play. The five reels stand before a purple background, and sound design is also minimal, with upbeat, funky music in the 1980s playing in the background. Gaming symbols will be recognizable to any slot veteran: these include plums, halved watermelons, lemons, cherries, liberty bells, and big number sevens. The scatter symbol just reads “free spins,” and the shimmering diamond acts as wild. Especially large wins are greeted by brief animated sequences as players watch their win total tally up.

Betting Options and Functions

Pragmatic Play stays with its usual betting structure in this 15-payline, coin-based slot. Bet size is determined both by the number of coins per payline (simply called “bet” within this game), adjustable from one to ten, and by coin value, which is adjustable from 0.01 to 0.50. This yields a total per-spin bet range of 0.15–75.00 times the betting currency. Autoplay can be engaged for up to 1000 spins at a time, and the overall theoretical return to player is a respectable 96.48%.

Features

The appearance of three scatter symbols on reels one, three, and five (the only reels on which they appear) triggers eight free spins. During this bonus, extra diamond wilds are added to the reels, increasing the chances of a big payout. Scatter symbols remain on the reels and can award eight additional free spins, with no limit on how many times this can occur.

There is an additional bonus feature to be had as well, whether in bonus or base play. When three golden seven symbols appear anywhere on the reels, the Jackpot Bonus Game is triggered. A screen filled with 12 diamonds appears; players then click on them to turn over one of four jackpots. When three of the same symbols are revealed, that bonus is awarded in the form of an automatic win multiplier of the original bet. Jackpots of 10x, 30x, 100x, and a whopping 1000x are available.

Our Take

Diamond Strike offers the best of both worlds: old-school design along with new-school bonus features. Gameplay is smooth, top bonuses are sizeable, and players will appreciate the higher-than-usual RTP. It would be nice to see more originality in design from Pragmatic Play in the future.