Reel Gems is one of the few Microgaming’s 5-reel slots that have a respin functionality. Gems, playing card symbols and other visuals in the game look simple and even somewhat outdated as contrasted with 3D solutions of the recent years; however, the slot is interesting to play due to respins that give extra chances to hit a winning combination. Reel Gems has no paylines. It is based on a well-known “243 Ways To Win” system wherein three or more identical symbols pay out a certain award when they appear in any position (in any row) on consecutive reels, beginning with reel 1.

There are two betting options to configure: the number of coins (1–10) and a coin size ($0.01–$0.50). By changing these values, you can place a bet anywhere between $0.25 and $125. The top three payouts in the slot are $20,000 (five Diamonds), $12,500 (five scatters) and $10,000 (five Rubies).

Special symbols

A logo depicted by the slot’s logo is a wild that acts as a replacement for regular icons. It has a limited functionality as it appears on reels 2 and 4 only. And naturally, it cannot create its own winning combos.

A Golden Ring encrusted with diamonds is a scatter that pays x1 to x100 if 2 to or more of them appear in any stop position. Besides, three scatters are sufficient to activate 15 retriggerable free spins, during which all payouts come tripled. The number of free spins comes fixed regardless of the amount of scatters in the triggering spin.

Respin feature

At the end of each spin, you can respin one of the reels for as many times as you want if you are not against paying the price to do so. The fee for each respin differs and is displayed under each reel, depending on the current bet size and the potential winning combination that can be created after a specific reel has been respun. If you are going to respin any of the reels and the price is very high, the slot will ask you to confirm that you really want to respin that reel.

For example, you have a losing spin that ends up with a Sapphire on the first, second and fourth reels. These symbols can potentially manage to form a winning combo of four sapphires if there would be a missing one on the second reel. On learning how much the respin of the second reel will cost, you may decide if you are ready to make the additional investment and get the chance to land a win.