Mermaid's Diamond Slot
There seems to be absolutely no end in sight for the popularity of mythically-centric online slots games. With every passing year, a new generation of games capturing mystic themes arrive in swathes from all four corners of the online casino universe. Euro developers Play’n Go are no strangers to the highly daunting task of taking a tired and done-to-absolute-death theme and successfully repurposing it for the modern market, their majestic back catalogue of brilliant, mobile-optimised and cutting-edge consoles attesting to this fact.
With the release of their Mermaids Diamond video slot, the team – based across Sweden, Hungary and Malta respectively – seem to be back to their eclectic best. Here is a game that roots itself proudly into the whole maritime goddess vibe. It’s a very popular angle, not to mention a route taken towards triumph by innumerable developers in the past. But does it pay off for Play’n Go in this instance?
Water Logged
You’re unlikely to find a game released in 2017 that isn’t fully up to speed as far as intuitive 3D graphics are concerned. One of the main draws any console can offer – arguably must offer – is a great interactive visual/audio experience. The free slot, Mermaids Diamond, offers all of this in spades, each element and game feature within this breathtaking underwater setting is pristinely presented and makes for a gaming experience that is immediately enthralling.
The whole mermaid spiel may have been done over and over, but the Play’n Go crew certainly deserve some credit for injecting a new lease of life into proceedings. As far as most will be concerned, this game looks, sounds and functions like no other of a similar theme in recent memory.
What’s It Worth?
Arguably the games unique selling point is its slightly unorthodox approach to payline structure. To clarify, this slot offers a rather incomprehensible 720 ways to win on a low-medium volatility. Cramming so many different paylines into a standard structure can of course prove to be rather problematic in the long run, but this slot carries itself well after a lengthy session and offers enough to keep players locked into those reels – focusing on the things that count.
As you’d expect, the games symbols are dominated by an abundance of aquatic and oceanic icons – with rays, star fish and seashells just a few of the plucky characters you’ll encounter on your journey. As well as these, the higher value symbols on offer include a precious green emerald, a red ruby, a white diamond and a blue sea topaz. All of which carry differing values corresponding to a set function. It’s all standard play all the way, until you remember the 720 ways to win, that is!
The wild symbols throughout the console are represented by the star of the show – the Mermaid herself – and act in the typical way, replacing lesser symbols on the fly etc. The scatter in this instance is the sunken treasure chest and is the only icon immune from domination at the hands of the wild, but you knew that already.
A Familiar Tale
A simply failsafe way for players of all kinds – from high roller to part timer – to find a new game to dig into it, is through sourcing close matches to previous conquests. Not all games are created equal, but the vast majority are. In this spirit, both Ercole by Capecod Gaming and Prosperity Twin by the team at NextGen are within spitting distance of MD. So, if you’ve enjoyed either of these titles in the past, you’re going to find plenty to enjoy here.
A Voyage Worth Taking?
There’s very little about this game that you could objectively express as being a negative. Everything from the way it is presented to the volatility it packs into every spin is worth noting for the contribution it ultimately makes to the overall experience afforded to each and every punter. Doing so well to breathe life into a dejected and frankly quite boring theme is no easy task, but the team have risen to the challenge in a ravenous and graceful fashion to offer out easily the best and most refreshing mermaid-based title of this decade.
If forced to outline one negative, for no other purpose than to make this review fully objective, it would have to be the lack of bonus features. Even if the incredible number of ways to cash-out on this thing means play never slows, a hidden game or free round trigger is always a nice touch. On the whole the, a brilliant game certainly worth your time.
