Fire Gnomes: Slot Overview

Gnomes, eh? They’re not exactly an everyday sight unless you’re wandering past a home with a garden full of little statues. If you’ve never come across garden gnomes, they’re usually depicted as bearded, fantasy-like little folk in tall pointed hats, looking either wise or a bit cheeky. In 1670, Comte de Gabalis (the abbot of Villars) described them—apparently with a satirical edge—saying, ‘The Earth is filled almost to the center with Gnomes or Pharyes, a people of small stature, the guardians of treasures, of mines, and of precious stones.’ It’d be pretty great if that were real. Either way, it’s a perfect setup for an online slot, which is how we end up with Fire Gnomes from Games Global partner Crazy Tooth Studio.

Fire Gnomes is part of Crazy Tooth Studio’s BIG BuildUp slot line, coming after titles such as Lucky Clucks and Banana Drop. While those two were bright, upbeat, animal-led games set above ground, Fire Gnomes feels like it’s unfolding in a cave or underground grotto, dotted with toadstools and tiny homes reminiscent of the Smurf Village. The scenery has a rippling, surreal look, like you’ve stepped into a dimension where normal rules don’t apply and logic is optional. That same vibe can crop up when trying some of Crazy Tooth Studio’s more experimental releases.

At the centre of this gnome-filled oddity sits Fire Gnome’s reel set. Breaking from the standard format, it uses 4 rows with 5 symbols per row and is played across 95 paylines. When you’re ready to spin, stakes run from 15 p/c to $/€30 per spin, and there’s no ante bet or bonus buy available. The info sheet lists volatility as medium-high volatile, and the top RTP version reaches 96.18%, though it’s worth noting that lower RTP models exist too.

On this grid, wins can only be made with 3 or 4-of-a-kind combinations. The lower-paying symbols are clubs, hearts, diamonds, and spades in different values, paying 0.2x the bet for 4-of-a-kind, while the higher-paying set is made up of mushrooms in matching colours. Landing 4 mushrooms pays 0.33 times the bet. Standard wilds and Wild Multipliers can appear at different points; both substitute for any paying symbol. Wild Multipliers range from 2x to 5x, and each one in a winning line boosts the payout accordingly—these multiplier wilds show up only during the Big BuildUp feature.

Fire Gnomes: Slot Features

Fire Gnomes’ feature set consists of Build-Up Symbols, the Big BuildUp, and the Fire Gnomes Bonus Game.

Build-Up Symbols

During the base game, Build-Up symbols can land on reels 1 and 4 and are stored in the shelf areas on the left and right of the grid where they land. Barrel Build-Up symbols correspond to wild symbols or wild multipliers, while shield symbols stand for Gold or Silver prizes that are added to any amounts already sitting in the relevant shelf position.

Big BuildUp

Hitting 1 or more Feature Activation symbols anywhere on reels 2 and/or 3 triggers this feature. Once activated, 1 or more feature awards positioned at the sides of the reels are activated. Barrels place wilds or Wild Multipliers across their row, while Gold or Silver prize values are paid out.

Fire Gnomes Bonus Game

Landing 2 scatter symbols on reels 1 and 4 awards the Fire Gnomes bonus game. At the start of the bonus, every reel position is assigned either a credit value or a special bonus symbol. You begin with 5 spins, and on each spin, at least 1 gnome rolls a bomb carrying a multiplier value onto the reels hitting a credit value of a special symbol, activating it. When a credit value is struck, it is multiplied by the bomb’s value. If a special symbol is hit, the following happens:

• Retrigger – the number of spins is increased by the activating multiplier value, and it transforms into a credit value.
• Credit Boost – all activated credit values are increased by the credit boost value times the activating multiplier value.
• Row symbol – all positions on the same row are activated with the activating multiplier value.
• Column symbol – all positions on the same column are activated with the activating multiplier value.
• Orthogonal symbol – all positions above, below, or to the sides are activated with the activating multiplier value.

After the spins are used up, the total from all activated positions is paid.

Fire Gnomes: Slot Verdict

We used the word mischievous earlier, and it fits Fire Gnomes pretty well. In fact, compared to some of this studio’s recent output, Fire Gnomes feels relatively mainstream. Quite often, you finish a Crazy Tooth Studio session wondering what on earth you just played. Titles like The Incredible Balloon Machine or Fortress Charge show two very different extremes that stretch what an online slot can even be. Fire Gnomes doesn’t go that far. The rules in the paytable are fairly long, but once you’ve watched the mechanics play out, it becomes clear quickly enough.

In simple terms, the aim is to collect as many Build-Up symbols as you can, pile them onto the reel-side shelves, then set them off when Feature Activation symbols appear. The more barrels you bank, the more wilds/Wild Multipliers get dropped across the row, and the more prize symbols you land, the higher those prize totals build. It’s straightforward at heart, but the studio adds plenty of character through the gnomes setting off stored Build-Up symbols and tossing bombs onto the reels in the bonus. Some players may find the animations slow things down; others will enjoy the impish personality. It’s very much in line with Crazy Tooth Studio’s style—Fire Gnome does its own thing, and if you’re after something a bit offbeat, this is a distinctive choice.

That said, Fire Gnomes is arguably one of Crazy Tooth Studio’s more mainstream releases and could be a great starting point for players who want to sample the weird and wonderful world which is Crazy Tooth Studios.