Forge of Gems: Slot Overview

Marketed as ‘the hottest game in town’, Forge of Gems is the fourth entry in Play’n GO’s well-known Gem series. The run began with Perfect Gems, moved on to Frozen Gems, then Prism of Gems, and now reaches its fourth chapter. Naturally, the slots world is packed with gem-themed titles, so standing out isn’t easy. To push the series forward, Play’n GO has steadily layered in more complex mechanics with each release. In Forge of Gems, that means a Forge Reel packed with special altering symbols, win multipliers, expanding ways, and Gemboxes (essentially the game’s free spins).

Forge of Gems is set beside a working forge where the gems are supposedly crafted. As an aside, having a forge for making sparkling stones would be a pretty neat setup. These days, lab-grown gems are commonplace, and the method typically creates stones that cost less than naturally formed ones. There’s still debate over whether these man-made stones count as “real” gems, even though many—maybe most—people couldn’t tell the difference. Does it really matter whether a stone was forged inside an asteroid, formed in the earth over aeons, or produced by a lab expert? The argument rolls on.

Positioned in front of the forge is a layout featuring a 5×3 main panel plus a dedicated Forge Reel across the top. Sticking with the modern approach, paylines are replaced by ways to win, starting at 243 up to 36,288 thanks to splitter symbols. For volatility, Play’n GO labels Forge of Gems as very high, giving it a 10 out of 10 score, while RTP depends on casino and region, with 96.2% being the top figure. The game runs on any device, and the stake range goes from 10 p/c to $/€100 per spin.

As usual, the gems sit at the top of the paytable, with the four premium symbols paying 0.5 to 1 times the stake for a five of a kind. Below them are 10-A card ranks, returning 0.3-0.4x the bet for a five of a kind. Diamonds act as wild symbols and pay 3x the bet for five, though their main role is more often substituting for other pay symbols to complete winning ways.

Forge of Gems: Slot Features

Forge of Gems includes a set of mechanics that connect and can set each other off, including cascades, the Forge Reel with its different modifiers, and the free spins round.

Cascades

With the cascade feature, every symbol that forms part of a winning combination is removed from the grid. After that, symbols from the Forge Reel tumble down, and any remaining spaces are filled, which can lead to another win. Cascading continues for as long as fresh wins keep landing.

Forge Reel

Whenever cascades bring the Forge Reel into play, these special symbols fall onto the main grid and apply their modifier:

• Multiplier – adds one to the win multiplier. The win multiplier resets between paid spins.
• Vertical Wild – converts all symbols except scatters into wilds on the reel.
• Horizontal Wild – changes matching symbols on the row into wilds.
• Vertical Splitter – splits all matching symbols on the reel, boosting ways to win.
• Horizontal splitter – splits symbols on its row, except scatters, and is also wild.
• Blank symbols – these disappear when cascading.

Gembox

A red jewel scatter symbol can land on all five reels. Hitting 3 of them pays 20x the bet plus 8 or 10 free spins, 4 scatters pay 30x the bet plus 10 or 15 free spins, and 5 scatters award 40x the bet plus 10, 15, or 20 free spins. In the Gembox bonus, blank symbols never appear on the Forge Reel, and a multiplier symbol is guaranteed. The win multiplier does not reset between free spins, and the multiplier active on the triggering spin carries into the bonus. Finally, jewel scatters do not show up during free spins, meaning the feature cannot be retriggered.

Forge of Gems: Slot Verdict

As with the two earlier Gem titles, Forge of Gems can feel a touch lacking in warmth, even with the blazing forge providing plenty of on-screen heat. It’s a sharp contrast to similar themes in games like Lava Lava or Hammer of Vulcan, which were packed with character. That isn’t automatically a positive or negative—it comes down to taste—and it also suggests Play’n GO has mapped out a clear direction for the Gems line and is firmly following it. The trade-off is that if you like your slots populated with memorable companions—classic Gods or mythical beasts—Forge of Gems may feel a bit cool and occasionally a little generic.

On the plus side, most of the action is available right in the base game, and once Forge of Gems gets going, theme becomes less important. Cascades bring modifier symbols down from the Forge Reel, which then stack up wilds, extra ways, and sometimes multipliers. It’s a formula that worked nicely in Tropicool and Illogicool, and it performs just as effectively here. There’s also a sense the Gem series is edging closer to a Nolimit City-style vibe as it evolves—now with a hint of ELK added in. It doesn’t feel like a simple copy-and-paste job, though, because even if the core ideas seem familiar, Forge of Gems blends them smoothly. When the cascades, Forge Reel, and persistent multiplier all hit their stride, Forge of Gems can deliver wins up to 20,000x the stake.

Overall, Forge of Gems is a strong addition to the Gems range, bringing together several fun mechanics that can significantly amplify one another. If you like the expanding reels/ways and splitting-symbol energy that NLC often delivers but aren’t as keen on their themes, Forge of Gems provides a comparable gameplay feel in a more restrained setting.