Gems Gone Wild Power Reels: Overview

Developer R7, working alongside Red Tiger, adds another entry to the Power Reels line with a Starburst(ish) release called Gems Gone Wild. Despite the title, it’s nowhere near as cheeky as some other “Gone Wild” themes people might expect, and overall it isn’t a particularly thrilling slot if we’re being honest.

Other games in the Power Range usually come with some kind of hook to lift them above the rest. Something a bit different that makes you think, “the game might be average, but at least it has X.” With Gems Gone Wild, it’s not immediately clear what that hook is, so let’s dig in and see what’s on offer.

Visually, the first impression is decent if a little basic, though the swirling-in-space backdrop is a nice touch. The graphics are paired with a housey/jazzy/funk soundtrack that’s pretty common in space-themed slots. It’s enjoyable without being especially distinctive, but it does provide a pleasant rhythm while you play.

If you haven’t tried a Power Reels slot before, the initial view can feel a bit intimidating. Like staring up at the Burj Khalifa from the pavement, the scale alone can catch you off guard. With 8 reels across and 6 rows high, there’s a lot going on at once. Even with such a huge grid, there are only 30 paylines active.

That might sound a little underpowered, and it’s hard to argue otherwise, but Gems Gone Wild uses a pay system that helps somewhat. The key point is that three or more adjacent matching symbols form a winning combo.

The twist, such as it is, is that combos can pay anywhere along a line. They still have to be adjacent though—it’s not “Book of Gems Gone Wild,” after all. A winning cluster could sit on reels 3, 4, 5 for instance, or on reels 6, 7, 8. And because there are so many reels, it’s also possible to get more than one win on the same payline. That means multiple symbol types can generate payouts from a single line.

With medium volatility, players can choose stakes from 10 p/c at the lower end, up to $/€20 per spin for higher stakes play. RTP has also dropped since Zeus Lightning, landing back below 96% at 95.68%.

They say size doesn’t matter, but on the Gems Gone Wild paytable it certainly seems to. The eight standard pay symbols are all gems, and the higher you go on the paytable, the larger and more valuable they become. The top symbol is the circular golden gem, where eight of a kind pays 75x the bet. The only other symbol is the wild, which mainly substitutes for any pay symbol to complete wins. Since more than one symbol combo can pay on a line, wilds will only link with the highest-paying symbol type in that particular situation.

Gems Gone Wild Power Reels: Features

Gems Gone Wild doesn’t offer many features, and what it does include is entirely focused on wild symbols—namely Super Wilds and Locked Wilds. Super Wilds can appear randomly on any spin, forming a block of wild symbols. Super Wilds can land in either 2×2 or 3×3 sizes.

On any spin, random wilds can also show up and trigger Locked Wilds mode. During this mode, if additional wilds land on the following spin, the existing ones lock in place on the grid and combine for fresh wins. If no new wilds appear, the previously shown wilds vanish from the reels and the game returns to standard play.

Gems Gone Wild Power Reels: Verdict

Gems Gone Wild may be the most uneventful slot in the Power Reels series so far. There’s simply not much to aim for or hope will trigger. No bonus round, no free spins—much like the empty space setting, it can feel like there’s not a lot happening.

Most other Power Reels titles have offered at least one extra incentive to catch attention. Zeus Lightning brought the high RTP, Five Star delivered strong potential, and Phoenix Fire had the visual appeal. Gems Gone Wild stands out by breaking that pattern and setting almost everything to “meh.”

Yes, the oversized reel layout is there, but the restriction of low paylines doesn’t do it any favours, and there’s very little else that truly uses the grid’s scale. Sure, wins can begin on any reel, but Gems Gone Wild ends up feeling like a 10-foot basketball player who can’t dribble or shoot. Unless the theme really clicks with players, it’s likely to send them nodding off quickly.

Still, Red Tiger clearly know what they’re doing, so there’s undoubtedly an audience ready to enjoy Gems Gone Wild. It’s quick, straightforward play, and a maximum win of 3,000 times the stake is technically possible on any spin—assuming the Locked Wild feature goes absolutely wild.

Unless space gems or locked wilds/respin-style mechanics are exactly what you’re looking for, it’s difficult to come up with many strong reasons to give Gems Gone Wild serious attention.