Mine Blown: Slot Overview

Stepping into the tunnels with pickaxe in hand is veteran online slot developer NetEnt. The game in question is Mine Blown—a smart title that, true to its name, occasionally blows things sky-high. It features two bonus rounds – free spins and bonus spins, alongside a few other mechanics that can help players dig up valuable finds.

The base game and the free spins round are set inside a wooden underground chamber. A pipe rattles, fans whirr, and the space feels a bit tight, though it’s still a decent spot to begin the excavation. Oddly, Mine Blown doesn’t include a miner character, but NetEnt makes up for it with a guitar-led soundtrack, like the crew has a local rock station on while they chip away at the Earth. Bonus spins move deeper down into a sturdier-looking section of the mine.

No matter which stage you’re in, Mine Blown runs on a 5-reel, 3-row grid. In the base game and free spins, wins are paid via 10 paylines, while the bonus game uses a collect cash values win system. The top RTP available is 96%, and the volatility sits on the medium end. Bets range from 10 c to $/€40 per spin, and there are no ante bets or feature buys included.

In Mine Blown, winning combos must start from the leftmost reel and pay left to right. Card ranks from Ten to Ace make up the lower-paying symbols, while the higher pays are mining gear like picks, lanterns, shovels, and helmets. Wild symbols replace all high and low win pay symbols.

Mine Blown: Slot Features

Free spins are triggered by special symbols and come with sticky wilds, while bonus spins are activated by special symbols and focus on collecting Vein symbol values. Additional mechanics in Mine Blown include the Dynamite Feature and the TNT Feature.

Triggers

Triggers are symbols that can land on the leftmost reel and the middle reel in the base game; 2 of them are needed, together with other special symbols, to activate either the bonus round or the free spins round. If 2 triggers appear without a Bonus symbol, players receive 3x the bet.

Dynamite Feature & TNT

A random number of dynamite symbols can show up, and any that land explode to transform symbols into wilds. Only 1 TNT symbol can appear anywhere on the reels. When it hits, it detonates to transform itself and some adjacent symbols into wilds.

Free Spins

Hitting 2 Trigger symbols and 1 Free Spins symbol on the rightmost reel grants 10 free spins. If a Free Spins symbol lands during the round, it adds +3 free spins. Any wild symbols that land in the feature lock and remain locked till free spins end.

Bonus Spins

Landing 2 Trigger symbols and 1 Bonus symbol on the rightmost reel starts 3 bonus spins where only Vein symbols appear. Bonus spins begin with a mine cart holding 3x in value on the middle position of the bottom row. Every Vein symbol that lands is collected by the cart. Whatever total the cart holds when the feature ends is paid out to the player. In Bonus spins, any Dynamite blasts convert symbols into Vein symbols rather than wilds. TNT symbols also change symbols into Veins instead of wilds. Vein symbols come in these forms:

• Undiscovered Vein – has no value but can explode from Dynamite and TNT symbols to reveal other Vein symbols.
• Gold Vein – increases the cart value by +1.
• Sapphire Vein – increases the cart value by +3.
• Emerald Vein – increases the cart value by +5 and awards +1 spin.
• Ruby Vein – increases the cart value by +10 and awards +1 spin.
• Diamond Vein – increases the cart value by +25 and awards +3 spins.

Mine Blown: Slot Verdict

Yet another mining-themed slot arrives, and NetEnt’s Mine Blown has a bit of appeal. Still, it isn’t exactly packed with thrills, and the action felt noticeably subdued at times—often, in fact. The main issue is that Mine Blown rarely feels like it’s about to truly erupt. The base game provides occasional diversions, a few Trigger near-misses, and a busy backdrop, but there isn’t much happening overall. Free spins don’t change that much either, largely because even with sticky wilds, they seemed to land infrequently and didn’t achieve much with the limited paylines available. The visuals and audio are energetic, but they can only carry the experience so far.

Bonus spins are the most engaging element in Mine Blown, though that’s partly because they’re strangely low-powered. One reason is that Gold Veins—the most frequent Vein type—are worth only 1x the bet, and you start with just 3 spins to collect as many as you can. It’s over in a flash. The only way to extend it is by landing Emerald Veins or higher, which award extra spins to keep the feature alive. Even then, bonus spins, like the rest of Mine Blown, don’t bring much heavy-hitting potential. The max win reflects that, coming in at 2,484.8x the bet, which feels about right after seeing how the game plays.

So, if your ideal underground adventure is closer to Dead Canary or Fire in the Hole 2, Mine Blown likely won’t satisfy. It’s more suited to relaxed sessions—enjoying the rock soundtrack, running through a couple of mellow bonus rounds, and hopefully uncovering a virtual gem or two along the way.