Diamond Valley

Originally released as a three reel, five line game, Diamond Valley has be re-released as a five reel, five line slot machine. It keeps the same fixed coin size of $1 and so keeps the same $5 max bet. The jackpot is also the same, starting at $5,000 and averaging just over $60,000 per jackpot.

Diamond Valley has an interesting theme based on a fictitious mining town with symbols such as teeth, hands, diamonds, vultures, flaming bars and rubies on the reels. It is one of those games where playing max bet is an absolute must as you cannot win the progressive if you play less than max.

The reason max bet is so important is the fact that the jackpot winning combination of five diamonds must be hit on the fifth line. Each coin you play activates an addition line and you cannot individually select lines so to have the fifth line active you must bet max. The five diamond symbols on lines one through four pays a handy 5,000 coins ($5,000).

Diamond Valley does not have a wild symbol but there are two extra ways to win on the reels. The first is the scatter symbol. The ruby pays if you land three, four or five in any position on the reels. Wins range from 5 to 200 times your total bet ($25 to $200). The second way to win is the bonus screen game.

The hand symbols hold the key to the bonus game. Line up three or more aligned left to right on an active pay line and you are taken to the bonus stage. On the bonus game you are presented with three mining characters in a hole (View Second Screen). You get to choose on and then choose one of the bags. Your bonus win is then revealed and the bonus ends.

Overall, Playtech have done a good job in making what was a pretty basic progressive into something a bit more interesting. The scatter and the bonus game add to the fun and the progressive is well worth chasing.