Fire Gnomes 2 Magic Wheel

Fire Gnomes 2 Magic Wheel: Slot Overview

Sometimes you review a slot, it fades from memory, then years pass, and a sequel hits, making you wonder how on earth you ever forgot about the original. In this case, we're not talking about an especially amazing original, but one that did score highly on the oddity meter. Released in 2023, the game was Fire Gnomes, a mushroom and gnomically themed slot from the creative minds at Crazy Tooth Studio. The gnomes are back, scurrying out of their wee houses to blow things up in Fire Gnomes 2 Magic Wheel, and are accompanied by a mysterious wizard who brings with him magical powers in the form of additional features.

The original release was mind-bendingly presented, and Crazy Tooth Studio has kept its thumb pressed on the bizarre button for the sequel. Mushrooms abound, floating around the screen like a, well, a bad mushroom trip, in a weird fungus world. The gnomes are as sad and/or terrifying as ever; the whole thing is just so… Crazy Tooth Studio. Fire Gnomes must have resonated with enough gamblers to encourage a sequel, though, so anyone who enjoyed the mind massage of the original's unusual gnomic world should be ready for the mental spiral to continue in Fire Gnomes 2.

Very little is orthodox in Fire Gnomes 2 Magic Wheel, and that includes a gaming area consisting of a 4-reel, 5-row grid with no less than 95 paylines. The math model volatility is high, and the RTP maxes out at 96.01% with two lower return values also available. When choosing the appropriate stake, a minimum of $/€0.15 to a maximum of $/€105 can be selected.

The eight regular pay symbols are divided into clubs, hearts, diamonds, and spades low pays, then four mushroom symbol higher pays. Winning combinations of 4 in size pay 0.2x for the suits or 0.33x for the mushrooms. Wild symbols substitute all paying symbols and can create their own winning combinations. Wilds can also have multipliers of x2 to x5, and each multiplier in a winning combination multiplies the payout for that win. Wild multipliers only appear from the Magic Wheel feature.

Fire Gnomes 2 Magic Wheel: Slot Features

For features, Fire Gnomes 2 has the Big Build-Up, Magic Wheel effects, a bonus round, and feature buys.

Big Build-Up

Build-up symbols may appear in the base game. The barrel build-up is present on the leftmost and rightmost reels, while the coin build-up appears on the second and third reels. In the base game, landing barrel build-up symbol increases the feature rewards along the sides of the grid. Landing a coin build-up in the base game increases the silver or gold prizes at the top of the reels.

Magic Wheel

Feature activation symbols may appear on reels 2 and 3 in the base game. When a feature activation symbol hits, it may trigger the Magic Wheel feature. If triggered, one or more feature awards on the sides of the reels is activated, or the Magic Wheel.

• Added Wilds - Transforms one or more symbols into wilds.
• Added Wild Multipliers - Transforms one or more symbols into wild multipliers.
• Silver Prize - Awards a prize worth 5x-66.67x the bet.
• Gold Prize - Awards a prize worth 16.67x-800x the bet.
• x2, x3, or x4 Wheel Multiplier - Multiplies all wins by 2,3, or 4, respectively.
• Instant Bonus - Awards the bonus.

Bonus Round

Scatters appear on the leftmost and rightmost reels only. Landing 2 scatters triggers 5 free spins in the bonus round. For it, the grid is populated with credit values of 0.13x-6.67x the bet and bonus symbols. On each spin,one or more x2 to x5 multipliers land on the grid, activating each credit value or bonus symbol it lands on.

• Credit Value - That value is multiplied by the multiplier value.
• Credit Boost Symbol - All activated credit values on the grid are increased by the credit boost increase value (0.33x) times the activating multiplier value.
• Row Symbol - When activated, all positions on the same row are activated by the activating multiplier value.
• Column Symbol - When activated, all positions on the same column are activated by the activating multiplier value.
• Orthogonal Symbol - When activated, all positions up, down, left, and right are activated by the activating multiplier value.

Each special bonus symbol can only be activated once per landed multiplier. After landed multipliers are complete, the Bonus Magic Wheel spins and awards a bonus wheel special symbol. Each bonus wheel special symbol lands on the grid and multiplies the value at its position by 2.

• Wheel Row Symbol - All other positions on the same row are activated with a multiplier of 2.
• Wheel Column Symbol - All other positions on the same column are activated with a multiplier of 2.
• Wheel Barrel Symbol - All adjacent positions, including diagonally, are activated with a multiplier of 2.
• Wheel Magic Staff - 3 to 6 random positions are activated with a multiplier of 2.
• Wheel Orthogonal Symbol - All positions up, down, left, and right are activated with a multiplier of 2.

At the end of 5 rounds, the Bonus Magic Wheel is populated with retrigger symbols, and it spins. If a retrigger symbol lands, an extra bonus spin is granted. The max value each position on the grid can have is 335x.

Feature Buys

There are two options to instantly trigger the bonus game. One is 60x to buy an instant trigger. The other option costs 100x and guarantees a retrigger for 6 total bonus spins.

Fire Gnomes 2 Magic Wheel: Slot Verdict

If Crazy Tooth Studio is in the business of making all things unconventional, they have succeeded again with Fire Gnomes 2 Magic Wheel. Almost everything about it is tilted to the side, if that's the right word to convey the impression. From the unusual stake range, symbol values, and credit values to the surreal appearance, just about everything here is slightly or significantly off kilter. When considering the ocean of cookie-cutter slots that flood the online gambling lobby, the way Crazy Tooth Studio slots keep you off balance with their quirks is, on the whole, a positive thing, even if the game in question leans more to the miss side than the hit.

Another thing Fire Gnomes 2 Magic Wheel possesses that is classic Crazy Tooth Studio is, initially, at least, minuscule payout values. Symbol values are on the low side, perhaps compensating for the large number of paylines for a 4x5 grid. Credit values during bonus rounds start small as well, almost demoralisingly so, and the silver and even gold prizes are so-so. In fact, for some reason, no one can really say but Crazy Tooth Studio itself, winning potential has been chopped down to 2,058.2x the bet, which is less than a third of the original release. Which, you know, big numbers might not be everything, yet it is odd when a sequel is equipped with a host of additional extras but significantly scales back the potential.

In the end, Fire Gnomes 2 Magic Wheel feels like a slot determined to do everything at once. It piles on mechanics, modifiers, and bonus variations to almost absurd levels, yet all that complexity leads to surprisingly little in terms of raw potential. The result is a game bursting with features, but somewhat light on substance where it matters most.