Lucky Mines

Lucky Mines Game Review

Lucky Mines is an instant “mine” game from developer InOut Games that debuted at the provider’s partner casinos on September 11, 2023, and immediately topped the charts. Here, you’ll find a classic grid of cells hiding either prize multipliers or explosive bombs that immediately end the round. With a stated RTP of 96%, a maximum multiplier of x100 your bet, and, most importantly, a finely adjustable risk level by choosing the number of mines from 2 to 24, Lucky Mines also offers a provably fair blockchain-based system that will put your doubts about the results to rest. We already have a risk-free demo version of the title available on the SlotCatalog platform, so you can test it without spending your own money.

Instant games that let players choose items continue to gain momentum in crypto casinos and on traditional gambling platforms, which is why InOut Games and many other providers are releasing such titles at an impressive rate. Today we’ll take a look at Lucky Mines, a popular game released in September 2023 that features neither spinning reels nor the bonus rounds with free spins that many players are used to. Instead, it offers a 5x5 grid where each cell can contain either a multiplier that determines your prize or a mine that explodes and immediately results in a loss.

Lucky Mines Reels Screen

From a technical standpoint, Lucky Mines looks quite promising, as it offers an RTP of 96%, which is in line with the industry average. The provider does not specify the volatility in official documents. However, you can manage your risk here by selecting the number of mines from a range of 2 to 24. So, you essentially set the volatility yourself before each round you play, a feature not available in most slots. According to InOut, the max possible multiplier here is x100. And you can choose from a betting range of 0.12 to 200 euros per round. This means that the most successful round in Lucky Mines can result in a prize of 20,000 euros, which isn’t impressive but is still a respectable figure.

Essentially, Lucky Mines is a game based on the logic of Minesweeper, a classic that not everyone has played. So there are no spinning reels, symbol combos, or other elements familiar to slot players. That’s why we’ve provided a step-by-step guide on how to play this title:

• Use the “+” and “-” buttons to set your bet amount, or do it manually by first tapping the field where the current value is displayed.
• Decide on the number of mines in the field. Here, you’ll find a fairly wide range from 2 to 24 bombs.
• Select a game mode, such as Auto Game, to speed up gameplay.
• If you’ve selected Manual mode, start opening the cells one by one, or use the “Random” button to select a cell at random.
• In Auto mode, you can specify in advance which cells you want to open, as well as the number of rounds that will play out automatically in a row (from 3 to 500).
• You can use Cashout to get your current prize at any time in Manual Mode.

So, here, each safe cell you open increases your current bet multiplier. In other words, the resulting multiplier grows as you successfully open new cells. And you don’t have to open nearly all the cells, because the further you go, the higher the chances of losing your bet.

Lucky Mines Features

Although we’ve seen many instant games in this genre that offer some extras, Lucky Mines focuses solely on the mechanics of revealing cells. So don’t expect any intriguing bonus rounds or the option to place side bets in this game. However, there are still a few tools available that significantly affect your playstyle, the speed of the rounds, and the overall level of risk.

Option for Selecting the Number of Mines

Lucky Mines is all about a 5x5 grid with 25 squares. And you can place as few as 2 mines for minimal risk, or increase that number all the way up to 24. It might seem much smarter to play with only two potentially dangerous squares. But the thing is, the fewer mines you place on the grid, the higher your chance of safely revealing the next square, and, more importantly, the multiplier also grows more slowly. If you place a lot of mines, your prize will grow noticeably faster with each new cell you open. But the chance of hitting a mine on the very first or second click increases significantly, and that’s the flip side of the coin. So use this essentially built-in risk control wisely.

Random Feature

Selecting cells manually can be fun at first. But if you're in for a long session, it can get pretty tedious. That's why InOut includes a Random feature that essentially lets the system select cells automatically and at random. Think of it simply as a way to speed up the gameplay.

Auto Game

By selecting this mode, you can specify which cells you want to open on the grid. You can then configure Auto Game by clicking the button that normally starts a regular round. Here, you can set the number of rounds to be played automatically, ranging from 3 to 500. But that’s not all, as InOut has also added several auto-stops. This means you can set a stop-loss by specifying a specific amount, and the game will stop if your total losses exceed that amount. You can also automatically stop the auto-rounds if a single win exceeds the amount you’ve set. If you have your own pre-calculated, repeatable strategy, Auto Game is very useful for you.

Lucky Mines Big Win Screen

Provably Fair

Lucky Mines is a game based on RNG algorithms, so a lot of what happens goes on behind the scenes and isn’t visible to you. But before each round, the system generates a server seed, whose SHA256 hash is published in advance, as well as a client seed, which you can change yourself. The key point is that the outcome of any round is determined by a combination of the server seed and the first three bets of the round. So you can compare the published hash with the server seed revealed after the round to easily verify that the result wasn’t rigged retroactively.

Theme & Graphics

Lucky Mines is designed to be a classic cartoon-style arcade game about treasure hunting and defusing mines, so don’t expect the graphics to be better than those in its PC counterpart. Here, we’re looking at a grid rendered in a subdued dark-blue palette with contrasting light-colored cells, and this keeps the interface clean and uncluttered. Overall, the focus here is clearly on the game’s functionality and gameplay, rather than visual splendor, and that’s unlikely to put anyone off. On the other hand, Lucky Mines performs well even on frankly weak and outdated smartphones, so literally anyone who wants to can enjoy it on the go.

Lucky Mines Free Play

Success in this game depends on your ability to correctly balance your bet size and the number of mines on the grid. To find your lucky formula, you’ll need to try out many different combinations. So it’s best to start with the Lucky Mines free play version to understand how it works and how the multipliers increase based on the number of potential hazards on the grid. In the Lucky Mines demo, you can also test out the Auto Play mode with its very useful stop-loss features. We have a demo version of the game right here on SlotCatalog, and you can test it risk-free on any device.

Pros & Cons of the Lucky Mines Game

Our Verdict

Let’s just say right off the bat that Lucky Mines comes across as a solid, if unremarkable, entry in the “mines” genre. It has no obvious technical flaws. However, it doesn’t offer any revolutionary innovations, which is the main criticism of this title.

InOut offers a fair RTP of 96%, but we’ve come across titles in the same genre where the return-to-player ratio was 97% or more, up to an incredible 99%. At the same time, the actual volatility we experienced with different mine count settings is entirely consistent with the expected logic of the genre. In other words, if you set 2-4 mines, the rounds drag on for a long time, with the multiplier rising very gradually, although the risk of triggering a mine is minimal. But if you decide to take a risk and make 10 or more cells potentially dangerous, the game turns into a real nerve-wracking lottery, where the multiplier skyrockets. However, the chance of hitting a mine on the very first click becomes alarmingly high.

Auto Game is perhaps the most useful feature here, as it simply saves you time. That means you won’t have to click manually every time you want to navigate the minefield for the maximum win of x100 your bet, which, by the way, isn’t all that impressive either. Additionally, there are two stop-loss features that will help save your bankroll in case of failure.

Lucky Mines will be a breath of fresh air for anyone tired of classic slots with their combos and free spins. If you’ve already played the original Mines by Spribe, as well as its numerous clones on crypto platforms like Stake, you’ll easily grasp the mechanics of the game featured in this review. The smartest way to play this game is to choose a moderate number of mines (around 3-5) and cash out after 2-3 safe squares are revealed, without trying to chase the maximum multiplier every time. Overall, it’s a solid, fair, and functional game for its genre, though it’s unlikely to be a revelation for experienced mine-sweeper players. However, it serves quite well as a quick and truly interesting break between slot sessions.