Mining Rush

Mining Rush Review

At first glance, Pragmatic Play's Mining Rush slot had us thinking we were in for a reskin of their popular Sugar Rush. However, we were pleasantly surprised to find an original game. As the name suggests, it's a mining-themed slot, and the action takes place deep inside a mine shaft. The 7x7 grid is set within a sturdy wooden frame, with a cheerful prospector standing alongside, nugget in hand.

To win, you'll need to land clusters of 5 or more matching symbols connecting horizontally and/or vertically anywhere in view. The symbols range from the top-tier bearded miner dude, a mining cart filled with gold, and his trusty pickaxe, to the standard lower-paying royals. A cluster of 15+ matching symbols will net you between 20x and 150x your stake, and there are no Wild symbols in any stage of this game.

Mining Rush Slot - Reels Screen

One of the key features in Mining Rush slot is the familiar Tumble mechanic. This feature removes winning symbols from the grid, allowing new ones to fall into place and potentially create more wins. The scatter symbols also play an important role, transforming into Nugget symbols during winning tumbles and awarding random cash prizes randomly according to 4 different nugget levels.

You can start spinning the reels from as little as €0.20, but high rollers can wager up to €240 per spin. The game boasts a high RTP of 96.56 %, well above average. However, it's worth noting that the volatility is also high, meaning wins might be less frequent but potentially larger. With a max win of 10,000x your stake, Mining Rush Pragmatic Play offers some exciting possibilities. Just remember that the game has different RTP settings, so it's always a good idea to check the game information before you start playing.

Mining Rush Features

The hunt for precious metals and nuggets is on in Mining Rush slot, and you’ll unearth lucrative prizes both in the base game and the bonus round. Let’s dig in!

Tumble Wins

Winning symbols explode to make room for existing and new symbols to fill the gaps, and this tumble mechanic feature repeats as long as you keep winning.

Nuggets Feature

Scatters turn into Nuggets when 1 or 2 are in view on a winning spin, and each Nugget turns into a random level of bronze, silver, gold, or diamond. Each nugget may pay a random cash prize per tumble win, with the prize range depending on the nugget tier. Each paying nugget gets +1 point added to its 3-point meter, and a full meter upgrades the nugget to the next tier:

• Bronze Nuggets - award prizes between 1x and 5x your stake.
• Silver Nuggets - award prizes between 6x and 20x your stake.
• Gold Nuggets - award prizes between 25x and 100x your stake.
• Diamond Nuggets - award prizes between 200x and 1,000x your stake.

Mining Rush Free Spins

The Bonus Round triggers when you land 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7+ scatters in view, awarding 8, 10, 12, 15, or 20 free spins, respectively. All the triggering scatters turn into Nuggets before the free spins play out, each with a random tier. The Nuggets are sticky for the duration of the bonus round, and they work the same as in the base game. New scatters turn into sticky nuggets if they appear on a winning spin, in addition to awarding +2 extra free spins.

Mining Rush Slot - Free Spins

Mining Rush Bonus Buy (not UK)

Eligible players can pay 100x the stake to trigger the bonus round with 3 to 7+ scatters on the spin that follows.

Theme & Graphics

Mining Rush is exactly what you would expect a mining-themed slot from Pragmatic Play would look like. It plays out deep inside a mine, with a cheerful soundtrack and a happy prospector keeping you company. The visuals are decent, with lanterns and shimmering gems adding to the atmosphere. The massive wooden-framed grid is where the action takes place, and the reels are filled with pickaxes, gold-filled carts, and the bearded miner himself.

Pros and Cons of Mining Rush

Our Verdict

As relieved as I was to find that Mining Rush game wasn't just another Pragmatic Play reskin job, the game cannot escape coming across as rather generic and superficial. The mine shaft visuals are pretty standard stuff, and our prospector friend, while cheerful enough, just sort of stands there with his pickaxe and nugget, seemingly indifferent to your wins and losses. He comes across as a forced necessity, like a fake smile Santa at a shopping mall during the holiday season.

While not a direct clone of Sugar Rush, there are definite similarities worth mentioning, like the 7x7 grid and the tumbling wins mechanic. However, the scatter-turned-nugget system in Mining Rush feels more complicated than it needs to be, and far less engaging than the simple, yet effective, position multipliers in Sugar Rush. Not knowing whether those nuggets will pay out or not is frustrating, and upgrading them is a nightmare in the base game.

Overall, the base game felt like more of a grind than I first expected. As mentioned, upgrading the nuggets is tough, and triggering the bonus round usually takes quite a while. Why Pragmatic Play has skipped the Ante Bet option for this game remains a mystery, and the 100x bonus buy price tells you a thing or two about the average returns. That being said, the miner character, the soundtrack, and the game itself do liven up a bit during the main attraction.

However, Pragmatic Play could learn a thing or two from developers like Nolimit City and Hacksaw, who usually offer super bonus rounds with higher average returns. Even during the feature, benefitting from the nuggets isn't as smooth as it could be, with all the annoying randomness. The whole system feels a bit messy and overcomplicated, to be honest. While the math model isn't too shabby, the lack of overall charm and excitement left me wanting to dig for gold elsewhere.