Fire in the Hole 2 Slot Features

After descending down the shaft, we find ourselves before a 6-reel grid with 3 rows open by default, offering 486 winning ways. Through winning combinations and specific features, the playing area may expand up to 6 rows, resulting in 46,656 possible patterns to score a win. Each matching set explodes, causing an avalanche that drops the remaining icons to the bottom and fills empty spaces with new symbols. Regular payouts span 0.2 - 1.5 times the bet range when formed out of low-value royal characters. Higher prizes, ranging from 0.35 to 7.5 times, are achievable on premium tiles with pictures of mining equipment like a shovel, a pair of worn boots, a map, a satchel, and a lantern.

xBomb Wild Multiplier

xBomb Wild stands in for all regular symbols during win evaluation. Whether it contributes to the win or not, the symbol explodes, clearing all adjacent positions and increasing the win multiplier by the value it carries.

Wild Mining

Didn't score anything on the initial drop? That's not a problem with a feature like Wild Mining that will trigger whenever matching symbols form a straight line. All standard symbols will clear off the board and depending on how many formed a row, a number of Wilds will be added to the grid, from 1 to 4. The view will then populate with a new set of icons to grant a second chance to land a win.

Buried Features

Random blockers can contain features, and whenever a winning combination uncovers such an icon, a respective modifier will kick in: a standard Wild, an xSplit symbol, or a Scatter.

xSplit

An image of a sawblade represents the xSplit feature. It can drop in any position and divide all symbols on its row into 2 instances. Multiple xSplit icons can fall on the same row, resulting in more symbols contained in a single cell.

Lucky Wagon Spins

Scoring 3, 4, or 5 Scatters activates the bonus round with 2, 3, or 4 rows active. Players receive 3 respins that reset whenever a coin is scored on the grid. The top reel carries only Enhancers that will activate whenever a coin drops on any position below:

• Multipliers multiply the value of all coins on the respective reel.
• Dynamite comes with between 2 and 5 sticks that will be thrown on random positions. If they land on a dirt space, they'll clear it. If they land on a coin, they'll double its value. If they land on a Chest, they will activate it.
• Beer reactivates from 0 to 5 Coins, which will trigger their respective enhancers on the next spin.
• Dwarf collects values from all symbols on the grid.
• Chests become active after being hit by Dynamite. From that point, they will collect all values from the respective reel above on every successive spin.

Fire in the Hole 2 bonus comes with a powerful twist in the form of the Upgrade feature that adds the 7th reel to the game. On it, only Upgrade symbols depicted by a diamond may appear. When one lands, it will affect all icons that appear during that spin on their respective row. Coins and Multipliers continue to be active on the next spin, while Dynamite, Beer, and Dwarf symbols become persistent, performing their action on every successive spin.

Bonus Buy & xBet

For a cost of 2.5 times the original stake, players can activate the xBet function to receive a guaranteed Scatter on the last inactive row on each spin, thus increasing the chance of triggering the bonus round. Additionally, enabling the feature will remove all dirt/blocker positions from the game.

Instant access to the Lucky Wagon Spins is available through the Bonus Buy menu. Players can choose from five different variants:

• 3 Scatters for 70 x bet.
• 4 Scatters for 200 x bet.
• 5 Scatters for 600 x bet.
• 5 Scatters + Guaranteed Persistent Dwarf Symbol from the beginning for 3,600 x bet.
• Lucky Draw with a 50% / 40 % / 10% chance between the first three modes in the same order for 175 x bet.

Final Thoughts

Producing sequels and turning successful slots into series has become relatively common in recent years. Even studios with a short track record in the online gambling industry tend to capitalize on their premium titles. Interestingly, for Nolimit City, an outfit that has been present on the scene since 2014 and has become a fan-favorite studio through their original game ideas, it's the first true sequel. Naturally, there've been a few games that received closely related follow-ups, like Punk Rocker and Punk Toilet or Tombstone and Deadwood. Yet, there has never been a genuine "two".

Choosing the right slot from such a successful portfolio must have been quite a challenge, but we feel that the team hit a bullseye with Fire in the Hole. And when a creative team like NLC decides to produce a sequel, you can be sure it will be a doozy. Sure enough, the tireless dwarf doesn't disappoint and brings multiple new levels to the already intense and diverse gameplay. Fire in the Hole 2 goes all-in with enhancements, transforming every part of the familiar original into its more engaging variant. Nearly every feature in the game received a revamp. In the base game, we've got xSplit symbols that create multiple instances of other icons, including. xBomb Wilds that can contribute to the win multiplier with more than x1 at a time. Wild Mining has also expanded to grant up to 4 Wilds, and there are additional symbols hidden under the blockers. Even if the changes stopped here, it would have been an exciting new journey. But no, that's not Nolimit's style. The Lucky Wagon Spins, though sticking to the same base format, now come with an additional Upgrade reel that affects entire rows, turning more powerful symbols into their persistent counterparts and giving one extra life to Multipliers and Coins. And let's not forget about the xBet function that creates an entirely different experience by removing all the blockers in addition to increasing the chance to trigger the bonus. An absolutely stunning combination of new elements that work in perfect unison to create endlessly captivating gameplay.