Everyone knows how attractive the land Down Under is, with its red mountains, picturesque deserts, wide beaches, exotic animals. If you’re one of those who love Australia and its nature, but also love to play online slots, then Rival Gaming’s new release is just the thing for you. “Diamonds Down Under” is a game whose lovable graphics transfer the authentic feel of the world’s smallest continent and its inhabitants.

This five-reel, 15-payline video slot is all about its superb design. It’s set in the middle of an Aussie mountain, where an explorer is in search of fortune, digging for shiny diamonds. On his way, he meets cheerful Aborigines, less than cheerful crocodiles, lovable koalas, kangaroos, geckos, and many more. Apart from these symbols, the slot features a wild, two scatters, which trigger a bonus round and free spins with multipliers. These special features are really something worth hoping for, as the prizes they give away are most commonly quite generous.

But before we get carried away and start playing, it’s essential to decide how much to spend on “Diamonds Down Under.” The range at your disposal when it comes to bet amounts is excellent, as the game designers set coin denominations to go from $0.01 to $1, and allowed players to place up to five coins per payline. In addition, players are able to select the number of paylines to play on, but it’s worth keeping in mind that the maximum number of paylines brings maximum winning odds.

Special Features:

The only real downside to “Diamonds Down Under” is its stinginess when it comes to regular rounds, where one rarely wins bigger that the bet amount they place. However, this flaw is somewhat compensated by the game’s generous special features, which include wilds, scatters, free spins and bonus rounds. Wild symbol comes in handy whenever you need an extra symbol to form a winner. It appears on all reels and replaces other regular symbols. However, it does not appear very often in this game, so one cannot always count on its help.

“Diamonds Down Under” has two scatters – a cheerful Aborigine and an unfolded map of a diamond mine. The first one triggers 10, 20 or 100 free spins when 3, 4, or 5 of them appear on the reels, respectively. The free spins may award some excellent prizes, as they have a 3x multiplier attached to them and they can also be retriggered at any point. As for the other scatter, three or more of those will start a second screen bonus round, where you are prompted to choose the spots where the explorer should dig and thereby reveal instant cash prizes, which can be quite hefty and compensate for any money you lost during regular spins.

This likeable game is something worth trying for the sake of adventure. It puts you into an Indiana Jones-like setting, makes you want to spin more and more and see how the exploration ends. And who knows, if you get lucky and hit a couple of nice feature wins, you may soon be on your way to the land Down Under for real!

- reviewed by Latest Casino Bonuses, last updated 2011-07-14