Pokie Fire in the Hole 2 Review

Slot Review

Written by: James J. Hetrick, Senior Content Editor December 5, 2023 at 1:52PM

Last Updated: February 29, 2024 at 5:23PM (Leo K. Pickering)

Read Time: 4 min.

Players get a chance to return to their favorite gold mine. But this time they can find something more than just gold. Shiny crystals are also within their reach, and a bunch of extra tools are available to unearth and collect all the treasures.  

Features 

The key feature is still the Collapsing Mine, when winning combinations, Wilds, or the Wild Mining feature trigger a collapse. It’s a downward expansion of the layout. The initial layout in Fire in the Hole 2 is 6×3, and after a series of collapses it can expand up to 6×6. There are a couple of other boosters that the game inherited from the original: 

• xBomb Wild Multiplier. This symbol serves not one but several purposes at the same time. It performs the role of a regular wild, substituting for other symbols, boosts the win multiplier, and explodes to clear adjacent positions.  
• Wild Mining. This feature is there to turn a bad spin into a hopeful one. Imagine you have 3-6 similar symbols aligned, but don’t get a winning combination. The Wild Mining feature turns 1-4 of those symbols into wilds and explodes the rest of them. 

Buried Features 

One new thing that is offered here is the set of Buried Features. Hidden under a pile of rocks you can sometimes spot one of three special symbols: Wild, Split, Bonus. Unless they are blown up to freedom, they will remain inactive. Once you reach them, they won’t be unlocked right away. You need another collapse to remove dirt that covers them.  

xMechanics 

If you are a fan of Nolimit City slots, you should be aware of the studio’s ever-growing collection of signature xMechanics. Fire in the Hole 2 has the xBomb mechanic that is available in the first installment, plus two more: 

• xSplit would split most symbols into two creating more ways to win. But this booster can’t be applied to bonus and xSplit symbols.  
• xBet. If you pay 250% of your total bet, you can buy at least 1 bonus symbol at the very bottom of the layout. It will remain inactive unless a series of collapses unlocks it. Additionally, all buried symbols will be removed from the dirt and ready to unleash its power once you reach them.  

Bonus Game 

Fire in the Hole 2 offers the Hold and Win type of bonus round with 3 initial spins. Every symbol that lands in view extends the round, which will end only when three consecutive spins don’t produce any symbols or there are no more empty spots. What makes this bonus game so exciting is a variety of enhancers that appear randomly on the top row.  

There are all the familiar enhancers such as coins, multipliers, dynamites, dwarfs, and there’s just one that’s new. The Beer symbol on the top row reactivates up to 5 existing coins along with their respective enhancers for the next spin.   

On the bottom row, players will see locked treasure chests. They get activated by dynamites and collect all the values of their corresponding reels. And they’ll do it repeatedly in every spin, which makes them very useful for landing some big wins.  

Upgrade 

This is another thing that was added to Fire in the Hole 2. If you land a Crystal on a special 7th reel, all symbols that are on the same row with that Crystal will be upgraded. Coins and multipliers will remain activated, other enhancers become persistent.  

Bonus Buy 

The number of scatters that trigger the bonus does matter. The more of them the better, because players get additional rows unlocked from the start of the round. That’s why when you buy the feature, the price increases with each additional scatter. It costs 70x, 200x and 600x to get 3, 4 and 5 scatters respectively. For 175x there will be a Lucky Draw.   

Conclusion 

Fire in the Hole 2 has become bigger and better than the original. It offers all the features players fell in love with and treats them with new features to deliver a more thrilling experience. That should keep the fans super thrilled and attract new players.  

Slot Rating

Fire in the Hole 2 Symbols and Paytable

6	x7.5
5	x4
4	x2
3	x0.75

6	x3.75
5	x2
4	x0.75
3	x0.5

6	x2.5
5	x1.5
4	x0.6
3	x0.45

6	x2
5	x1.25
4	x0.55
3	x0.4

6	x1.75
5	x1
4	x0.5
3	x0.35

6	x1.5
5	x0.8
4	x0.4
3	x0.3

6	x1.25
5	x0.7
4	x0.35
3	x0.25

6	x1.1
5	x0.6
4	x0.3
3	x0.2

6	x1.05
5	x0.6
4	x0.3
3	x0.2

6	x1
5	x0.6
4	x0.3
3	x0.2

Scatter

Wild

Screenshots