Fire in the Hole 2 Slot Review 2024

Fire in the Hole 2 from Nolimit City welcomes the return of a fan favourite. Released in 2021, Fire in the Hole stood out as one of their most explosive releases yet as the first to feature the coveted xBomb feature. With sharpened pickaxes, players stood alongside the enigmatic dwarf, chipping away for liquid gold. We never truly moved on from such a dynamite release but things have certainly changed for our Dwarven protagonist since the original. Our pyromaniac friend has found love, though as strong as love is, he can’t stay away from the mines.

He has enough explosives to blow a hole straight through the Earth’s crust and the true hardiness to crawl back out again with gems in tow.

Nolimit City rarely releases sequels, or at least not directly. Fire in the Hole 2 looks similar enough to be almost indistinguishable from the first slot, but will the features vary wildly?

Fire in the Hole 2 Gameplay and Design

Fire in the Hole 2 follows in the footsteps of the original, with 5 reels and 6 rows, of which 3 are locked until unlocked by some of the gameplay features. The bet limits in this one are typical of Nolimit City slots as well, with options that range from £/€0.20 to £/€100 the bet. These bets increase by 2.5 times the base bet when the xBet Feature is activated. This guarantees at least 1 bonus symbol on the last inactive row for each spin. Additionally, all dirt positions are removed from the main game, making the buried features land without the dirt and trigger immediately when they are in the active reels.

Fire in the Hole 2 slot Base Game

Fire in the Hole 2 – Slot Symbols and Values

The highest paying symbols in Fire in the Hole 2 pay between 0.35x to 7.50x the bet, but these wins can be increased substantially when special features trigger. Lower paying symbols range from 0.20x to 1.5x the bet.

Fire in the hole 2 slot paytable

Fire in the Hole 2 – RPT and Volatility – Hot or Not?

Fire in the Hole comes with 3 different RTP variants, depending on which market and casino you’re playing the game on. The RTP options are:

  • 96.07%
  • 94.08% –
  • 92.07%
  • RTP Base Game / Bonus Mode(s): 61.23% / 34.84%

The RTP seems very fair, though players are likely to see the 94.08% version at UK casinos, and the German Market is the unfortunate beneficiary of the 92.07% variant. The higher RTP option likely to be seen in MGA casinos.

Regarding volatility, Fire in the Hole 2 is rated as 10/10 volatile, or extreme by Nolimit City. Slots with extreme volatility like this one tend to play less frequently, but the bigger hits are likely to be substantially more than low-volatility variants.

Fire in the Hole 2 Slot – Max Win

The maximum win in Fire in the Hole 2 stands at 65,000x the bet, outperforming its predecessor Fire in the Hole by 5,000x.

Fire in the Hole 2 – Special Features

Fire in the Hole 2 has a number of special features, including some of Nolimit City’s famous ‘x’ Features.

Collapsing Mine Feature

Each spin begins with 3 active rows and for each collapse an additional row becomes active up to 6 rows.

A new collapse can be triggered by the following events:
• A winning combination.
• xBomb Wild explosion.
• Wild Mining feature triggered.
Winning symbols are paid out and removed before triggering the next collapse, which will make all symbols fall downwards leaving empty positions for new symbols to drop in from above.

xBomb Wild Multiplier

An xBomb Wild symbol substitutes for any symbol except Bonus symbols.

An exploding xBomb Wild removes adjacent symbols except for Bonus symbols and will increase the win multiplier by its value for the next collapse.

All xBomb Wild will explode before the next collapse except when Wild Mining feature is triggered.

xSplit Feature

An xSplit symbol splits symbols on its row, doubling those symbols.

Symbols splitting into 8 or more will be shown with a multiplier instead.

Bonus symbols and xSplit® symbols cannot be split. Once all xSplit symbols have been activated, they all turn into one of the regular symbols.

Dirt blocks affected by a split feature are removed if there is a collapse.

Buried Features

Dirt symbols in the main game may contain a Wild, Split or Bonus symbols.

Feature symbols buried in the dirt are inactive until the dirt block they are contained in is removed or hit by an xSplit feature.

Wild Mining Feature

Wild Mining will be triggered in the main game when 3, 4, 5 or 6 of the same kind of symbols align horizontally or vertically and there is no winning combination.

The triggering symbols will be removed creating Wild symbols in the middle positions of the alignment:

  • 3 symbols award 1 Wild
  • 4 symbols award 2 Wilds
  • 5 Symbols award 3 Wilds
  • 6 symbols award 4 Wilds

All other positions above the bar will explode if not a Bonus or Wild symbol and trigger a new collapse.

Fire in the Hole 2 – Bonus Rounds & Free Spins

Fire in the Hole 2 features a bonus round very similar in nature to the bonus round seen in the original game – Lucky Wagon Spins.

3, 4 or 5 Bonus symbols trigger the Lucky Wagons Spins with 2, 3 or 4 rows of the reel area open initially. The feature starts with 3 spins and will reset to 3 spins every time a
coin lands in the reel area. All coin values are valued as times the active bet.

During the feature, the top row will reveal enhancers for each spin – Coin values, Multipliers, Dynamite, Beer or Dwarf. An enhancer is activated when a coin lands on the reel below the enhancer.

Upgrade Crystal 

The additional 7th reel may reveal Upgrade symbols each spin. All the enhancer activating Coins landing on the Upgrade symbol row will gain the below additional effect:

  • Coin values and Multiplier will cause the Coin to continue to be active for the next spin.
  • Dynamite, Beer and Dwarf features become persistent features, activating their effects until Lucky Wagon Spins end

Other enhancers may appear on the top row.

Coin Values

Sets the value of the coin.

Multipliers

Multiplies the value of all coins on the reel below the enhancer

Dynamite

Adds the Dynamite count as times bet value to the triggering coin. It then throws as many Dynamites as its count on reel positions

  • If it lands on Dirt: Will remove Dirt symbol
  • If it lands on Coin: Will double its Coin value
  • If it lands on Chest: Will activate the Chest

Beer

Reactivates 0-5 coins, which makes them trigger their respective enhancers for the next spin.

Dwarf

Collects all values in the reel area at the triggering coin position

Collect Chests 

During the feature the bottom row Collect Chest can be activated by Dynamite. When a Collect Chest is activated it will collect the values in the reel area for the corresponding column above every spin.

Fire in the Hole 2 Slots Free Spins

Fire in the Hole 2 – Bonus Buy

Fire in the Hole 2 has a number of bonus buy options for players able to utilise them

  • 3 Scatter Lucky Wagon Spins – 70x the bet
  • 4 Scatter Lucky Wagon Spins – 200x the bet
  • 5 Scatter Lucky Wagon Spins – 600x the bet

What Are the Odds of Triggering the Bonus in Fire in the Hole 2?

Free Spins frequency in Fire in the Hole 2 is 1 in 211 spins, or 1 in 49 Spins with xBet activated.

Pros & Cons of Fire in the Hole 2

Below is a short list of Pros and Cons that you may want to consider before choosing to play Fire in the Hole 2.

Pros

  • Familiar and proven features included
  • High Max Win
  • Innovative gameplay

Cons

  • Some may consider the volatility too high
  • It may feel too similar to the original game for some players

Similar Slots to Fire in the Hole 2

Nolimit City slots are generally quite different, but there are similar features across different games

  • Misery Mining – Misery Mining was the original ‘successor’ to Fire in the Hole. This game featured the same character, setting and similar x features.
  • Dead Canary – Dead Canary also continued the popular theme, and featured similar features, like the Wild Mining Feature

Fire in the Hole 2 – Our Verdict

Nolimit City are known for thinking outside the box, and they did so with titles that followed the original Fire in the Hole with Misery Mining and Dead Canary. Fire in the Hole 2 looks a little more familiar, offering up an experience that is much like the first, but juiced up.

Players will load it up and feel very acquainted with the game, but additions like xSplit and xBet can make all of the difference. The bonus round feels like a more diverse experience with extras that were not present during the first game, like the crystals. The Crystals add a layer that takes Fire in the Hole 2 to another level, though it’d be understandable if some think it too similar to the original game.

The win potential has been amped up by 5,000x with a huge 65,000x win cap. Unlike many providers, these figures are actually realistic despite how gargantuan they are. We don’t doubt that we’ll see some max wins very soon after release, if not on the very day it releases.

Overall, Fire in the Hole 2 builds upon the original in what can seem like a subtle way, but rest assured that the tweaks make it much more effective.