Shamrock Miner

Shamrock Miner Slot Review

Slot Provider: Play n Go

RTP: 96.29% | Variance: Medium-High | Maximum Win: 5,000x

Our Score: 7.4

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About Shamrock Miner

Reviewed by:

Published Date: 30th August 2022

How We Review Slot Games

We test and rate all slot games across 5 criteria, assigning a score out of 10 for each and an overall score that is an average of the 5. To build an accurate assessment of each game we gather information from the supplier and play in real play or demo mode. Find out more.

Shamock Miner is a high variance Irish-themed slot from Play n Go. The game is all about landing Wilds which trigger Cash Symbols of up to 50x when they drop at the same time. Wins are also enhanced by a random multiplier that switches between 1x and 10x in the base game. It can be a slow game but things kick on significantly in the bonus round where progressive features come into play. Collecting 4, 8, 12 or 16 wilds expands the reels as high as 7 rows during free spins, as well as bringing up more spins and increasing the Cash Multiplier as high as 10x. The top win in this game is 5,000x.

Shamrock Miner Game Information

  • RTP: 96.29%, 94.28%, 92.28%, 87.29%, 84.27%
  • Variance: Medium-High
  • Maximum Win: 5,000x
  • Progressive Jackpot: No
  • Reels: 5
  • Rows: 4 to 7
  • Paylines: 12 +
  • Minimum Stake: £0.12
  • Theme: Irish
  • Features: Wilds, Free Spins, Expanding Reels, Multipliers

Shamrock Miner Review Scores

  • Gameplay and Features 8
  • Maximum Win 6
  • Theme and Design 7
  • Paytable 9
  • RTP and Variance 7

What Our Reviewer Says ...

"Traditional theme with basic features but potential to see some interesting wins in the bonus round!"

Our Score: 7.4

Shamrock Miner Pros and Cons

What We Liked

  • Cash Multipliers up to 30x
  • Wild Meter re-triggers free spins
  • Expanding Reels in bonus round
  • Cash symbols have high values up to 50x
  • Premiums valued up to 200x

What We Didn't like

  • Quite basic gameplay
  • Generic Irish theme

Theme & Design

Our Score 7

Shamrock Miner, in keeping with its name, draws heavily on traditional Irish themes for its design work. Pretty much all the elements you might expect are here including the rainbow, lush green hillside, lucky clovers and Irish leprechaun. It’s nothing spectacular and the slightly cloudy skyline and dark entrance to the mine give the whole slot a somewhat gloomy feel in fact. Thankfully that is offset by an upbeat guitar track – with Irish flute of course – and the rattling sound of the reels spinning like wheels on a mining cart.

Shamrock Miner Home Screen
Shamrock Miner – Classic Irish-themed slots visuals

Visually this is not Play n Go’s greatest work, but can still hold its own in a crowded slots genre.

RTP and Variance

Our Score 7

What is RTP?

RTP (Return to Player) refers to the amount a game will pay out in cash prizes expressed as a percentage of all the money wagered on that game. For example, a 96% RTP means a game will pay out £96 for every £100 wagered. This is an average number and will vary from one session to the next.  Read more here.

What is Variance?

Variance refers to how far a game will deviate from its RTP over time. High variance games deviate a lot and produce uneven win distributions and unexpected windfalls. Low variance games provide a more stable and even distribution of wins. Read more here.

Like most Play n Go slots, Shamrock miner has 5 available RTP settings. They are 96.29%, 94.28%, 92.28%, 87.29% or 84.27%. Which you play will be up to your casino operator to decide. We checked out the RTP at 5 popular slot sites in the UK to see which setting they had chosen. This is what we found:

It is not unusual for many slot sites to run Play n Go games at a lower than optimum RTP as you can see from our list. We recommend that you play at MrQ which is the only casino in our list to run the game at 96.29%.

The variance of Shamrock Miner is medium-high with a fairly even win distribution, but potential to pull off some big wins in the bonus round where the reel set expands and multipliers can hit 30x.

If you enjoy high variance games then also check out our list of the top 20 high volatility slots.

Maximum Win

Our Score 6

What Is Maximum Win?

Maximum win refers to the maximum amount a player can win from one spin. It is expressed as a multiple of the stake. For example, where the maximum win is 100,000x, from a £1 stake, the maximum win would be £100,000.  

Shamrock Miner has a maximum win of 5,000x. This is Ok, though not on the scale of Play n Go’s highest max win games. Slots like Kiss Reels of Rock (50,000x) and Clash of Camelot (35,000x) offer much better potential. You can also check out our list of the highest max win games of all time for more choice.

Explore Games With Similar RTP, Variance and Maximum Win

Like the numbers? Here are some more games you might want to try.

Slot SiteSupplierRTPVarianceTop Payout
Gates of TroyPlay n Go96.2%Medium3,000xPlay Here
Boat BonanzaPlay n Go96.21%High5,000xPlay Here
Count JokulaPlay n Go96.22%Medium8,350xPlay Here
Old Gold Miner Megaways™Pragmatic Play%High5,000xPlay Here
Cash ElevatorPragmatic Play96.64%High20,000xPlay Here

Symbols and Paytable

Our Score 9

Shamrock Miner starts on a simple 5 reel and 4 row grid with just 12 active paylines in play. Until the reels start expanding as wilds are collected, then new rows are added and more paylines come into play.

Wins are triggered by landing 3 or more identical symbols across paylines from left to right.

There is some really good value in the paytable symbols alone before we even get to the multipliers, making this look like a promising game. Low payers are the cards, 10 through to Ace. These are valued at from 0.5x for 3 10s right up to 10x for 5 Aces. Premium symbols are represented by the gems – yellow, purple, green and red. These are valued at from 2x for 3 yellow gems right up to a massive 200x for 5 red symbols.

Shamrock Miner Paytable
Paytable from Shamrock Miner – Gems Worth up to 200x

Keep a good eye out for the Wilds as well because they sub for all other symbols to complete winlines AND collect up values from cash symbols. So they are powerful!

Finally, there are dynamite scatters which trigger free spins when 3 or more land. But they have no cash value in themselves.

Features and Gameplay

Our Score 8

Shamrock Miner is not stacked with unique features. However, the bonus round looks like it can offer some thrills thanks to its progressive features, and the use of a random multiplier also throws up some interesting unpredictability.

Watch Out For Wilds, Cash Symbols and Multipliers

The base game is straight forward.

As well as standard wins, keep your eye out for Wilds to land at the same time as Cash Symbols which look like rocks with diamonds in them. If these two land at the same time then the cash symbol value is paid out.

You should also watch the Cash Multiplier meter to the left of the reels which has values of 1x, 2x, 4x and 10x. This changes at random and is applied to all wins. In testing it never got as high at 10x but regularly moved up to 2x or 4x.

Cash symbols can be valued to a maximum of 50x. Combine that, or the 200x for 5 Aces, with a 10x Cash Multiplier and you can see how Shamrock Miner might kick out a decent win or two.

Shamrock Miner Free Spins Triggered
Triggering Free Spins in Testing

Progressive Free Spins Round With Expanding Reels, Re-Triggers and Enhanced Cash Multipliers

The free spins round is where things get more interesting.

To unlock the spins you need 3, 4 or 5 scatters to land in the base game. That gets you 10, 15 or 20 spins.

Now, the gameplay is the same, but with some nice enhancements. A little mining cart appears above the reels to collect any wilds that land and act as a meter that tells you how far you are from the next level of free spins and Cash Multiplier you are.

Every FOUR Wilds that you collect triggers another row on the reels which can grow to up to 7 rows high. Each new row adds 5 more paylines. Every FOUR Wilds will also get you 10 more spins and increase the range of the Cash Multiplier to the left of the reels until it maxes out at 30x.

The Final Verdict

Our Score 7.4

On the face of it, Shamrock Miner is a somewhat underwhelming slot. The features are relatively basic and many spins seem to fly by without much action. The redeeming features however are the cash multiplier which at least has the potential to add an element of surprise to each win, and the bonus round, which moves this rather plodding slot into the modern age with its expanding reels and progressive elements, including the chance to trigger 10x cash multipliers to boost your wins. It’s also worth noting that thanks to its high value paytable, Shamrock Miner can kick out the odd big payout without any multipliers or free spins required. It’s just a shame that Play n Go decided to cap those wins at 5,000x which in today’s context is well below par for a high variance slot.

In conclusion, if you enjoy mining games or Irish-themed slots Shamrock Miner will likely hold your attention for a while and may even produce a decent win or two, but it’s not one that will stick long in the memory.

Boom or Bust? 200 Spins On Shamrock Miner

To give you an accurate and honest assessment of the games we review our writers play 200 spins. Whilst this is a useful tool to help us review games and to give an example of what might happen when you play, keep in mind that 200 spins is only a very small sample and cannot be used to accurately predict what might happen over another 200 spins. The outcome of all slots play is always random.

I played 200 spins on Shamrock Miner for real money at Casumo to test the game for this review. These are the numbers from that session:

  • Stake Size: £0.12
  • Start balance: £41.41
  • End balance: £22.45
  • Biggest Win: 21.5x
  • Free Spins rounds: 1
  • Session Time: 14 minutes 2 seconds

Shamrock Miner doesn’t hang about that is for sure. I whipped though 200 spins in under 15 minutes which is very fast and shows that on many spins, not a lot happens. The Cash Multiplier moved up as high as 4x on a few occasions but wasn’t applied, and most wins in the base game were very low value.

Shamrock Miner Free Spins Win
A small win from the frees spins round

There were 3 or 4 occasions where 2 scatters landed only for the third to be elusive until finally on around 120 spins the bonus round unlocked. Watching the little train fill up with wilds is fun but sadly I didn’t unlock any extra spins and only came away with a 21.5x win which you can see in this screen shot.

Compare Shamrock Miner With Similar Slots Picked By Us

Here are more games like Shamrock Miner compared on configuration and features. Click through to read a review of each one.

Slot GameProviderThemeMin. StakeMax. RTPVariancePaylinesTop PayoutJackpot
Pragmatic PlayParty£0.0196.29%High255,000xNo
Pragmatic PlayFood£0.2096.43%High16,3845,000xNo
Play n GoDinosaurs£0.1096.2%Medium4,09630,000xNo
Play n GoHistorical£0.1096.28%High2035,000xNo
Play n GoNature£0.2096.2%HighUp to 4015,000xNo
Play n GoAnimals£0.1096.2%MediumUp To 248,8323,000xNo
Just For The WinLuxury£0.2096.08%High2435,000xNo
Yggdrasil GamingAncient Egypt£0.2096.3%High2406,423xNo

Who Made Shamrock Miner?

  • Name: Play n Go
  • Established: 1997
  • UK License: Remote 021725-R-304911-020
  • Total Games: 200 +
  • Known For: Grid slots, high variance slots, huge range of themes, styles and maths models
  • Popular Slots: Book of Dead, Reactoonz 1 and 2, Troll Hunters 2, Rise of Olympus
Find More Play n Go

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Max Win: 26,000x

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