NetEnt's Dazzle Me is a gem-themed video slot built around an unusual stepped grid and two headline mechanics — Dazzling Wild Reels in the base game and Free Spins with Linked Reels. It launched in August 2015 and remains one of the studio's recognisable medium-volatility titles thanks to a 96.91% RTP, a 19% hit frequency and 76 fixed paylines spread across a 5-reel layout where the rightmost reels are taller than the leftmost ones.
The slot suits players who like steady action with regular small wins and occasional bigger hits during the bonus round. Bets start from R1, the maximum win is capped at 700x the stake, and both the base game and the Free Spins round share the same set of bright gem, bell and red 7 symbols.
Grid Layout and How Wins Are Formed
The most distinctive thing about Dazzle Me is its stepped reel set. Reels 1 and 2 are three symbols high, reels 3 and 4 are four symbols high, and reel 5 is five symbols high. This asymmetric shape is what allows the slot to fit 76 fixed bet lines on just five reels.
Wins are paid left to right starting from the leftmost reel, in succession and without gaps. Simultaneous wins on different bet lines are added together, but only the highest win is paid per individual line. A bet line win equals the value shown in the paytable multiplied by the chosen bet level.
Symbols and Paytable
The symbol set is split into two tiers. The premium symbols are the red 7 and the golden bell, while the four coloured gems — red, purple, green and blue — make up the low-tier group. The Free Spins icon acts as the Scatter and does not pay line wins.
The table below shows the exact payout values for 2, 3, 4 and 5 matching symbols on a R1 bet.
| Symbol | 2 of a kind | 3 of a kind | 4 of a kind | 5 of a kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red 7 | R0.05 | R0.60 | R1.50 | R10.00 |
| Bell | R0.05 | R0.40 | R0.75 | R5.00 |
| Red gem | — | R0.20 | R0.40 | R1.50 |
| Purple gem | — | R0.20 | R0.40 | R1.50 |
| Green gem | — | R0.15 | R0.25 | R1.00 |
| Blue gem | — | R0.15 | R0.25 | R1.00 |
The red 7 and the bell are the only symbols that pay for two of a kind, which slightly raises the base hit rate. Note that all four gem symbols pay starting from three on a line.
Dazzling Wild Reels Feature
The base-game bonus is the Dazzling Wild Reels feature, which can trigger randomly on any spin. When it activates, the reels spin and Wild diamonds land to fully cover between one and five reels at once. Wilds substitute for every symbol except the Free Spins Scatter, and substitution always pays the highest possible combination on the bet line.
Because Wild Reels can stack across the wider right-hand reels (which are four and five rows tall), a single triggered feature can quickly turn a dead spin into a sizeable line win on multiple paylines simultaneously.
Free Spins with Linked Reels
Landing 3, 4 or 5 Free Spin Scatter symbols anywhere on the reels in the main game triggers the bonus round. The number of free spins awarded depends on the number of scatters that triggered the feature:
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3 Scatters — 8 Free Spins
4 Scatters — 12 Free Spins
5 Scatters — 16 Free Spins
The bonus round adds the Linked Reels mechanic, which is unique to Free Spins. At the start of every spin, identical Linked Reels appear adjacent to each other on any of reels 1–4. The right reel becomes an exact copy of the left reel, with reel 1 linked to reel 2 and/or reel 3 linked to reel 4. This dramatically increases the chance of forming long matching combinations across the leftmost positions, which is exactly where the slot needs hits to start any win.
Free spins are played at the same bet as the round that triggered them. At the end of the bonus, the total Free Spins win is added to any wins from the activating spin and the game returns to the main round. Scatter symbols themselves do not appear during Free Spins, so retriggers are not available.
Bets, Interface and Mobile Play
Dazzle Me uses a simple bet level system. The minimum bet is R0.20 and the maximum is R200, which suits both casual sessions and higher-stake play. The interface keeps everything visible at the bottom of the screen: the "Bet" selector with plus and minus buttons, the central "Spin" button, an autoplay launcher and a quick-spin toggle. The "Settings" and "Help" icons sit in the top-right corner.
The slot runs on HTML5 and works identically on desktop, tablet and mobile, with no loss of features on smaller screens. Players who want to test the mechanics before committing real money can launch a Dazzle Me demo version, which uses virtual credits and gives full access to all features including the bonus round.
Payout Mechanics & Math Profile
Dazzle Me does not use cluster pays, Megaways or scatter pays — it runs on classic left-to-right paylines, but on an unusual stepped grid. That single design choice is what shapes its entire math profile, and it is worth unpacking in plain terms.
On a normal 5x3 grid, every reel has the same number of symbol positions, so the chance of a hit is roughly even across the board. In Dazzle Me the grid grows from left to right: 3 rows on reels 1–2, 4 rows on reels 3–4, and 5 rows on reel 5. Because wins must start on the leftmost reel and run without gaps, the bottleneck for any payout is always reel 1, which has the fewest positions. The wider right side does not help you start a win — it only helps extend one once it has begun.
This is the structural reason the slot has 76 lines rather than 20 or 25. With more positions on the right, the number of geometric ways to connect a left-side hit to the rest of the grid multiplies. A single matching symbol on reel 1 can branch into many possible winning paths through reels 3, 4 and 5.
The two features are designed to attack this exact bottleneck from two directions. Dazzling Wild Reels solve the left-side scarcity problem in the base game by turning entire reels Wild — including reel 1, which is the hardest position to hit naturally. When reel 1 becomes a full Wild stack, every one of the 76 lines instantly has a guaranteed starting symbol, and the wide right side of the grid finally gets to do its job. This is why a single Wild Reel trigger can produce a disproportionately large payout relative to the base hit rate.
Linked Reels in the Free Spins round work on the same logic but with a different tool. Instead of forcing Wilds onto a reel, they clone reel 1 onto reel 2 and/or reel 3 onto reel 4. Since wins need consecutive matching symbols from the left, duplicating the leftmost reel guarantees that whatever lands on reel 1 will also land on reel 2 in the same arrangement — turning every hit on reel 1 into at least a 2-of-a-kind, and very often a 3-of-a-kind once reel 3 lines up.
| Metric | Structural Value | Mathematical Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Grid geometry | Stepped 3-3-4-4-5 | Concentrates win formation pressure on reel 1; right side amplifies completed hits |
| Paylines | 76 fixed | High line count compensates for the narrow leftmost reels |
| Wild Reel Coverage Depth | 1–5 full reels | Bypasses the reel 1 bottleneck; single trigger can activate all 76 lines at once |
| Linked Reel Duplication Factor (custom) | Reels 1↔2 and/or 3↔4 cloned | Guarantees that any reel 1 hit becomes at least a 2-symbol match, raising bonus hit rate well above the 19% base value |
The practical takeaway is that Dazzle Me's RTP is front-loaded into its two features rather than spread evenly across base spins. The base game on its own pays modestly because reel 1 is the limiting factor. Most of the meaningful return is delivered when either the Wild Reels override that bottleneck or the Linked Reels duplicate it during free spins. There is no Bonus Buy or Ante Bet option, so the only way to access the high-RTP portion of the math is through natural triggers.