Pragmatic Play · classic grid · record ceiling
Mines+ by Pragmatic Play: a record ceiling and RTP 97.5 on a 5x5 grid
Two first places at once: a 5070293x ceiling and RTP 97.5. Usually those numbers pull in opposite directions, and a big ceiling is paid for with a low return. Not here, because the game has no add-on that would have to be financed out of the base mathematics: just a grid, a mine count from 1 to 24 and a cash-out button.
A grid with nothing extra: why it is loved and why it is criticised
A dark background, blue diamonds, nothing around the grid. For Pragmatic Play that is unusual - the studio normally makes noisy slots - and in mines the choice works: in a round you watch two things, the multiplier and the grid, and anything extra only distracts. Stakes from 0.01 to 250, mines from 1 to 24, cash-out after any click.
The flip side of the same decision: the game looks identical from the first round to the thousandth. No change of scenery, no character, no big-win animation beyond the ordinary one. Anyone looking for spectacle in mines will be closer to Mummy Mines or Book of Mines. Anyone looking for return on a classic grid can stop looking.
The one-mine mode is not for winning: 1.02x for the first click and 1.63x for ten. It is for seeing the ladder without risking anything, and then moving to three to five mines already knowing what happens.
Multipliers by mine count at RTP 97.5
All twenty-four rows. The formula is verified against the game itself: the last column in the 12-mine row gives exactly the stated 5070293x ceiling.
| Mines | Safe tiles | 1st click odds | x1 | x3 | x5 | x10 | Whole field |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 | 96.0% | x1.02 | x1.11 | x1.22 | x1.63 | x24.38 |
| 2 | 23 | 92.0% | x1.06 | x1.27 | x1.54 | x2.79 | x292.5 |
| 3 | 22 | 88.0% | x1.11 | x1.46 | x1.97 | x4.93 | x2243 |
| 4 | 21 | 84.0% | x1.16 | x1.69 | x2.55 | x9.04 | x12334 |
| 5 | 20 | 80.0% | x1.22 | x1.97 | x3.34 | x17.25 | x51802 |
| 6 | 19 | 76.0% | x1.28 | x2.31 | x4.45 | x34.50 | x172672 |
| 7 | 18 | 72.0% | x1.35 | x2.75 | x6.05 | x72.83 | x468682 |
| 8 | 17 | 68.0% | x1.43 | x3.30 | x8.37 | x163.9 | x1054536 |
| 9 | 16 | 64.0% | x1.52 | x4.00 | x11.86 | x398.0 | x1991901 |
| 10 | 15 | 60.0% | x1.63 | x4.93 | x17.25 | x1061 | x3187041 |
| 11 | 14 | 56.0% | x1.74 | x6.16 | x25.87 | x3184 | x4345965 |
| 12 | 13 | 52.0% | x1.88 | x7.84 | x40.25 | x11144 | x5070293 |
| 13 | 12 | 48.0% | x2.03 | x10.19 | x65.41 | x48289 | x5070293 |
| 14 | 11 | 44.0% | x2.22 | x13.59 | x112.1 | x289731 | x4345965 |
| 15 | 10 | 40.0% | x2.44 | x18.69 | x205.6 | x3187041 | x3187041 |
| 16 | 9 | 36.0% | x2.71 | x26.70 | x411.1 | not that many tiles | x1991901 |
| 17 | 8 | 32.0% | x3.05 | x40.04 | x925.0 | not that many tiles | x1054536 |
| 18 | 7 | 28.0% | x3.48 | x64.07 | x2467 | not that many tiles | x468682 |
| 19 | 6 | 24.0% | x4.06 | x112.1 | x8634 | not that many tiles | x172672 |
| 20 | 5 | 20.0% | x4.88 | x224.3 | x51802 | not that many tiles | x51802 |
| 21 | 4 | 16.0% | x6.09 | x560.6 | not that many tiles | not that many tiles | x12334 |
| 22 | 3 | 12.0% | x8.13 | x2243 | not that many tiles | not that many tiles | x2243 |
| 23 | 2 | 8.00% | x12.19 | not that many tiles | not that many tiles | not that many tiles | x292.5 |
| 24 | 1 | 4.00% | x24.38 | not that many tiles | not that many tiles | not that many tiles | x24.38 |
A ceiling in mines is the multiplier for the longest run at the most dangerous combination. The maximum falls at 12 mines: thirteen safe tiles, the number of ways to pick 12 out of 25 is 5200300, multiply by 0.975 and you get 5070293 without a spare digit. We did not believe it the first time and recomputed; it held.
The practical meaning of a ceiling is not reaching it but having it stay out of the way. At Mines by InOut Games the limit is set in money, 20000 USD, and on a large stake it cuts the round off long before any interesting multiplier. Here the limit is a multiplier and does not depend on stake size. Hence the only recommendation for this game: if you play big, a multiplier ceiling beats a money one, and Mines+ in this set is exactly about that.
Mines+ against two close rivals and one distant one
On return Mines+ beats almost everyone, but not everyone. Three mines, five tiles - the shared scenario.
| Game | RTP | House keeps | x5 at 3 mines | Mines | Ceiling |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mines+ | 97.5 | 2.5% | x1.97 | 1-24 | x5070293 |
| Hot Mines | 97 | 3% | x1.95 | 3-24 | 20000 USD |
| Jackpot Mines | 97 | 3% | x1.96 | 6-20 | jackpot up to 200 EUR |
| Mummy Mines | 97 | 3% | x1.96 | not published | jackpot |
Higher on RTP are only Minesweeper and Minesweeper XY by BGaming at 98.4. But that is a different game: a path rather than a grid, and a multiplier ceiling of just 15.11x. The choice between them is not "where is it better" but a choice between frequent small payouts and rare enormous ones.
On the classic 5x5 grid Mines+ has no direct rival on return: the next one, Hot Mines, states 97, half a point less, and runs into a money ceiling. Half a point over a long run is small, but here it comes free - together with a ceiling hundreds of times higher.
The highest return on a 5x5 grid
Mines+ on the platform: RTP 97.5, 1 to 24 mines, a ceiling that does not depend on the stake.
A frame from the game
From the game materials: diamonds on a dark grid, nothing extra. The studio serves no public demo - it switches on at the platform.
Is this the version to take
If you play on the classic grid and look at return - yes, it is the best pick in the set: 97.5, a ceiling independent of the stake, stakes up to 250. If you want pictures and events on screen - no, there will never be any here, and that is a deliberate decision by the studio, not an omission.
Is it true that Mines+ has the biggest win
In this set, yes. The stated 5070293x ceiling is more than six times the next one, 805001x at Turbo Mines and Book of Mines. Reaching it means opening the whole field at 12 mines, and the odds of that are measured in millionths.
What is the one-mine mode for
Mines+ allows 1 to 24 mines, and the lower bound is below InOut Games' 3. One mine on 25 tiles gives 1.02x for the first click and an almost safe move. The mode has one practical use: watching how the ladder behaves without risking anything.
What is the stake in Mines+
From 0.01 to 250. The upper bound is above InOut Games' 200, and together with a multiplier ceiling rather than a money one it makes the game fit for big stakes: the limit is expressed in multipliers and does not depend on stake size.
Does Mines+ have bonus rounds
No. The game is deliberately left without add-ons: no extra symbols, no jackpot, no bonus buy. All of its mathematics fits into the mine count and the exit moment, and the high RTP comes precisely from the absence of features that are usually paid for out of the base return.
Where does the number 5070293 come from
From the formula. The number of ways to choose 12 mines out of 25 tiles is 5200300; at RTP 97.5 the multiplier for all thirteen safe tiles is 0.975 times that number, which is exactly 5070293. The studio rounded half up, and that is the only thing in its ceiling that is not the formula.