Gold Rush

Magnet Gaming strikes it rich with Gold Rush Valley of Riches. In this slot, players are invited into the vast American West for the chance to find the motherlode. This compact slot features only three reels, but with eight paylines, each paying both ways, three bonus features, and two progressive jackpots, there’s a lot of action packed into this little game.

Theme

A desert landscape provides the setting for this slot, with mesas, cacti, sagebrush, and a vast expanse of open country expanding across the background. The three reels are situated amidst a wooden contraption designed to find gold within flowing water, which is manned by a toothless, unkempt older man who, presumably, has not yet made his own fortune. Gaming symbols include cans of beans, lanterns, whiskey, playing cards, gold nuggets, stacks of cash, and gold bars. Players will hope to bring home more than just the beans: separate symbols exist for the game’s three bonus features, as well as another symbol, Game Flash, that can trigger any of the three.

Magnet shows its gaming mettle with some very nice, subtle design touches. If players leave the reels idle, the bearded oldster will fall asleep, roaring back to life when play resumes. Sound design is sparse and banjo-rich, with sound effects matching game events.

Betting Options and Functions

It is said that life was simpler in the Old West, and this game’s betting structure certainly upholds that perspective. Bet level can be adjusted from 1–21 for an overall per-spin betting range of 0.10–10.00 times the betting currency. In a welcome change from most slot payline structures, which often pay exclusively from left-to-right, Gold Rush’s eight paylines pay in both directions vertically, horizontally, and diagonally. Autoplay can be simply toggled on or off without limit.

Features

Gold Rush is packed with bonus nuggets of all sizes. On the smaller side, any prize won results in an immediate respin with an added double win multiplier. Should another prize hit on that spin, another respin will be awarded, this time with a triple multiplier; yet another win will trigger a final respin, this time with a fivefold multiplier.

It wouldn’t be much of a gold rush without larger features to provide the ‘rush,’ though, and Magnet Gaming delivers in a big way. There are three bonus features available, triggered by the triplicate appearance of their corresponding gaming symbols, or by that of the Game Flash symbols. Gold Canyon allows players to collect prizes along the path through a canyon, with bonuses from bringing them home safely via train. In Gold Digger, players try to dynamite their way through rock to locate the three different sizes of gold deposit, with a jackpot flash as the ultimate reward. Gold Rush is the closest feature to what most players will be used to: 20 free spins are awarded, with another 20 available in case the bonus is retriggered. Finally, there are two progressive jackpots that can be won on any spin, the larger of which begins at a payout of 10,000 times the betting currency.

Our Take

Simple and subtle in design, yet positively packed with features, Magnet Gaming’s Gold Rush is an instant classic. Not only can players travel to a fascinating time in history, they will also receive much better odds of striking it rich than in the actual gold rush.