Gold Rush Slots (Pragmatic Play)

The California Gold Rush has served as a popular theme in many slots. And we can now add Pragmatic Play's Gold Rush to this lengthy list. Gold Rush is a 5-reel, 25-payline slot that includes some nice features, including the ability to level up. But are these features enough to make this game different from the many other gold-mining slots? Let's find out by looking at Gold Rush's atmosphere, symbols, features, betting options, and return to player (RTP).

Atmosphere and Symbols

This game takes you into a cave to mine for gold. You'll see cave walls, timber holding up the walls, and lanterns in the background. Gold Rush also features a folksy beat that further sells the atmosphere. Overall, this slot doesn't offer much different when compared to other gold-mining games. But Pragmatic Play did a good job with the graphics in both the background and symbols. Speaking of the latter, symbols include a miner, cart of gold, mule, lantern, mining tools, letters, dynamite (wild), cave tunnel (scatter), and gold nugget (level up). The miner pays the most, offering 500 coins for five symbols. The gold cart pays the second most, delivering 400 coins for 5 icons. The dynamite is wild and substitutes for everything except the nugget and cave tunnel.

Gold Rush Special Features - Free Spins & New Levels

Landing three or more cave tunnels (scatter) anywhere on the reels will trigger 10 free spins. Keep in mind that the scatter symbol can only occur on reels 2, 3, and 4. The free spins are exciting because you can win prizes, get extra free games, and level up. The latter involves collecting gold nuggets on the reels. Every nugget is worth 1 point, and here's how many points you need to reach each level: 0-4 points = Level 1 with 7 extra miner symbols. 5-9 points = Level 2 with 16 extra miners. 10-14 points = Level 3 with 21 extra miners. 15+ points = Level 4 with 29 extra miners. As you can see, the main benefit to leveling up is that you can get more of the high-paying miner symbols. Note that every scatter symbol you land during free spins will add 2 more free games. If you reach the next level on the last spin, you'll be awarded at least one more free game.

Betting Options

The 25 paylines are fixed, but you can change both coin size and coins per line. Coin size can be adjusted from $0.01 to $0.50, while coins per line can be changed from 1-10. You need to click the plus and minus buttons on either side of the spin button to use these options. Another helpful option is the ability to autospin the reels from 10 to 1,000 spins. Other options (found under gear icon) let you change quick spin, turn sound effects on/off, and turn ambient audio on/off.

Gold Rush Slots RTP

Gold Rush offers 96.50% RTP, which is good for an online slot. The info screen ranks Gold Rush as having a 4 out of 5 volatility rating. This means that you won't win as frequently as other Pragmatic Play slots, but you will hit some bigger prizes.

Final Thoughts on Gold Rush Slots

Pragmatic Play made Gold Rush unique by adding a bonus round where you can level up with gold nuggets. You have the ability to move up 4 levels, and you'll receive more high-paying symbols along the way. The graphics are also good in Gold Rush, with all of the main symbols offering nice detail. The only downside to this game is that the mining theme has been done hundreds of times. Nevertheless, Gold Rush slots is worth playing for the unique bonus round and leveling up concept.