California Gold has a theme that is hardly surprising, the gold rush topic being chosen by plenty of developers in the past. This particular slot was created by Wager Gaming, developers that chose a cartoon drawing style for its symbols and managed to make it a funny game. It might be because a gold rush seems like a good thing to compare the slot industry with, or it might be due to the promise of large riches with very little effort, but it seems to be a topic that players tend to enjoy.
The 25 lines of California Gold are filled with themed symbols, some of them being the kinds that have scatter or wild abilities, bringing along prizes or access to bonus games and free spins with multipliers. They can also get you some really rich rewards, up to $100,000 being available to the slot’s players.
Features of California Gold
All the features that California Gold includes are expected for a game like this one, but that doesn’t make them any less welcomed. Wild symbols, multipliers, scatters and free spins are all offered inside.
The Miner, a happy looking fellow that is holding a huge gold nugget, acts as the slot’s wild symbol. While it appears on three reels, not on all five, whenever it assists you with a new combo formation it also doubles the payout involved, a 2x multiplier being responsible for that part. The reels which get the wild are the 2nd, 3rd and 4th ones. The Gold Nugget scatter doesn’t benefit from the wild’s power, but it works with all others.
As a scatter symbol, the Gold Nugget is capable of giving away whatever prizes it has by simply being present in enough locations on the reels. For the cash prizes, this symbol needs to be on a minimum of two reels, the 100x the bet top prize being awarded for five.
Free Games Feature
You can also win some free spins from this game, once again being a result of the scatter’s appearance. This time, the scatter has to be present in 3+ locations with the Gold Nugget symbol. You win 10 spins for free and a 3x multiplier, so the prizes are worth three times as much. Re-triggering the free spins is allowed as well.
Bonus Game
The wild symbol has a second role in this game, acting as the trigger for the bonus feature. You need the three wilds on the three reels where they can appear, during the same round, for the bonus game to be started.
You pick one of four mines shown on the screen, and the Miner will go in and collect gold nuggets along the way. A maximum of five nuggets are collected and their combined weight gives you a certain number of ounces. You multiply the number of ounces with the total bet of the round, and you get your prize.
Betting options and jackpots
If you intend to max out the bet, you need to be prepared to wager up to $250 for each spin, the 25 lines each accepting wagers of up to $10. A single coin per line is used to get to that amount, its smallest denomination being $0.01.
Since you can win 10,000 coins inside, and the coins go up to $10, the jackpot is worth $100,000 in the best case scenario. The wild needs to get involved if you want the 10,000 coins though, its multiplier being the one that doubles the regular jackpot of only 5,000 coins.
Design and symbols
A Californian sunny view is shown in the background, with mountains, rivers and green grass meadows all visible. On the reels, you get only gold rush related imagery, with miners, bandits, mines, gold carts and all sorts of other objects being used for the symbols. It’s not as much in the realistic category, as it would be considered funny and in a cartoon style.
Symbols: Miner (wild), Gold Nugget (100x the bet, scatter), Bandit (5,000 coins), The Mine (500 coins), Mule (200 coins), Mining Cart (200 coins), Gold Pan (150 coins), Dynamite (150 coins), Map (150 coins), Lamp (150 coins), Barrel (100 coins) and Pickaxe (100 coins).
Is It Worth Playing?
The gold rush theme works especially well in slots where the prizes are on the big side, and this is the case here. The features are satisfying as well, the graphics are good enough for this particular game and there is a decent chance you will enjoy your time with it.
This California Gold slot is offered by all online casinos with Wager Gaming software, playable either in practice or in real money mode.
