Being a real money slot from NetEnt, Gonzo’s Gold initiated high expectations among the gambling community. This occurred as a result of its concept, an online slot, having 5 reels, 5 rows and a Cluster Pays system. Even though 2021 has been one of the weirdest years to date, 2022 is a bit weirder, luckily this didn’t exhaust the creative juices of the best online slot studios.

The immensely popular Gonzo’s Quest has reached success, however, Gonzo’s Gold it’s not its direct sequel. Still, it draws some inspiration from that slot, the action takes place inside an Aztec temple and the graphical arrangement is incredible. We didn’t expect anything less from NetEnt.

As we uncover layer after layer of Gonzo’s Gold, we can conclude its sophistication in design and also with rewards as NetEnt crowns it with a Free Spins Feature. It is also beneficial to trigger the bonus because it offers 10 free spins with Expanding Symbols. It is also notable that the real money slots studio stays loyal to the original. There are a few things done differently though. For one there are no Avalanches.

Another benefit is that, instead of a high variance slot, it’s of medium volatility. So, this means that the jackpot of 5,000x your stake is smaller than the original. The good thing here is that high rollers that play Gonzo’s Gold at the max bet of $200 can win as much as $1 million.

When 3 or more high pay or 4+ low pay symbols pitch you’ll receive a winning spin. Anyone and especially high rollers can get their fixes because the betting range runs from $0.10 to as much as $200. Gonzo’s Gold is accessible to enjoy across European online casinos, even as a mobile slot!

Gonzo’s Gold Slot Features

Serving double duty as a wild, the scatter symbol can thus step in for all regular pay symbols to help complete winning combos. For 25 matching symbols in a cluster (that would be a full 5×5 grid, for sure), the regular premiums pay between 750 and 5,000 x your stake. When you land 3+ temple scatters anywhere in view is actually your best chance of winning big.

No matter how many triggering scatters you landed, this will trigger the Bonus Round, and you get 10 free spins. Additionally, you get an up-front scatter win of 2, 20, or 200 x your stake for 3, 4, and 5 scatters, respectively. Before the feature starts you will pick 1 of 9 question mark tiles, and this will determine which special ‘golden’ expanding symbol you’ll get.

The symbols expand to cover a full reel or row, respectively in case you land 2 of the chosen expanding symbols adjacent during the bonus round. No matter their position on the grid the expanded symbols are considered adjacent. With this approach, they will always count as a cluster win, and pay similar to non-adjacent expanded reels in regular ‘Book slots’.

In addition to what you might have won from the original free spin, a second payout calculation is then summed up for the expanded cluster win. The bonus round can be retriggered indefinitely with 3+ temple scatters, and this awards a scatter win as described above, plus 10 extra spins added to your tally.

RTP & Volatility

A tiny bit above average, amounting to 96.11% is the payback rate or RTP of Gonzo’s Gold.

Two types of symbols you need to look forward to. The card suits from Tens to Aces are the low-value symbols. The high-value symbols are more attractive, they are three different masks and Gonzo himself. You need a full set of Gonzo symbols for the best win and the jackpot. This means 25 symbols on the reel grid. Easier to get are the smaller yet juicy wins. Even though the production values are high, they are not at the top of the crop.

Gonzo’s Gold Casino is not available for cash play for gamblers from the States. The closest slot machine to it is Betsoft’s, Stacked; you’ll find it in the libraries of our instant withdrawal casinos USA online.

Gonzo’s Gold Verdict

Each previous creation of the Gonzo saga has added value to the brand, except for this. Gonzo’s Gold is the first release where we feel that NetEnt is simply taking advantage of the brand name to churn out a somewhat hasty production to fill the release roadmap. Gonzo’s Quest, the original one, mainstreamed the progressive Cascading Win Multiplier feature, something most grid slots embrace, but not this one (for whatever reason).

The base game is screaming for some modifier action, but we get that NetEnt has tried to make a barebones release with a ‘Book of’ mechanic-inspired bonus round. The game does come alive when you trigger the feature, and expanding cluster wins are both fun and potentially lucrative to the tune of 6,500x your stake. We still feel that this game could have been done without the Gonzo branding though, as the usually lively conquistador is reduced to a static pay symbol. So don’t remain in questions. It is best to feel it and try it on your own today.