Gold Mine Pokie Machine
With 3 reels and a single payline, Gold Mine, from Microgaming has an American West look to it, inspired by the gold rush of the 1800’s. Even though the reels look quite simple, there are a couple of bonus features that lift it above the average pokie, including a mini game that rewards players with free spins and guaranteed payouts, nudges, holds and a gamble round that can either boost the amount of each win, or chuck it away.
Going for Gold
Think about what a saloon bar in the Wild West looked like and you pretty much sum up the style of Gold Mine, with richly decorated reels in reds and gold highlights, a wood effect to the surroundings and even the text is written in a font that goes with the theme.
Unlike many pokies where the reels are consigned to a corner, the ones here dominate the screen and are flanked by an indicator for the nudges and holds rounds, and a payout schedule that lists how many times the line bet will be won for each combination of symbols.
Below the reels we find a control panel that’s used to set the amount staked per spin, and to actually spin the reels. Players can choose to stake just 0.20, or go up to the (fairly low) maximum bet of 10.00.
Heading over to the paytable we have information on expected winnings, with a mix of traditional symbols that turn up in countless games, and some that are specific to this one. From the bottom, there’s the cherry symbol, and if 3 of these stop across the line, players are rewarded with a payout equal to 4x the amount of the triggering bet.
Gold Mine
Unable to connect to MySQL: SQLSTATE[HY000] [2002] No such file or directory
Moving up the table are more classic images, with lemons also being valued at 4x, while oranges and watermelons are at 8x. The other symbols that players will be familiar with are the bars, and if the single bar lands on across the line, they are in for a payout of 12x the bet. Double bars pay at 16x and triple bars are the highest value traditional symbol at 20x.
There are some golden bells, presumably made from the riches of the gold mine next on the payout table, with a row of 3 across the line being valued at 40x, and finally we have some lovely bars of gold that will pay the jackpot prize of 200x the bet when they fill the line.
Whatever is won, players can choose to enter a gamble game and double it several times over by correctly guessing if a playing card will be revealed as red or black, but beware, as a wrong choice along the way sacrifices everything including the triggering bet.
On to the bonus rounds now, and it starts off with a gold coin Bonus symbol that turns up quite frequently, adding to a counter at the top of the screen. 1 coin is worth 10 point, 2 at the same time are worth 20 points and if 3 gold coins land at once, then 60 points is added to the counter.
Once enough have been collected, players can enter the Super Game round, which has some different symbols on the reels. If 3 gold mine symbols appear, then players get to click on any of them to reveal 9 nuggets of gold. Each one holds a prize within it, but be careful, as there’s a stick of dynamite in there that ends the round.
The Mine Mania game is triggered by 3 miner symbols and when that happens, 11 objects related to the theme will be displayed. Players get to click on a single one which will unveil a number of WinSpins that will then play out. WinSpins are a Microgaming speciality, with each one being guaranteed to spin up a winning combination.
A further simple bonus game starts when 3 sticks of dynamite appear across the payline and all that’s needed to get a further prize is click on one of them to reveal a multiplier amount.
Nudges and holds are awarded at random, and they work in the standard way, with players able to move a reel up and down a bit, and holds letting them keep a reel in place and spin the others in the hope of an extra win.
The Verdict on Gold Mine
For a 3-reel pokie, Gold Mine is packed with extras, with the Super Game being a particular highlight, but any game that has guaranteed payouts, like this one does in the WinSpins round is sure to be a hit. There’s very little to complain about here, so even people who usually go for 5-reel, multi-line pokies should give this one a go.