One reason the mining theme is so popular amongst players, is probably because it’s so analogous to how it feels to play online slots. You’re basically grinding along, getting encouragement from smaller nuggets here and there, while waiting for that big payday to come along and totally change your life. Gamzix’ Gold Mania certainly has that capability, as nuggets up to 2000x can be landed from a single spin even in the base game.
We were impressed by the overall high symbol values, and even royal wins can make a dent. The audiovisual presentation has a pleasant nostalgic aura of a simpler, yet harder, time, and the pace is excellent with the turbo switched on. You can level up to experience all 3 bonus rounds during one trigger, and they can even be triggered with an extra global win multiplier. Gold Mania might not revolutionize the genre, but it’s still a highly playable and potentially lucrative installment.
The symbol values are quite high in this game, and even the royal symbols pay between 40 and 75 x your total stake for 5 on a payline. The premiums pay between 100 and 100x your stake for the same, with the mining cart filled with gold as the top-tier symbol.
The prospectorWild symbolsteps in for all pay symbols to help complete wins, and it’s also the most valuable symbol in its own right. Landing 5 wilds on a payline awards a solid 200x your stake, giving youa 2000x single spin potential in the base game.
Landing3+ gold nugget scattersanywhere in view triggers the Bonus Round, and the feature is upgraded with an extra randomized global win multiplier if you trigger it with 4 or 5 scatters. More precisely, you geta random global win multiplier between x1 and x5 per free spin in the 4-scatters feature, andbetween x1 and x10 in the 5-scatter feature.
No matter how many scatters you trigger the bonus round with,you always get to choose between 3 different bonus round versions. None of the bonus rounds can be retriggered, and they play out as follows:
The first 2 bonus round levels come with a special‘LVL UP’ symbol, and this bumps you up to the next free spins tier. It also adds a multiplier of up to x10.
Finally, non-UK players, and anyone eligible, may take advantage of the Bonus Buy feature. You can pay70x your stakefor either of the3 bonus rounds with no extra win multiplier. Theextra multiplier of x1 to x5 versioncosts200x your stake, while thetop-tier 1x to 10x extra multiplier versionsets you back500x your stake.
You get a decent taste of the base game at first, before we purchase all 3 bonus round tiers in chronological order starting at the 1-minute mark. The features play out for the remainder of the 6-minute highlights video, and we really hit pay dirt with plenty of extra wilds in the top-tier feature. We went with the 4 triggering scatters version each time, and you can check it all out by hitting the play button below.
Being Gamzix’ first installment in the popular mining slot genre, Gold Mania is not a bad effort at all. The charming honky-tonk soundtrack keeps you company as you grind along like a lonesome frontier prospector, and the high symbol values across the board can lead to significant payouts. This keeps the tension up more than usual in the base game, as a single-line 5-oak wild win pays 200x your stake. As is usually the case however, the bonus round is where you’re most likely to close in on the solid25,000x potential.
We like how the bonus rounds are upgraded with an extra random win multiplier when triggered with more scatters than the minimum of 3, although this doesn’t happen all that often. The 2 lower-tier features are pretty standard stuff, with sticky wilds or multiplier wilds, while the top-tier feature is an ‘extreme volatility’ thrill-ride of downward moving and global win multiplier increasing wilds. It can be over in a blink and still land you significant payouts, and overall we had a great time testing this game.
Pros
Cons
Gold of Maya- is another Gamzix release to try, and it comes with a Gap feature that increases the win multiplier up to x4 for consecutive cascading wins. The Gap multiplier can go as high as x12 in the bonus round, and each consecutive cascading win after the 4th is boosted by the top-tier multiplier.
Hotlife- is a Grand Theft Auto-inspired cartoonish release from Gamzix, and you’ll benefit from stacked premium symbols in all stages of the game. The premium-to-wild symbol transformation guarantees a win at random times, and the bonus round comes with sticky wilds for payouts up to 16,500x your stake.
Snow Coin: Hold The Spin- comes with snow-capped pyramids in the background, which is something we’ve never seen before, and the bonus round can cycle through 3 levels indefinitely. There is also a ‘hold the spin’ feature to look forward to, where massive jackpots can be landed. The overall max win is 5,200x your stake, outside of the jackpots.
Sunny Coin: Hold The Spin- is a Gamzix release with a more traditional and sunny ancient Egypt theme, and you can cycle through 3 bonus round levels up to multiple times also in this installment. In addition, you can look forward to the ‘hold the spin’ round which comes with solid jackpots, and the overall potential is 5,200x your stake also here.
