Overview
Embark on a unique treasure hunt with Gonzo in NetEnt's latest adventure, Gonzo's Gold. This captivating slot deviates from its predecessors, inviting you into a mysterious, mist-shrouded stone temple complex on a distinct 5-reel, 5-row grid that utilizes an engaging Cluster Pays mechanic. While the visual aesthetic offers a more subdued, ancient setting, the powerful soundtrack intensifies, especially during the free spins, building an immersive atmosphere. With Medium Volatility and an incredible 5,000x Max Win potential, Gonzo's Gold sets itself apart by forgoing traditional cascading wins and wild symbols. Instead, its core excitement lies in a climactic expanding symbol feature within the free spins round, promising thrilling 'Book of' style action for a broad range of players.
Gameplay & Features
The best chance of striking gold in the game is when at least 3 templescatter symbolsland to trigger the bonus round. Landing 3, 4, or 5 of them in the base game awards10 free spinsplus a payout of 2, 20, or 200 times the bet. Before free spins start, playerspick1 of 9 question mark symbols - this reveals the rounds'special expanding symbol. Whenever2 or moreadjacent expanding symbols land, theyexpand to cover an entire row or reel. After the symbols expand, an additional cluster win is awarded for the cluster of expanded symbols. Temple scatters remain on the reels throughout the bonus round and landing 3 or more awards an additional+10 free spinsalong with a payout as mentioned above
Final Thoughts
LikePlay'n GO'sDr Toonzslot, players are sure to fire up Gonzo's Gold because, hey, it's Gonzo, right? Yet, without the word 'Gonzo' in the title, it would be easy to scroll past Gonzo's Gold in a line-up. The rest of the game, for the most part, doesn't live up to expectations or do the series justice. It was always a bit of a risk turning Gonzo into a cluster pays slot, so NetEnt deserves a few cool points for being brave. The removal of the cascading win system, which features so large in previous Gonzo slots, is either brave or a misstep, though. Without cascades, it does feel a bit wrong. So does, pushing Gonzo so far into the background as to be almost non-existent. Like we said, without the name (and the familiar face on the top premium), it would be hard to differentiate this as a Gonzo slot from the mass of other Aztec themed games. The idea here was likely to turn classic 'book of' style gaming into a cluster pays slot.
The base game is far from a hotbed of activity most of the time due to the lack of modifying features, meaning it plays out like a totally average cluster paying slot. The positive news is Gonzo's Gold was far from being a soul-crushing grind, as free spins usually triggered quite often. Like stumbling on the fountain of youth, Gonzo's Gold finds life in its bonus game, in part due to the excellent sound effects. The bass-heavy chanting beat shakes you from the main game slumber, and player input is needed to choose the expanding symbol.
Like a 'Book of' slot, high or low-value symbols have their pros and cons here. Sorry to state the obvious, yet lows land more often but pay less, while the premiums are rare but are worth more should they cluster up. Filling screens with any of the high pays would be a sweet result, none more so than Gonzo, who pays out5,000x the betfor a full 25 symbols cluster. A unicorn event, perhaps, though even smaller clusters aren't bad when several rows or reels get covered by the expander.
While trying not to sound like one of those people that demands the moon on a stick, we were hoping for more from Gonzo's Gold. It performed okay, though it is basic, both in form and function. Redeeming qualities include free spins that trigger fairly frequently and a neat expanding symbol feature. Yet, it just doesn't feel very Gonzo-y, and after putting the game through its paces, there is markedly less replayability compared to previous releases.
