Fans of Indiana Jones or Lara Croft will enjoy the Novomatic slots title Quest For Gold; it’s set in a mysterious jungle that was home to a lost civilization, complete with step pyramids. A leafy forest background frames five simple reels, each displaying three rows of clear, colourful icons.
Unlike many Novomatic slots, which only offer 9 or 10 paylines, Quest For Gold has 20, and players can bet between 2 and 100 coins on each line, depending on how deep their pockets are. The autoplay function makes life much easier for players who are in it for the long haul; an approach which many of the top Quest For Gold prizes definitely make worthwhile.
Usual Poker Symbols
The low value Quest For Gold icons are standard Poker symbols; 10 to A, rendered in bright simple fonts. Casino players need three of a kind or better, running consecutively from Reel 1, to win a prize, and these range from 5X to 150X the line bet.
There are only three higher value symbols: an emerald pendant, a fez-wearing monkey and a golden step pyramid, but all three begin paying out at two matches or better. This is a standard 5X the bet for two of a kind on all three icons, but five of a kind wins 400X the bet for the pyramid, and 250X the bet for the other two. In addition, five monkeys will also trigger a bonus game.
Explorer is Wild
The intrepid, fedora-wearing adventurer serves as the Quest For Gold wild symbol, and he substitutes for all symbols except the scatter, greatly increasing the number of winning lines possible on a spin. He also wins prizes for combinations of the wild symbols, starting at two of a kind. Five wilds on one betline score 1,000X the line bet, and will also trigger a number of extra free games.
Scatter Yields Bonus Games and Multipliers
In some versions of Quest For Gold the scatter symbol is an old treasure map; others use a gold idol with jewelled eyes. Either way, the scatter can help score big prizes: three scatters in any position trigger 10 bonus games, along with a X2 multiplier; four scatters trigger 12 free games with multiplier, and five will result in 15 free games, also with a multiplier. Free spins can be retriggered during a free games bonus, and each time this happens, the multiplier increases. The upper limit on multiplier growth is X10.
Gamble After Wins
Quest For Gold features a Gamble button, so that players can attempt to increase the prize after any winning spin. Instead of a simple 50/50 choice of red or black cards, this gamble features a step pyramid with ten flickering steps; if all the steps light up when the player gambles, the win is doubled.
Players can keep playing the gamble and double their win several times, but a loss will void the win entirely; the trick is to know when to collect the winnings and move on with regular play.