Gold Diggers by Betsoft – Slot Machine Review
Part of the impressive Slots3 collection, Gold Diggers is available at Betsoft Gaming casinos and it’s indeed inspired by the gold rush that happened in California back in 1849. It’s a game with advanced animations and graphics, but that alone will not make a great slot machine, so let’s see what else is being offered inside.
First, you will play with 5×3 reels and there are 30 active lines to be found on them. Wins of up to $2,500 may be obtained from each of those lines, with the game’s maximum potential being $75,000. Until then, there are bonus Dynamite symbols, a Gopher a Dig feature or a Gold Rush Bonus Game, and together they help make the slot a little bit more exciting.
Betting
Betsoft tends to give players a lot of options when they set up their bets. They’re all grouped to the left, at the bottom of the screen. You can click on a wooden board to modify the coin value, taking it as high as $1. You can then use mining carts to change the number of coins selected, or even how many active lines are going to be covered. At its highest, a bet in Gold Diggers will have 150 coins in it, and a value of $150. The game is triggered with wagers as small as $0.01 though, if the player wants that.
Gold Diggers Jackpot
This isn’t an area where Gold Diggers excels, despite the theme which suggests that treasures are everywhere inside the mine. A top paying combination will offer you 500x the line bet at most, or up to $2,500. The maximum potential of the game might be $75,000, if you fill up a screen with the right symbols, but there aren’t features that will help you get there.
The RTP that Gold Diggers apparently offers is 91.23%, and that’s the most disappointing thing about this slot machine. It’s way too far from the 96% that I’d generally recommend for slot machines.
Special Features
The bonus features are the ones that you will make use of, as you play this game, but don’t expect for free spins, wilds or multipliers to come your way, those are not on the menu.
Dynamite Explosions
The Dynamite symbols are going to be forming winning combinations, same as every other, even though they’re also feature triggers. Get them in 3+ positions and forming a win, to get paid up to $1,000, but also to have them explode afterwards. The explosion of these symbols will make the symbols which are above to fall into view, so there will be a new chance of forming combinations.
Gopher a Dig
Once again, we have bonus symbols that need to be forming combinations on active lines. Their image is that of a Gopher, and when they show up and form a combo of 3+ symbols, they trigger Gopher a Dig for you. This is a simple feature, the type where you click on available options in order to win random prizes.
The Gold Rush Bonus
This feature is the only one that is going to be triggered via scatter symbols. These are icons that show Gold Rush Posters, and they have to appear a minimum of three times on the reels, before you can get their bonus game.
As the Gold Rush feature starts out, you’re asked to help the miners become rich, by finding gold which is hidden behind rocks. You obviously get paid as you do this, based on your choices.
Design
The gold mining theme has proven itself fairly popular over the years. There have been several slot machines which were based on it, particularly for 19th or early 20th century style gold mining, with pick axes and dynamite, rather than modern machinery. Gold Diggers is one of the best looking slots you’ll see using this theme though. There are several characters on its reels, including two gold miners which are trying to strike it rich. There is also an attractive blonde woman, which is another type of gold digger. Gophers, posters, barrels, mining carts, pick-axes and gold nuggets are among the other symbols you get to use.
Overall, it’s an impressive design, which is what I expect from a game which Betsoft releases in its Slots3 series.
Summary
Gold Diggers offers a lot to players that want their games to be pretty, but unfortunately Betsoft made it a bad choice RTP wise, and I doubt many gave it more than a try.
