At the words 'Gold Party', visions arose of some Midas style bacchanalia full of people covered in gold paint, wearing Venetian masks, all swanky yet slightly debauched. To Pragmatic Play, it means another Irish themed slot. It's unlikely you need us to tell you the market is glutted with leprechaun themed games, and a new one isn't necessarily a bad thing, provided it possesses some sort of spark. Gold Party does use a four matrices system during its streak respin bonus round, but aside from this, it's a totally generic game that is unlikely to blip hard on many radars. Nevertheless, it's time to get all Celtic for another jaunty leprechaun encounter.
From the very start, you get the feeling you're in for some banal entertainment. Gold Party has a traditional look to it, with nothing out of the ordinary or particularly interesting of note. One exception might be the big leprechaun chap if you're into Celtic culture, prominently displayed on the left side of the screen. The rest of the view is taken up by the game grid and UI, with a hint of the famous green Irish countryside peeking out around the edges. Much of the vibe is produced by an upbeat soundtrack, which can be hard not to tap a foot along to or perform an 'Irish jig' as it's been put.
Available on any device, Gold Party's base game is played on a 5-reel, 3-row grid, with 25 fixed paylines. Gold Party has been described by its maker as having a high volatility nature, while its default return to player value tops out at 96.5%. For players interested to see what sort of party is possible, stakes from 25 p/c to $/€125 may be selected, and the game may also come with a bonus buy function.
Combinations of matching symbols trigger payouts when they land on adjacent reels, from the first reel onwards. The paytable starts with low-value 9-A symbols, worth 0.6 to 1x the bet for five on a payline. Then, the high pays are made up of harps, toadstool houses, lucky horseshoes, unicorns, and leprechauns, where five on a payline are worth 1.2 to 4 times the stake. The Golden Tree Wild appears on reels 2, 3, or 4 and can substitute for all symbols except the Money Symbol. Wilds are removed from the reels when the bonus game is triggered along with the rest of the regular pay symbols.
Joining the shindig in the base game is a Copy Reels feature, while the main event is a four gridded Money Respins bonus round.
In the base game, if a full stack of the highest paying symbols lands on the leftmost reel, it is copied and pasted onto one or more other reels.
This is triggered when at least 6 Money symbols hit during the base game. After any applicable winning lines have been paid, the bonus begins and is played on 4 separate 5x3 matrices. Normal pay symbols fade away, and only Money symbols, Multipliers, or Extra Spins symbols may land. Players are awarded 8 respins, and when symbols land on the reels, they lock in place, remaining there until the round has finished.
If any of the matrices is filled with symbols on all 15 positions, then a fixed jackpot amount is awarded. Filling the matrices labelled Mini, Minor, Major, or Grand pays an amount worth 20x, 50x, 200x, or 5,000x your stake.
Where permitted, players can buy the Money Respin feature for the cost of 100x the total bet. When bought, a game round begins with a random number of Money symbols on screen.
For players who like to know pretty much exactly what they are getting into, Gold Party is one to put on the list. Its looks are old hat, gameplay plain, and the theme is about as thrashed to bits as it gets. The features aren't exact carbon copies as such, but when everything else in view is so commonplace, they feel as if they are. The Copy Reel concept injects a level of uncertainty into the base game, though it is inherently limited as well. At very best, should a stack of top premiums on reel one be replicated across the rest of the game grid, the most it can conjure up is a 100x win, due to the low value of the symbols. Not exactly the fabled pot at the end of the rainbow.
Better things are possible from the Money Respins feature, especially should you fill the Grand matrix with symbols and bag the 5,000x top prize. It's possible Money symbols and multipliers mix favourably outside of winning a jackpot, so to stop things from getting too out of hand, the game has a cap of 5,163x the bet set in place. The four matrix technique provides a dose of individuality, though it's far from unique. Stakelogic's got their Quatro slots, including an Irish one, while Big Time Gaming has their Megaquads mechanic and Blueprint their own Power 4 range, amongst others looking into the quad reel set-up.
Hey ho, we made it to the end and won't be too upset if we never cross paths with Gold Party again in the future. It's a reliable game for players who can't get enough of the Emerald Isle's mythical characters and aren't bothered with innovation. If you prefer to stand outside the box and peer in, though, Gold Party's aching genericism will almost certainly result in a no thanks.
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