Rainbow Gold from developer Pragmatic Play is, as you probably guessed, a slot steeped in Celtic tradition and drenched in leprechauns. Some might call such a theme choice a safe one, maybe even insipid, especially since the studio recently released a similarly styled slot called Gold Party not too long ago. Let's not be hasty, though; as long as Pragmatic has saved the outpouring of creativity for the slot's features and gameplay, we could be alright. However, they, like the theme, are also of the humdrum variety and include a Top Tracker Prize feature as well as Super Free Spins, which are played on up to 4 game grids.
For the base game, only one grid is ever used. It is set in the Emerald Isle amidst sparkling green grass, towering mushrooms, trees, and plenty of leprechaun related symbology on its 5-reel, 3-row matrix. There's not much else to say regarding the game's presentation. It's jolly, leprechaun-y, and achingly familiar. Most players will know the drill by now, having seen this exact sort of thing countless times before.
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One of Rainbow Gold's strong suits is its suite of numbers – provided you've got the most optimal RTP version of 96.45%. That figure stays the same whether you are playing normally, where bets range from 20 p/c to $/€100 per spin, or with the Ante Bet activated, which increases stakes by 25%. By doing so, the chance of leprechaun symbols hitting increases. A highly volatile game, Rainbow Gold can be enjoyed on mobile, tablet, or desktop devices.
A bunch of leprechaun related symbology has made its way onto Rainbow Gold's paytable, too. Here we find low pay J-A card ranks, as well as high-value beer mugs, wells, horseshoes, green top hats, and golden four-leaf clovers. All symbols pay from left to right across the game's 25 paylines, where five low pays are worth 1.25-2.5 times the stake, and five high pays get you 4x to 20x the bet. Rounding this section off is the wild, which lands on all reels to substitute any symbol except the leprechaun. Wilds are worth up to 25x the bet for a five of a kind hit.
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Rainbow Gold also follows in the footsteps of Bounty Gold, and while the two games provide up to four game matrices in free spins, the way they award cash differs, and Rainbow Gold also has more going on in its base game.
Running along the top of the normal 5 reels is a tracker displaying 5 random prizes. The tracker moves one reel to the left on each spin, so the leftmost prize drops off, and a new one is added to the right-hand side. Prizes here include:
To win these prizes, you need the leprechaun symbol to do so. The leprechaun symbol appears on any reel, and when he hits, the prize above him is awarded. Prizes are saved at each bet level, so changing the stake changes what is displayed on the top tracker.
When triggered from the top tracker by the leprechaun, the Super Spins round is played on up to four 3x5 sized matrices. When the Super Free Spins are won from the base game, the symbol on the top tracker has a number from 1 to 4 on it. This is the number of grid matrices that are initially active when the bonus starts. Like the base game, every grid matrix in free spins has a top tracker with prizes, which can be won when leprechaun symbols land below them. This time the prizes include:
Unsurprisingly, given the theme and its execution, there isn't much here players won't have witnessed numerous times in the past, and to be honest, Rainbow Gold didn't create a lot of excitement when it first loaded. Basic set-up and cliched visuals, which have been used countless times before, tend to have that effect.
From a gameplay angle, Rainbow Gold was in some ways more fun to play than its predecessor Bounty Gold. The main reason being Bounty Gold lacked any feature in its barren base game, which could drag on while you waited for its bonus round to trigger. Rainbow Gold, by contrast, benefits from intermittent prizes from the top tracker. To be sure, most are small, but the constant adrenaline hits keep the ball rolling, to an extent. Once triggered, Rainbow Gold's bonus round is quite different to either Bounty Gold or Gold Party, despite all of them being played on up to four matrices. Those two games will no doubt be more appealing to players into streak respin style features and clawing their way to the top jackpots. Rainbow Gold's Super Spins are basically a continuation of what happens in its base game, times four. All three slots max out at pretty much the same level, too, capping payouts at 5,000 times the stake.
Perhaps if Rainbow Gold had the sort of soaring gameplay that made it unmissable, those less enthused by yet another Irish themed slot could look past the ordinariness. Alas, while prizes from the top tracker produced a few cheap thrills and the four-matrix bonus round occasionally excited, Rainbow Gold is unlikely to bridge the gap between fans and haters. There are positive elements to Rainbow Gold for the right player, but the stench of genericism might be too much for anyone else.
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