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Golden Miner Overview
This review cover:
- Atmosphere
- Background
- Music
- Sound Effects
- Animations
- Betting Options
- Game Rules
- And more
Atmosphere/Background
In 1849, the news of gold discovered in California brought over 300,000
settlers to the west. Lured with the promise of quick riches, these miners
became known as 49ers, and would become an iconic part of American history.
Gold mining and slot machines have a lot in common. Both offer the
opportunity for fast wealth, and both need you to have luck on your side.
Golden Miner gets you right into the Old West mood. Its background features
mountains and valleys done in greens and blues, and a snaking trail leading you
to adventure.
The area behind the reels is sky blue.
Below the reels is a farmstead scene, complete with a forest in the
background, barns, and fencing.
The color scheme of the game is dark blue, green, red, and of course gold.
Music and Sound Effects
The soundtrack for Golden Miner is what you’d expect for a western-themed
slot-in a good way. Acoustic guitars and light drums provide the main track of
music, and they never overpower the proceedings. They play on a long loop, but
they are innocuous enough to disappear into the background after a while.
At other times, a Native American-themed track plays. It uses flutes, wind
chimes, and synths to create a mystical ambiance.
While not being too heavy on the music, the game is full of sound effects.
A game show announcer comes on when you’ve made a big win, when you win free
spins, or when you get to play the bonus game. The backing music for the
announcer makes him sound like he’s part of a Seventies game show. This breaks
with the theme of the game.
Other sound effects include a nice reel sound, chimes, and a shotgun loading
when you change any of the bet options.
Animations
The game has few animations, due to it being older. What few it does have are
all related to rewards.
When you win any prize, coins empty from the winning pay line and bounce
across the screen.
The screen goes dark for both bonus rounds, with fireworks erupting off of
the logos that explain what you’ve won.
Golden Miner Pay Table and Graphics
Golden Miner has many symbols, from the 10, J, Q, K, and A, to more inventive
ones like a dog, a mule, and a bandit.
Symbols:
10
The smallest of the bunch, this symbol pays out 10 credits for every 3,
20 for every 4, and 50 for every 5.
J
This symbol pays the same as the 10, paying off at 10 for every 3, 20 for
every 4, and 50 for every 5.
Q
This symbol pays out 10 credits for every 3 on a win line, 25 for every
4, and 60 for every 5.
K
This symbol gives you 10 for every 3, 25 for every 4, and 80 for every 5.
A
This symbol is the highest of the low-hanging fruit, paying off at 10
credits for every 3 of its shape, 30 for every 4, and 100 for every 5.
Dog
Man’s best friend rewards you with 12 credits for every 3 of its
symbol, 30 for every 4, and 120 for every 5.
Mule
While not as beloved as a helpful dog, this pack animal can haul a lot
more gold your way. It pays 12 for every 3, 40 for every 4, and 150 for every 5.
Bandit
If you catch him, he’s forced to pay out 12 for every 3 of his
symbol, 40 for every 4, and 200 for every 5.
Special Symbols:
Wild
Pictured as a sign that says “Paydirt,” this symbol counts as any of the
first eight symbols. It also has worth by itself, paying out 150 credits if 5
wilds are on a pay line.
Scatter
This symbol, a box of dynamite, has the power to blow up your
winnings. Its payout multiplies by the total bet, then added to all winning
lines on a spin. For every 3 of a scatter, you get 5 credits, you get 30 credits
for 4, and 100 for 5.
Free Spin
The hero of our game awards 5 free spins for every 3 of his symbol
displayed, 10 when there are 4 symbols showing, and 15 when there are 5. He also
is worth coinage: 5 credits for every 3, 10 for 4, and 15 for 5.
Pickaxe
A miner without a pickaxe is a man with dirt on his hands. This
pickaxe strikes a bonus game if three symbols appear on reels 3, 4, or 5.
Mega Jackpot
Pictured as a chest of gold, this prize is the hardest to get.
You need 5 of its symbol to get the mega jackpot.
Mini Jackpot
Again, not an easy prize to get. This treasure map symbol also
takes 5 symbols to win it.
Minor Jackpot
This symbol picture is 2 bars of gold. It takes 5 symbols to
win it.
For the three jackpot wins, we wish we could tell you if the 5 symbols have
to be in a win line or they have to be anywhere on the reels. We’ve never gotten
more than 2 or 3 of each symbol in a spin before.
Symbol Graphics
Being an older game, Golden Miner doesn’t have amazing graphics.
When you strike a win line, all the symbols pulse a few times. The 10, J, Q,
and K will flip in addition to pulsing, and so will the box of dynamite. Special
symbols will pulse and have a blue background appear a few times.
The one symbol that does anything different is the pickaxe, which shows light
glinting off of its edge when it’s eligible to pay out a prize.
Golden Miner Slot Bonus Features
This game gives you a lot of ways to win besides the regular gameplay mode.
Its bonus features include a free spin feature, triggered by the miner
symbol. This doesn’t happen often, and when it does, it pays out in an average
manner as compared to the rest of the game.
The bonus mini game happens more rarely, and in that game, you’re given a
choice of rocks to strike with your pickaxe. The rock you choose gives you a
random amount of money.
Golden Miner also offers a scatter feature, which gives a multiplying bonus.
This happens more frequently than the other bonus features, though it doesn’t
happen often.
Betting Options
In Golden Miner, you’ll find multiple ways to bet.
First, you can bet on different numbers of win lines. With so many win lines
in the game, you might think that you can bet on any number from 1 to 50, but
you can only bet in multiples of 10.
You can bet by increasing or decreasing coin value per win line. This value
can go from $.01 per line to $1.2 per line, with intervals at $.05, $.1, $.2,
$.5, $.7, and $.9. Golden Miner doesn’t allow for individual lines to have
different bet amounts.
With these figures, the minimum amount you can bet per spin is $.1, if you
only bet $.01 per line on a 10-win line roll. The maximum amount you can bet is
a huge jump, all the way up to $60.00.
The game also lets you use an auto spin feature, with intervals at 10 spins,
20 spins, 30 spins, 40 spins, 50 spins, and infinity (or until your money runs
out).
Although there’s a handy Max Bet button located by the auto spin feature, you
might want to avoid it. Because of the way this game pays out, we don’t
recommend going all in on a spin.
Other Options
Scattered all over the game board are some other options. Volume control is
in the top left. It only controls volume, not whether you can choose to keep
sound effects or music individually.
The pay table button lies in the middle of the screen underneath the reels.
You’ll see all your winning options there, though it doesn’t include a rules
section. It also doesn’t include any RTP figures.
A Lobby button sits in the top right corner. In our version of the game this
takes us to a black screen, but in casino versions, or in multi-game versions,
this may take you to the main menu.
Win Frequency
Our average win frequency was 3 to 4 times per every 10 spins. These weren’t
big wins, our average win amount being between $40 and $50 on a max bet of $60.
The frequency of free spins, scatter, and bonus games are harder to
determine. With free spins, we got them anywhere between 2 out of 10 times to 2
out of 100. The scatter feature is around the same odds as the free spin, and
the bonus game happens more rarely.
The bonus game, when it does happen, gives you good odds to win a nice
prize-in our case we got over $4,000.00 playing one bonus game. The bonus game
also happens often enough to make staying at the slot for a while worth it.
This is a game where a $300.00 win on a $60.00 bet is a big win. Plan your
strategy accordingly.
Return to Player Average
This game doesn’t list its RTP on its paytable screen. The closest thing we
could find to an actual figure is that it “has a high player return in the 90s.”
We’re guessing low 90s, based on the win payouts we received.
One thing that’s lowering RTP is that the 10 and the J have the exact same
payout. If they eliminated the 10, RTP would raise a little, while still giving
the game a healthy profit margin.
Game Rules
This game is like other 5-reel slots but has a few different rules.
The main differences are in the bonus game rules, where the pickaxes net you
a turn at the mini-game if they show up anywhere on reels 3, 4, or 5.
Another difference we noticed is that the win lines don’t have to start on
the left of the reel board. They can start in the middle of the board. A line of
3 connecting symbols wins you a prize, whether those symbols are at the end of
the line or at the beginning of it.
Scatters and Free Spins don’t have to appear in win lines.
Conclusion
Golden Miner has its high points and its low ones.
For us, its high point is the bonus game. The bonuses are always worth it,
and they always pay out.
The low points are in its win payout. This game offers a classic case of
losing by winning.
This is not an extra-generous game, but if you’re willing to wait it out for
a while, chances are you’ll get rewarded a bonus game.
This game, like the gold rushes that it’s based on, requires some luck for
you to be successful.
But also like the gold rushes, you’ll get a handsome reward when you strike a
vein.
