Gold Volcano is a surprisingly innovative slot game from the well-known creators of Plan’n Go casino slots , whose visual presentation is at a really high level. The game’s designing features are also quite good, but we’ll talk about that later in the review.
Game review
Gold Volcano is based on an unusual network setting that is arranged (3-4-5-6-6-5-4-3) and resembles a volcano that harmonizes perfectly with the background. Above the ordinary drums are spheres waiting for one of the positions to be hit for its activation. A slight volcanic eruption is also possible in the main game, but the essential one is reserved for the bonus round.
The visual presentation is on par here, but the main focus is on connecting the features in the volcanic theme. It can be said that this is better achieved in this game than in others with a similar theme. The symbols are real glowing magma, which is pushed out from below. The cascading gain function is activated at all spins and if you pay more attention, you will see 5 markers on the volcano. These are the “scars” that the lava reaches for another cascade.
To trigger the free spins, you will need to receive 6 consecutive cascading winnings. As a result, you will continue your game on a wider, 8×8 network. The basic game comes with 3 different modifiers, one of which erupts prematurely and adds new mysterious symbols to the outermost positions of the drum. This immediately turns the grid into a 4-5-6-7-7-4-5 setting and you can get a wild and 2x wild multiplier from this feature.
The other two features that can be unlocked in the main game are fully capable of maintaining your winning streak. The game also has a scatter feature that upgrades the 3 symbols from the middle level to the golden gem, which is set with a very high value in the game.
What are the bonus opportunities?
Play’n Go did well with its other games based on Cluster Pays, but this is a level ahead of the rest. It comes with many bonus features that are mostly related to the theme of the volcano. The functions start at different stages of the volcano. The big peak is that for the free spins.
First of all, this game offers the Cascading Wins feature, which will help visualize the lava and how it rises in the volcano for each cascade. Winning symbols are removed and replaced by new symbols. This continues until the player reaches some winning combinations.
Sleeping Volcano (Dormant Volcano): When the volcano is inactive, 3 different random functions can be triggered at lost spins. These are drum modification features that are there to help extend the duration of your cascading winnings as well as trigger the bonus round. Here’s what to expect:
• Roar function – the whole grid is shaken and the symbols in it are moved to new positions. One of the symbols is replaced by a scatter.
• Possibility of lava – The volcano erupts and the mysterious lava symbols are ejected on the outer positions of the drum. The grid then changes to 4-5-6-7-7-4-5 and the lava symbols become random symbols. This may include ‘wild’ but not ‘scatter.’
• Excavate function – 3 and 5 wild symbols are added, which go anywhere in the network. This helps to create new, profitable clusters.
• Pressure building: As the pressure of the volcano increases, you can get help from the wilds, which will be randomly placed on the empty grid between the cascades. Wild symbols can arrive with a 2x multiplier. In case the symbol already has one, the multipliers are multiplied with each other.
• Crystallization – In the upper left corner you will see a meter of the scatter collection. The crystallization function is activated when you fill all 9 empty slots on this meter. It has 3 different stages. Each time you collect 3 scatters, you can upgrade a mid-level gem symbol to a gold symbol with the highest value. The meter will be reset after the cascade is completed, but will not be reset if the bonus round is triggered.
How to play Gold Volcano?
The interface of Play’n Go is very elegant and modern, but in this case it does not differ too much from the interfaces of other developers. However, this is done deliberately so as not to distract too much from the game itself. In this section we will take you through most of the things you need to know about the Gold Volcano slot game. People who have never played this type of game before will need to pay more attention to the following paragraphs.
The menu with three bars in the corner opens the game settings. In this you can turn on / off the sound, turn on the fast playback option, as well as other additional settings.
The large information icon under the reels is extremely important. There you will find information about all the bonus features which will be explained through a nice animation. You can skip to the next animation using the arrows at the bottom.
The payout table is dynamic, which means that the corresponding symbol values are updated according to the selected bet level . The most profitable symbol is the golden gem, which pays 1000 times your bet, for 30+ sizes in a cluster. In comparison, the three average symbols of a gemstone pay only 35x, 30x and 25x.
The bet level is fully adjustable, according to the player’s wishes. It varies in the range between 10 Euro cents and 100 Euros per spin. You can take advantage of the auto-play function with the same bet between 10 to 100 spins. The feature can be stopped when you start a bonus round or at any win. Different profit or loss limits can be set additionally when the function stops running automatically.
Conclusion, advantages and disadvantages
If you love innovation, then the game will fit perfectly into your favorites. We still know a lot of slots with volcanoes, but nothing like this exists there. The profit potential is twice that of what we usually see in Play’n Go. Winning 10,000 times on our bet is also an attractive incentive for players.
Still, it’s not that easy to trigger bonus rounds, but that’s what you can expect from a highly volatile game. The modifiers of the main game are fun and useful, so it can never get boring. The only thing to watch out for and be careful about is the RTP ranges that Play’n Go works with, as this means that some casinos can reduce the RTP from the default value of 96.20%.
Advantages:
Innovative theme with many possibilities
3 drum modifiers in the main game
Meter
Free spins on an extended 8×8 network.
Disadvantages:
Custom RTP bands are something to be careful with.
