In June of 2023, Area Vegas Games introduced Gold Rush Express, a video slot game designed for use in Microgaming’s online casinos.
Recent releases from Area Vegas Games, a new partner of industry veteran Games Global, including the excellent Area Blast Double Bass Slot.
This time around, the company has decided to focus on the Gold Rush, complete with high-quality visuals, smooth animations, unique extras, and a maximum jackpot of $250,000.
Modeling a Slot
Five reels, four rows, and twenty fixed paylines make up the Gold Rush Express online slot’s significantly larger 54 gameboard.
The slot machine has a HIGH volatility and an RTP of 96.45%.
This slot is great for low and high rollers alike because to its huge betting range (0.20-$50 each spin).
Area Vegas Games made a great decision when designing the bet menu, allowing us to easily select the bet we wanted without having to scroll up and down.
This studio has a tendency of using the same layout as in their prior game and the same user interface.
The slot machine’s control panel includes Autoplay, a sound button, and a menu button.
The rapid spin feature can be found under the Autoplay menu, where you can also set a win/loss limit and the number of automatic spins (up to 100).
The only small criticism we have of this slot is that you can’t disable the music and sound effects independently.
Slot Functions
Only reel 5 may trigger the Rush Express feature, which sees the Gold Train and Bell symbols emerge. This bonus round is activated when any of these symbols falls on reel 5 and at least one train symbol lands anywhere else in the same spin. When the little train feature begins, the gold symbol collects the prizes from the falling wagons and presents them to the winner.
Here the function was activated, the blue train began moving, and a 17x multiplier was awarded. The final wagon might offer a multiplier or the matching jackpot based on the color of the train. Since our train was blue, we might as well have hit the Minor jackpot.
We hit the Minor jackpot during this blue train’s Rush Express, which is equal to 50 times the current stake. If two or more trains appear on reels 1, 2, 3, or 4, further trains will be activated. With only one gold train symbol on reel 5, all gold nugget payouts increase, and each wagon’s jackpot can be multiplied by a factor of up to ten.
After about 500 spins, we got on the red train, which can give the Grand prize from the final wagon, but we were not that lucky.
Free Games: Getting three scatters anywhere on the board triggers ten free games. Although retriggering isn’t an option, the Rush Express function does go off more frequently.
Strangely, our initial spin resulted in 10 more spins being added to our total. Multiple times during the free games, we were able to activate the Rush Express, and the last wagon awarded a 2x multiplier.
After ten spins, our cumulative reward was about 87x. When we triggered free spins for a second time, we didn’t obtain any Rush Expresses, but we did land gold symbols on reel 5, which paid out all of the board’s rewards.
The Pick Feature is activated by the nugget symbol at random following the conclusion of each regular spin. This feature cannot be triggered on the same spin when the Rush Express feature or Free Spins are activated.
After two hours of spinning, we were able to activate this function, indicating how infrequently it occurs.
While the wait and payoff were not worth it, it was interesting to watch the feature in action.
Verdict
Gold Rush Express is just one example of how far Area Vegas Games has come as a developer in recent months.
This slot machine includes top-notch visuals, three enjoyable bonus features, and a jackpot worth five thousand times the current wager.
Although the game’s extreme volatility won’t appeal to everyone, you can play it today at Yukon Gold Casino, one of the best casinos in the Casino Rewards family.