9 Pots of Gold slot release celebrates St. Patrick's Day

Back in October 2019, Microgaming released the 9 Masks of Fire slot, which proved to be a popular game upon release. Gameburger Studios were responsible for that game and its rather unusual design and features and it seems the company have decided to revisit that style of game again for their latest release, 9 Pots of Gold.

Essentially, what you have here is the same game from Gameburger, just with a different theme. Many of the features in that original 9 Masks of Fire slot are present in this newer version of the game and it also shares the same value prizes available in the game too.

This is not the first time Microgaming have used this strategy, the Sporting Star series of games all were very similar in set up and prize money, while the So Many series of slots also followed this pattern. Even the famed Immortal Romance slot was heavily influenced by the equally important Thunderstruck II slot before it.

So how does the 9 Pots of Gold slot stand up in its own right? We decided to take a look to find out.

Overview

• Game: 9 Pots of Gold
• Developer: Gameburger Studios (for Microgaming)
• Reels: 5x3
• Pay Lines: 20 pay lines (non-selectable)
• Minimum Bet: 0.20
• Maximum Bet: 60.00
• Jackpot: 2000x
• Free Spins Bonus: Yes
• Other Bonuses: No
• Progressive: No
• Volatility: Medium

Presentation

Given that the slot is based on an Irish theme, and was released just in time for St Patrick's Day, the slot is about as Irish as you can get with its theme. The main colour of the backdrop is emerald green, with four leafed clovers dotted around the screen. The reels are sat in the middle of this and it is a 5x3 reel set up.

The main controls for the slot are at the foot of the reels and as on the 9 Masks of Fire slot, the prizes for landing the requisite number of key symbols are shown on the left of the reels.

What is on the reels?

There are a relatively small number of symbols on the reels and all of them have an Irish or slot theme. The lowest value symbols are the Bar symbol, the four leafed clover and the leprechauns hat, all of which offer wins ranging from a quarter of your total bet up to 2x your total bet, although you can win them across multiple pay lines which does increase the value of a win when it occurs.

The other two symbols on the reels are the harp, which offers wins from 0.5x to 3.25x your total bet, while there are also three different types of 7 symbols on the reels. Single, double and treble sevens. These can trigger bigger value wins when landed with seven symbols of their own type, or by mixing the different types of symbols together, which offers a lower payout, generally about half of that compared to what you would receive for a standard win with just one of the 7 symbol types.

There is just one other symbol and that is the Pot of Gold Scatter symbol. This is the symbol that can be landed in any position up to nine times across the reels. Three or more of these symbols will trigger a win from 1x your total bet up to the jackpot of 2,000x your total bet if you can land nine of these symbols on the reels.

Alongside these standard symbols there are two other symbols on the reels, the Wild and Scatter and these are linked to the main features of the slot as explained below.

Wild features

The Wild symbol is the red mushroom and it is very easy to spot on the reels as it is the only symbol on them that really stands out compared to the others due to its colour. It is also the highest paying symbol in the game as it can be landed across all five reels and when landed along a single pay line with other wilds you can win from 6.25x to 125x your total bet. So as you can see, it is by far the most valuable of the symbols on the reels.

Free Spins features

The Free Spin symbol appears on the middle three reels and when you land three of them on any spin, you will win a prize of 1x your total bet plys you will trigger a spin of the Free Spin bonus wheel.

This Wheel has ten different combinations on it comprised of a stated number of Free Spins and a multiplier. You simply spin the reel to discover the number of Free Spins and the Multiplier you will receive on any wins during the bonus round. Once the wheel comes to a halt, your Free Spins will begin. You can win from 10 to 30 Free Spins and the multipliers are either 2x or 3x the standard bet amount.

Best feature of the 9 Pots of Gold slot

There are a lot of nice features on the 9 Pots of Gold slot and if you enjoyed the 9 Masks of Fire slot, then you will find this game is also very much to your liking. The base game is fun, but some of the wins are very small and that is a bit of a down side. The best feature for me is the Free Spins bonus round, especially if you can spin one of the better value bonus rounds, with a 3x multiplier and 30 Free Spins being the ideal combination. The Pot of Gold bonus Scatter is a nice touch too, although you do tend to only win small amounts with this feature.

Conclusion

I think the success of the 9 Masks of Fire made the decision to release the 9 Pots of Gold slot an easy one. Sure, it is not going to win any awards for originality and it is very much a case of the same game being dressed up in a slightly different livery, but the game is fun to play, enjoyable and offers nice medium variance game play. If that is your bag, then there is a lot to enjoy with the 9 Pots of Gold slot, but we would like to see the next Gameburger Studios slot offer something a little more exciting and original.

You can play 9 Pots of Gold at any of the Mega Moolah casinos.