Fortunium Gold Mega Moolah slot: What are the main features?

A couple of years ago, Stormcraft Studios released their first game as part of their partnership with Microgaming. The game, Fortunium, was a steampunk inspired slot that looked and played somewhat differently to other games and because of its unusual theme and clever game design, the slot proved to be one of Microgaming's top releases of that year.

Therefore, a sequel to Fortunium was always on the cards and so it was not a surprise when just such a game, Fortunium Gold, was previewed at the ICE 2020 gaming expo. What was less expected however was that this new game would also be the latest slot to join the Mega Moolah progressive jackpot network.

After several months wait, the Fortunium Gold slot was officially released across casinos on September 22^nd 2020 and as you would expect, we have been playing and digesting the finer points of the game ever since and in this article, we are going to break down the main features of the game that are going to be of interest to players.

This includes how the game is set up, the maximum and minimum bets you can make, the jackpot prizes in the base game and of course, the different features of the slots including its symbols, Wilds and other key game features.

With two new Mega Moolah slots, Atlantean Treasures and Absolootly Mad already released in 2020, to add to those games already available, plus a new game, Juicy Joker, reportedly on the horizon for release at some point in the near future, it is a hugely exciting time for Mega Moolah jackpot players, especially when you consider that the jackpot has also been won twice in the month of September 2020 too.

It's the perfect time to release the new Fortunium Gold slot therefore, so let's take a closer look at what the game has to offer.

Game parameters

Following the same Steampunk theme as the original Fortunium slot, Fortunium Gold has been set up to offer players a different playing perspective than other Mega Moolah powered games. The game is a 5x5 reel slot game with 40 pay lines in play, both a first when it comes to the Mega Moolah progressive network, but best of all, the slot can be played for just 0.10 per spin as a minimum bet.

That is incredible value for money as most 40 pay line slot games would expect players to pay at least 0.40 per spin, or at best 0.20. So to be able to get the reels spinning for what amounts to a quarter of a pence per pay line is excellent value for money.

At the other end of the scale, the maximum bet amount in standard game-play is 15.00 which is enough to keep most high roller players interested. However, players do have an option in the game which can alter the size of your bet. This option is called the Win Booster feature.

• Win Booster Option

Players are free to play Fortunium Gold as standard, but if they select the Win Booster option, then the size of their bet will increase by 50%, which would mean a minimum bet amount of 0.15 and a maximum bet amount of 22.50.

The effect of selecting Win Booster means that when Mystery Symbols land in the base game, or during Free Spins, only the higher value symbols and Wild symbols can appear on this reel, lower value symbols are excluded. This does not affect how much you receive as a standard payout in the base game, it simply gives you more chance of landing higher value symbols on the reels in Mystery Symbols. As such, it is down to the player to decide whether the 50% premium they pay on their bet size is worth it.

The jackpot prize is 800x your bet and the game is designed with the 5x5 reel set offset to the right of the screen and the four Mega Moolah progressive jackpots shown on the left hand side of the screen. One nice touch is the addition of information about when each jackpot was last won next to the Mega and Major jackpot prizes, which is always useful information for players to have.

Base game symbols, Wilds and Mystery symbols

On the 5x5 reel set there are a total of nine standard symbols on the Fortunium Gold slot. Four of these are lower value playing card symbols, with the five remaining symbols viewed as the higher value symbols. Of these, two symbols, Maximillian and Victoria, can be stacked up to five symbols high on the reels. The other symbols are stacked two symbols high, which means it is possible to trigger wins across more than one pay line in the game.

Blue Club

• 3 Symbols - 0.1x
• 4 Symbols - 0.2x
• 5 Symbols - 1.2x

Green Diamond

• 3 Symbols - 0.1x
• 4 Symbols - 0.3x
• 5 Symbols - 1.5x

Orange Heart

• 3 Symbols - 0.2x
• 4 Symbols - 0.5x
• 5 Symbols - 1.8x

Red Spade

• 3 Symbols - 0.2x
• 4 Symbols - 0.6x
• 5 Symbols - 2x

Steampunk Gun

• 3 Symbols - 0.4x
• 4 Symbols - 1.2x
• 5 Symbols - 4x

Steampunk Airship

• 3 Symbols - 0.5x
• 4 Symbols - 1.8x
• 5 Symbols - 5x

Steampunk Treasure Chest

• 3 Symbols - 0.6x
• 4 Symbols - 2x
• 5 Symbols - 6x

Maximillian

• 3 Symbols - 0.9x
• 4 Symbols - 2.5x
• 5 Symbols - 8x

Victoria

• 3 Symbols - 0.9x
• 4 Symbols - 2.5x
• 5 Symbols - 8x

Green Orb Scatter symbol

Scatter symbols can pay in any position across the reels. Scatter wins are multipliers of the standard bet size (without the Win Booster premium included). Three or more Scatters also triggers the Free Spins bonus game (see below for more information)

• 2 Symbols - 1x
• 3 Symbols - 2x
• 4 Symbols - 20x
• 5 Symbols - 100x

Wild symbol and Jackpot Wild symbol

The Wild symbol can appear on the reels and as a Mystery Symbol in the base game and Free Spins. The Jackpot Wild can only appear as a Mystery Symbol, but when it does it operates as a Wild for any win calculations of the spin, as well as the trigger for the Jackpot Bonus Game. Wilds have their own payouts for landing them across the reels, as well as being used as substitues for other symbols.

• 2 Symbols - 0.2x
• 3 Symbols - 1x
• 4 Symbols - 4x
• 5 Symbols - 20x

Mystery symbols

Mystery Symbols appear in the base game and during Free Spins and they can be stacked up to five symbols high on the reels. At the end of each spin, any Mystery Symbols landing on the reels can be converted into any one of the standard Symbols or the standard Wild symbol outlined above to potentially create a win.

If you have Win Booster activated though, none of the four playing card symbol lows will appear as Mystery Symbols.

Mystery Symbols can work to your benefit in a couple of ways by either creating a win that wasn't there or by adding value to an existing win by adding more symbols or lines to your win. Generally speaking, the more Mystery Symbols you can land, especially over the first three reels, the better the chances you have of a winning outcome.

Free Spins Bonus round

Depending on the number of Scatters you land, three, four or five, you will trigger the Free Spins bonus round in the Fortunium Gold slot. The number of Scatters you land determines how many Mystery Reels you have in play. Three Scatters means one Mystery Reel, four sees two and land all five Scatters to have the maximum three Mystery Reels in play.

You receive 10 Free Spins for the bonus round and every time you land another Scatter on the reels during the bonus game, you will receive an additional Free Spin added to your total.

Obviously, the more Mystery Symbols that turn into the same symbol, the more chance you have of triggering a better value win, which includes wins across multiple lines.

Fortunium Gold Mega Moolah Progressive Jackpot Bonus Game

The key to the Jackpot Bonus Game on the Fortunium Gold slot is the aforementioned Mystery Symbols and one nice touch is that unlike any other game in the Mega Moolah network that offers Free Spins, you can trigger the Jackpot Bonus Game during the Free Spins bonus on Fortunium Gold, as well as in the base game.

To earn a shot at the progressive jackpot prizes, you first need to land some Mystery Symbols on any spin. When you do, these symbols then need to turn into a Jackpot Wild symbol. This is similar to a Wild but has a J in the centre of the symbol as opposed to a W.

These Jackpot Wilds will pay out base game wins in the same way as a standard Wild but when landed, they will also then bring the Jackpot Wheel to the forefront of the screen and players will then be able to spin the wheel in order to land one of the four progressive jackpot prizes available, Mini, Minor, Major or that huge Mega jackpot prize.

With such a wealth of different options compared to other Mega Moolah slots, it looks like Fortunium Gold is going to be a very welcome addition to the Mega Moolah ranks and the unusual features and novel way of triggering the Jackpot Bonus Game means that the game is sure to be a popular choice for progressive jackpot hunters for many years to come.