California Gold Slot Review
Join the gold rush in California Gold, NextGen Gaming’s mining-themed slot from 2013! In our California Gold review, we’ll dig deep into the base game, bonuses, prizes, and more. California Gold is a 5x3 slot with a max win of 5,000x your bet. It includes a Free Games round with all wins tripled and a Bonus Feature that turns gold nuggets into cash prizes. Keep reading for all the details you need to know before you play California Gold.
California Gold
California Gold RTP and Wagering
California Gold is played on 5 reels, 3 rows, and 1 to 25 paylines. You can change the number of active paylines in the bet menu. The minimum stake is £0.01 and the maximum is £250.00, depending on how many paylines you use.
As with most other 5x3 slots, you need to land matching symbols on active paylines to win payouts. Low symbols payout for three or more, but medium and high symbols award prizes for two or more.
The slot game’s volatility is in the low-medium range: payouts are generally frequent and small, but there’s the potential for more generous ones, too.
California Gold has a 95.20% Return to Player (RTP), which is below the 96% average for slots. The biggest prize you can win on any spin is 5,000x your bet, awarded for 5 Miner symbols.
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California Gold Symbols and Audio & Video Design
California Gold takes you back to the California gold rush of the 1800s, with one miner going deep underground in search of his fortune! The game’s graphics look a bit dated, but they’re still fun and colourful. The background scene features a cartoony image of Californian plains and hills, along with barrels, a cart filled with gold, dynamite, and the miner’s lantern.
The audio is fairly standard, with a mechanical sound of the reels whirring on each spin. You’ll hear a brief burst of music and the miner’s triumphant cheer whenever you create a winning combination featuring the Wild symbol.
Speaking of symbols, there are 12 in California Gold. These include a pick axe, a barrel, dynamite, sieve, treasure map, donkey, mine, miner, and a gold nugget. The Miner symbol, which features the man himself behind a mound of rocks, is the highest-paying symbol: land 5 on a payline to win 5,000x your stake.
Another symbol showing the miner, this time clutching a gold nugget, is the Wild. This lands on reels 2, 3, and 4, and it can substitute for all other symbols except the Scatter. All wins that feature the Wild symbol are doubled!
Pick Axe
3 — 5x bet / 4 — 10x bet / 5 — 100x bet
Barrel
3 — 5x bet / 4 — 10x bet / 5 — 100x bet
Lantern
3 — 5x bet / 4 — 10x bet / 5 — 150x bet
Treasure Map
3 — 5x bet / 4 — 10x bet / 5 — 150x bet
Dynamite
3 — 10x bet / 4 — 15x bet / 5 — 150x bet
Sieve
3 — 10x bet / 4 — 15x bet / 5 — 150x bet
Mine Cart
3 — 15x bet / 4 — 25x bet / 5 — 200x bet
Donkey
3 — 15x bet / 4 — 25x bet / 5 — 200x bet
Mine
2 — 2x bet / 3 — 15x bet / 4 — 100x bet / 5 — 500x bet
Miner
2 — 5x bet / 3 — 20x bet / 4 — 200x bet / 5 — 5,000x bet
California Gold Mobile Features
California Gold Bonus Features
California Gold includes two bonus features: a Free Games round and Bonus Feature. Both offer extra chances to win prizes in different ways, and the Free Games feature increases the value of all payouts significantly.
Free Games Feature
If you manage to land three or more Scatter symbols anywhere on the reels, you’ll win 10 free spins with all prizes tripled for the entire round!
You can retrigger the Free Games feature, too. All free spins use the same number of paylines and stake as the triggering spin.
Bonus Feature
Land Wild symbols on reels 2, 3, and 4 at the same time to play the Bonus Feature. Pick one of the four mines shown to start the bonus. The miner makes his way through a mine, grabbing up to five gold nuggets as he goes.
Each nugget has a specific weight in ounces, and the total payout for the feature is the ounces multiplied by your triggering bet. You can trigger the Bonus Feature during the Free Games round, too.
California Gold Final Thoughts
California Gold might have been released way back in 2013, but it’s still worth playing. The game looks dated in some ways, but its bright and cartoony style remains fun.
Sadly, California Gold’s RTP is quite a bit below average at 95.20%. The low-medium volatility also means that most prizes are likely to be small, even if they are regular.
Still, you can win up to 5,000x your stake, and the Wild symbol doubles any wins that it helps create. The Free Games feature could be the highlight, as it doubles all payouts from start to finish. You can also get more chances to top up your winnings in the Bonus Feature.
Overall, then, California Gold isn’t a classic, but it still does what it does well.
Rating: 7.0
If you like California Gold, then check out these other Mining Theme slot games
California Gold FAQ
Here are five common questions about California Gold:
