Gold Oasis Slot Review
In Pragmatic Play's Gold Oasis slot machine, and our accompanying Gold Oasis slot review, we will venture into the desert searching for hidden wealth. Be sure to bring your sunscreen as this extremely volatile game has 243 paylines on a 5x3 reel configuration, 7,260 max wins, and a 96.06% RTP rate. As you search for the beacon of relief that is the oasis you will discover features such as Symbol Duels, and free spins. So, keep on reading our Gold Oasis review to see if this slot is a refreshing glimmer of hope in the desert sun or nothing but a cruel mirage.
Gold Oasis
Gold Oasis RTP and Wagering
The Gold Oasis slot is played on a pretty common 5x3 reel format with 243 paylines. As usual, winning combinations are formed of three or matching symbols from left to right across an active payline, but can also be formed of successive symbols in non-adjacent positions too.
The stakes for each spin of the Gold Oasis slot game range from 20p to £240 which means most budgets are catered to. Setting your stake in this game is easy, as the 243 win ways are fixed, meaning your total bet will be automatically distributed across them. To set your wager click or tap (if playing on touchscreen devices) the + and – buttons on either side of the spin button until you are happy with your stake. If you have played a Pragmatic Play slot machine, this will be plain sailing, as the UI is the same across all titles created by the developer.
Those outside the UK can make sure of spin modifiers such as turbo spins, to spin the reels at a quicker rate. These players may also configure the auto-spin system to have the reels spin automatically for them.
With an RTP of 96.06%, Gold Oasis marginally outperforms the industry average, and statistically, every little does help! Be aware though that some UK slot sites support additional RTP variations of 95.08% and a dismal 94.05%. Always aim to play the game at its highest percentage; at Gambling Zone we only recommend the top online casino sites which are transparent with the statistics of their games, so check out our recommendations or check the maths model before committing any cash.
The hit rate on the slot machine is 1 in 4.47, meaning that a winning combination should be achieved every 4-5 spins. This is not the best hit rate we have seen, with the average tending to be every 3-4 spins and even every 2-3 spins on particularly generous titles. Combine this with the fact that Pragmatic Play has rated the Gold Oasis game as 5/5 on their volatility scale, and players might be faced with an Oasis whose waters are not quite as refreshing as they first seemed.
The maximum win of 7,260 times the total stake does give players something to cheer about. The Free Spins bonus feature is where the higher-value payouts can be won, but keep in mind that the maximum win probability is 1 in 7,110,533; not the lowest odds we have seen, but certainly not the highest either.
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Gold Oasis Symbols and Audio & Video Design
When it comes to appearance, the Gold Oasis slot machine is your standard Arabian-themed machine; albeit one developed to a high visual standard. The reels are set in a desert at sunset, with a man riding a camel to the right and the wind blowing in the distance. Palm trees can be seen peeking in at the corners, hinting at an oasis nearby.
The reels are framed in stone and adorned with embossed metal, and two intriguing door-like shapes appear above the reel set, framed on either side with iconic golden lamps. The reels themselves have been given a deep purple background, which helps the symbols that land on them clearly stand out from the detailed backdrop.
The soundtrack is exactly what you would expect from a slot of this genre, but can be turned on and off with a click of a button or tap of the screen if they are not quite your vibe. Alongside the musical score you will hear ambient noises when the reels are not in motion, such as birds and camels; helping to set the scene further. Lastly, the reels themselves have a subtle sound effect when they are spun, which is a touch that some developers overlook. The soundtrack will also change in tone and tempo when entering the free spins bonus round (but more on this later).
The lowest earning symbols on the reels are the A–10 Royals. In many slots, the use of these popular symbols can often feel like a cost-cutting measure that disrupts the theme, but in the Gold Oasis game, Pragmatic Play has gone the extra mile and formed these iconic symbols in an Arabic-styled script. In fact, some of the symbols, especially the ‘Q’ may be a little hard to recognise at first, but Pragmatic Play has made things a lot easier, but colour coding each of the low-paying symbols too.
The symbols with the highest payouts are the jug and cup, a bag of coins, and four characters; three male adventurers, and one female. The most valuable base game symbol is the third male character, which pays 0.75, 1.5, or 6 times the total wager for combinations of 3, 4, or 5 symbols respectively.
One thing that is worth mentioning about the Gold Oasis slot is that the game does not feature a wild symbol which is definitely a rarity these days. The full list of symbols used in the Gold Oasis slot and their respective payouts are as follows:
Ten
Is purple with a gold border and 3, 4 or 5 across an active payline awards 0.1, 0.25 or 0.75 x the total stake value
Jack
Is green with a gold border and 3, 4 or 5 across an active payline 0.1, 0.25 or 0.75 x the total stake value
Queen
Is red with a gold border and 3, 4 or 5 across an active payline 0.1, 0.25 or 0.75 x the total stake value
King
Is blue with a gold border and 3, 4 or 5 across an active payline 0.15, 0.4 or 1 x the total stake value
Ace
Is purple with a gold border and 3, 4 or 5 across an active payline 0.15, 0.4 or 1 x the total stake value
Jug & Cup
3, 4 or 5 across an active payline 0.25, 0.6 or 1.5 x the total stake value
Bag of Coins
3, 4 or 5 across an active payline 0.3, 0.75 or 2 x the total stake value
Male Character 1
Has a teal background and wears purple and orange garb. 3, 4 or 5 across an active payline 0.4, 0.9 or 2.5 x the total stake value
Male Character 2
Has a purple background and wears a magenta turban. 3, 4 or 5 across an active payline 0.5, 1.05 or 3.5 x the total stake value
Female Character
Has a green background and wears a sheer purple face veil and golden coronet. 3, 4 or 5 across an active payline 0.6, 1.25 or 4.5 x the total stake value
Male Character 3
Has a background with a golden frame and wears and blue and gold turban. 3, 4 or 5 across an active payline 0.75, 1.5 or 6 x the total stake value
Scatter
Looks like an ornate golden keyhole. 3 or more landed within a single spin and in any reel position will trigger the Free Spins feature
Gold Oasis Mobile Features
The Gold Oasis slot machine has been fully optimised for play across devices including mobile phones and tablets. Perfect performance is ensured by employing the latest HTML5 technology, and the 5×3 layout looks nice on smaller screens. Pragmatic Play is consistently a well-liked option for iOS and Android mobile casinos in the United Kingdom and their players, thanks to their straightforward user interface, and quality-of-life considerations such as colour-coded symbols for easy recognition on smaller screen sizes.
Gold Oasis Bonus Features
The Gold Oasis slot machine has the following two bonus features. (three if you count the features in addition to eligible regions). Below we explore each bonus feature in more detail:
Symbol Duel Feature
This feature can be activated in the base game on any random spin. When that occurs, up to 10 paying symbols currently on the reels are randomly selected and are replaced with one randomly chosen paying symbol for an elevated chance of a higher-value winning combination.
Free Spins Bonus
This bonus feature can be triggered by landing three scatters in the Gold Oasis slot game's base game within a single spin and in any reel position. Five bonus spins will be granted to you. All symbols will pay as five of a kind for any winning combinations during the round which is a nice addition which will should nicely increase the overall payout potential for the round. On average, the free spins bonus round is triggered every 284 spins, which is not the best odds we have seen but is definitely on the more generous side when compared to other slot games.
Remember those door-like shapes above the reels that we mentioned earlier? These come into play during the free spins bonus as every scatter symbol that lands during the feature will be collected and fill the empty space on one of the two doors. For every two Scatters that are gathered, two randomly selected paying symbols will engage in a symbol duel. For the duration of the free spins bonus round, all occurrences of the losing symbol on the reels will be replaced by the symbol that wins the duel.
There can be up to 10 duels, and each one also gives players more free spins in the following ways:
- Duels 1-5 will award 2 additional spins.
- Duels 6-10 will award 1 additional spin.
Feature Buy (Non-UK Only)
The Gold Oasis bonus buy option, is available to players outside of the UK. To use this feature players must click the “buy free spins” icon located on the left-hand side of the screen. There are two choices on the bonus buy menu. For a bonus round with standard duels, you can spend 100 times the stake; alternatively, you can pay 200 times the stake for a bonus round where the greatest value symbol always prevails.
Gold Oasis Final Thoughts
Overall, there are some really good things to say about the Gold Oasis slot, and also some drawbacks. The overall thematic presentation of the slot is very high, the graphics look great, and the sound design feels considered. The symbols themselves stand out nicely on the reels, and I particularly like the extra attention given to the playing card symbols, which blend them perfectly into the Arabian theme.
The fact that with 243 win ways, symbols do not only have to land adjacent to one another is a great touch, and while the general symbol payout values are nothing to write home about, the innovative Duel feature certainly picks up any slack.
The aforementioned Duel feature is definitely the standout element of the slot, and while I have seen similar creations in slots before, I have not seen one quite like what this feature from Gold Oasis offers. I really like how the feature amps up a notch during the free spins bonus round too.
Some of the slot's more challenging aspects is its high hit rate which combined with its extreme volatility, could leave many players reaching the point of boredom or frustration when spinning the reels. The randomly triggered Duel feature could help satiate some dry spells, but with this set-up, it seems madness to me that Pragmatic overlooked both adding a wild symbol and also giving the scatter symbol a payout value for 2 landed on the reels as with other slots. The 96.09% RTP, while above the market average, is not high enough to mitigate these challenging statistics, and though the 20p-£240 bet range is accessible to all walks of player, I feel like the penny slot fans and more casual players might find the Gold Oasis slot more effort than it's worth.
For these reasons, I have given the Gold Oasis slot a rating of 7/10. For some, it will be the refreshing and bountiful game that Pragmatic Play intended, but for players not prepared for its challenging statistics, it may feel like nothing but a mirage.
Rating: 7.0
If you like Gold Oasis, then check out these other Arabian Theme slot games
Gold Oasis FAQ
Here are some of the most common questions we get asked about Gold Oasis.
