Pokie slots in Australia don’t think of losing their popularity. For all the years of online casinos Australians have their favourite slots, which we tell you about in our reviews. This time we’ll talk about Gonzo’s Quest – a legendary pokie in an adventure theme, where the player conquers Eldorado. The game is already 13 years old, but it still does not lose its popularity. We tell you how it does it.
Symbols and Payout Table
There are seven main symbols in Gonzo’s Quest slot, each of which represents different coloured ruins. These ruins help Gonzo in his quest for the lost city. The symbols can be divided into two categories:
- High paying symbols – depicts ruins with faces facing forwards;
- The low paying symbols are ruins with profiles.
Apart from the usual symbols, there are two special ones that add interest to the game:
- The gold coin is the free fall symbol, which in this slot means free spins. To activate this feature, you need to collect three or more gold coins on consecutive reels, and they must fall from left to right, but do not necessarily line up in a single payline;
- The wild symbol is a grey square with a golden question mark. It substitutes for any other symbol, including the free fall symbol, which gives more chances to activate bonus spins.
Now that you know the main symbols, you can move on to exploring the bonus features of Gonzo’s Quest slot.
How the Reels and Multipliers Work
The main feature of Gonzo’s Quest is the avalanche-like reels. Every time you win, the symbols involved in the win explode and new ones fall in their place. The symbols on top occupy the empty cells and you get an extra chance to win.
NetEnt calls this mechanic “avalanche”, while other game developers call it cascading or falling reels. Gonzo’s Quest was the first game with this feature, and its popularity inspired other developers to create similar mechanics.
The avalanche-shaped reels give you the opportunity to win multiple times per spin, with multipliers for consecutive wins being an added bonus:
- 1 win is a x1 multiplier;
- 2 wins – x2 multiplier;
- 3 wins – x3 multiplier;
- 4 or more wins – x5 multiplier.
These multipliers significantly increase your potential winnings. Of course, you won’t always get a x5 multiplier, but even doubled or tripled wins can be significant.
If you’re inspired by the possibility of a x5 multiplier, wait until you experience the free drops feature in Gonzo’s Quest – there the multipliers can get even higher.
What is “Freefall” in Gonzo’s Quest
In Gonzo’s Quest, the Free Fall feature is just another name for the free spins. In this game, the symbols do not rotate on the usual reels, but fall and stand on their places, and the developers from NetEnt decided to emphasise this by renaming the free spins to “Free Fall”.
To activate this feature, you need to get three or more gold coin symbols on consecutive reels. They do not have to be on the same payline, but must be on reels one, two and three in a row. Once you collect the right symbols, the reels will open and the entrance to the city of Eldorado will appear before you. From this point you will get 10 free drops, and if you manage to collect three gold coins again, you can get even more.
During the Free Fall, the reels work in the same way as in the main game, but with one important difference: the multipliers for consecutive wins become much higher:
- 1 win is a x3 multiplier;
- 2 wins – x6 multiplier;
- 3 wins – x9 multiplier;
- 4 or more wins – x15 multiplier.
These big multipliers can lead to some really significant wins during Freefall.
But it’s worth noting that activating this feature is not so easy. Sometimes it can take quite a few attempts – in our experience, over 500 spins failed to bring three gold coins in a row. Fortunately, a wild symbol can substitute for a gold coin, so a combination of gold coins and wild symbols can also trigger the feature.
While activating Freefall can be a daunting task, the rewards it brings are more than worth the wait, thanks to high multipliers and substantial payouts.
RTP and Volatility Gonzo’s Quest
The RTP (return to player percentage) in Gonzo’s Quest is 95.97%. This is a good figure compared to other online slots, although some games from NetEnt offer a slightly higher RTP. For beginners, RTP is a measure of how much money is returned to players on average from all bets placed, for example, 95.97% means that for every $100 bet, about $95.97 is paid out in the long run.
Gonzo’s Quest is also characterised by medium to high volatility. This means that winning combinations may occur infrequently, but when they do, the winnings can be considerably large, especially thanks to the multipliers for consecutive wins. This feature makes the game unpredictable and exciting – you can wait a long time for a big win, but one lucky moment can make a big difference.
Bonus features with multipliers also have a strong impact on RTP and volatility. Overall, the RTP and volatility parameters in Gonzo’s Quest are quite typical for games in which bonuses and extra features play an important role.
Alternatives to Gonzo’s Quest
If Gonzo’s Quest has enthralled you, NetEnt has offered several other games based on this popular slot, each adding something new to the original concept.
Here are some alternatives to Gonzo’s Quest:
- Gonzo’s Quest Megaways: When NetEnt acquired Red Tiger Gaming, they created a Megaways version. There are six reels and up to 117,649 ways to win, making the game even more exciting by adding two new bonus features;
- Gonzo’s Quest VR: In 2017, NetEnt introduced a virtual reality version where players can explore the world of Gonzo with a full 360 degree view, immersing themselves in the atmosphere of Eldorado;
- Gonzo’s Treasure Hunt: In 2020, this unique live dealer game was created after a merger with Evolution Gaming. It combines elements of a slot and a game show, allowing you to join Gonzo and the host on an exciting treasure hunt.
While alternatives like Megaways and VR haven’t reached the level of popularity of the original Gonzo’s Quest, they are still interesting and worth trying, especially if you like that style of game.