Technical Table Information
| RTP (return to player): | 95.00% |
| Casino Gaming Developer: | ELK Studios |
| Release Date: | 01.03.2022 |
| Maximum Multiplier: | 10,000x |
| Volatility: | High |
| Winning Lines: | 4,096 to 262,144 |
| Min bet: | 0.20 |
| Max bet: | 100 |
| Provably Fair: | No |
| Jackpot: | No |
| Technology used: | HTML5 |
| Theme slot: | Flight |
| Best Bitcoin casino to play with Bonus: | Up to 180% Bonus on your 1st deposit + Daily Free Spin |
Description of the Slot
It seems ELK Studios has taken a liking to mystery thrillers as it gets confirmed from the company’s 2022 slot, Pacific Gold. Besides being part of ELK’s ‘Gold’ series, the slot focuses on a cargo flight, KS-17, that took off from San Diego for Osaka, Japan, in 1953. However, not only did the flight never reach its destination, it got wiped away from the face of the earth. After years of fruitless search, the task has come to our hero, Kane, who must resolve the mystery behind KS-17 while continuing his quest for gold.
Pacific Gold opens on a 6×4 grid integrated with 4,096 winnings ways. However, the reels can expand to 8 rows, extending the paylines by 262,144 winning ways. While wagers start from 0.20 to 100 coins per spin, the RTP of 95% remains a significant shortcoming. Meanwhile, the variance levels are high, and the slot’s max win potential stands at 10,000x the stake. Since any slot is much beyond numbers, let’s explore Pacific Gold even further.
Design and Audio
Even though the game invents its mystery, it also leaves apparent hints to help you resolve it. For instance, while the world still has no clue about KS-17, the visuals depict its precise location in an ancient-mystical forest with waterfalls around. Perhaps the place is not accessible to everyone, but our protagonist Kane knows the way to reach places where others can’t.
The background score blends Mayan music, natural sounds, and the snippet of KS-17’s pilot final communication with San Diego airlines to create a mysterious aura.
Features
While Kane is off to unearth KS-17’s mystery, players can take advantage of multiple features in Pacific Gold.
Avalanche
Hitting a line-win removes winning symbols from the reels to make room for new ones in a process called the avalanche. After each avalanche, an extra row joins the reels, with the maximum limit capped at 8 rows. Extended rows also increase the paylines maxing out at 262,144 winning ways.
Big Symbols
Symbols in Pacific Gold land in four sizes: 1×1 (Standard), 2×2 (Super), 3×3 (Mega), and 4×4 (Epic). Values of big symbols are equivalent to the quantity of positions they occupy of standard 1×1 symbols. For instance, mega symbols of 3×3 size are equivalent to 6 standard symbols. Moreover, empty positions beneath large symbols are replaced with 1×1 symbols of the identical instance.
Power Stacks
Power Stacks are 1×1 symbols representing 4 matching symbols. Power Stacks increment by +2 symbols for avalanches they are not included in.
Pacific Wave
It is a horizontally stacked symbol coming in 1×2 to 1×4 size. If there are empty positions beneath the stack, the Pacific Wave covers these blocks with 1×1-sized wild symbols. Note that Pacific Waves gets removed when part of an Avalanche win.
Ghost Box
When Ghost Boxes land, they collect all winning symbols from the reels. If the box contains bigger symbols, they are taken apart and collected as 1×1 symbols. The collection process continues until no new win occurs. After that, the Ghost Box discloses its content. Then symbols are laid down row wise, beginning with ones occurring most frequently in the Ghost Box. If the frequency of symbol types is the same, the one with the highest value gets distributed first. However, bonus symbols do not get added to the Ghost Box.
Free Drops
Hitting 3 to 6 bonus icons awards 10 to 25 free spins or free drops. In every free drop with a win, a row gets extended till 8 rows with the safety level enabled for each row. This implies that once extra rows appear, they do not reset until the bonus feature ends.
X-iter
If available in your region, X-iter allows you to purchase the features by paying the requisite fees:
- Pay 5x the stake to ensure a spin with an assured big symbol.
- Pay 10x the stake to ensure a spin with an assured Pacific Wave.
- Pay 25x the stake to ensure a spin with an assured Ghost Box.
- Pay 100x the stake to activate the bonus round.
- Pay 500x the stake to activate the bonus feature with a persistent Ghost Box.
Payouts
The slot’s paytable includes 12 pay symbols. 10 to A card royals sit at the lowest rung, offering 0.3x the stake for six matching ones. Next are four colorful logos that provide 1x the stake for hitting a six-of-a-kind winning combination. Finally, at the top are three masks and Kane, providing 2x to 5x the stake for lining up six identical symbols.
Theme
Pacific Gold is about a quest to find the whereabouts of a missing flight, KS-17. The hero in this adventure is also the protagonist of other Gold slots by ELK and goes by the name of Kane.
Volatility
Pacific Gold is a highly volatile slot, which implies you might have to face a dry spell before a big win breaks out.
About the Game Provider
ELK Studios is a major game provider and has been an integral part of the igaming industry since 2013. The company is known for supplying mobile-first content to its large number of partners and operators globally. Strong math and beautiful slot design have always been a focus of ELK Studios, which has earned the company immense success among players in online casinos and top crypto-gambling platforms.
Final Considerations
Despite using some basic features and numbers, Pacific Gold lives up to its charms by bringing creative segments to the fore. The slot’s highlighting aspects are its Ghost Boxes and Pacific Waves, which can help you net some huge wins. Once again, the primary downside rests with the slot’s underwhelming RTP of 95%, an issue that frequently gets repeated in ELK Studios. Also, the pay symbols are plenty in number but do not pay in plenty. Therefore, to bring the best out of them, you’ll need to take help from a handful of features.
Other Slots by ELK Studios
- Propaganda
- Nitropolis 3
- Cygnus 2
Summary
Our Pacific Gold review dissects the slot’s payouts, variance, theme, features, etc. If you have any queries regarding the slot, let us know via the comments box below. We’ll be happy to assist you.
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