Gold Rush with Johnny Cash

Gold Rush with Johnny Cash Overview

Although this game might have the legendary Johnny Cash’s name all over it, it is themed more around the California gold rush rather than the country and western star. What you think of this will probably be determined by your opinions of Johnny Cash and his music. Either way, this is a fun western-style slot that has plenty of exciting gaming layers on offer, as well as a decent top-end prize that will tempt most players to check this game out. As with most games these days, Gold Rush with Johnny Cash is available across platforms, including tablet, mobile and desktop.

The features for this game begin with the Johnny Cash wild which can substitute for other symbols in the game to help form wins (it cannot fill in for scatters or coin symbols). The next feature is a classic free spin round, triggered by landing three or more scatters on the reels at the same time. This awards ten free spins. This feature can also be retriggered by landing additional scatters. Finally, there is the Gold re-spin feature, triggered when six or more coin symbols land on the reels at the same time. This is a classic hold and win re-spin game which we will explain in greater detail later in the review.

Theme and Symbols

Gold Rush with Johnny Cash is aesthetically inspired by the California gold rush of 1848 to 1855. People came from miles away to find their fortune in these huge new gold fields, with some making fortunes that have been passed on for generations. On the screen, players will see all the normal mining paraphernalia, including pickaxes, mining carts and gas lamps. All this action is punctuated by an anthropomorphised cactus with a moustache and Stetson. He presumably is Johnny Cash, although he should be called Johnny Cactus.
The background for this game is the hot desert area in which the majority of the mining took place. If we are saying that this game was inspired by the California gold rush, then the setting we can see here is a representation of one of two famous areas – the Northern Californian Gold Fields or the Sierra Nevada Goldfields, both known for their arid climate and baking heat. This is why all we can see behind the reels is an expanse of sand and rock, bleached by the perennial sun’s powerful blast.

The playing board for this game has been designed to represent a mine entrance with wooden buttresses.
The symbols here are split into low-value, high-value and special symbols. The low-value symbols here are the J, Q, K and A in playing card royals. The most valuable of these is the A, worth 2x the stake for the top combination. The more valuable symbols on the other hand are the pickaxe, the lamp, the bag of gold and the mining cart. The cart is the most valuable of these paying out at 20x the stake for the top combination. The specials involved in this game are the green gem collect icon, the TNT scatter, and the Johnny Cash cactus wild.

Game Play

Gold Rush with Johnny Cash is played on a 5-reel, 3-row machine with 25 fixed pay lines. To win combinations, players must land three or more matching symbols on pay lines moving from left to right, starting from the leftmost reel.

The betting range for Gold Rush with Johnny Cash is 10p to £40 per spin. To adjust their bet levels, players can toggle their stake up and down using the tool located at the bottom left-hand side of the screen.
Further information, including a short tutorial and a display of the paytable, can be found via the menu button in the right-hand corner of the screen. The spin and auto spin buttons are located in the centre of the screen.
Volatility for this slot is rated in the very high range. The return to player percentage for Gold Rush with Johnny Cash is 96.08%, which is above average. The biggest payout that players can win on one spin is 5,820x your stake.

Features

The first feature included in this game is the wild symbol bonus. This is the Johnny Cash cactus symbol. It can substitute for any other symbol on the board apart from the scatter and coin symbol to help form more wins.
The next feature is the free spins round triggered by landing three or more of the scatter icons on the reels at the same time. This will result in ten free spins. These free spins will take place only with high-value symbols, increasing the overall value of the spins.
The final feature is called the Gold Re-spin feature. It is activated when six or more coin symbols land on the reels at the same time. The bonus will then start with all coin symbols becoming sticky and six re-spins being awarded. You can add spins by landing dynamite symbols (scatters), each one of which will add one more re-spin.
If a green coin lands, it will collect the sum of all the gold coins on the board and pay them out. Finally, if you manage to fill the entire board with coins, a jackpot bonus amount of 5,000x the stake will be paid out to you.

Conclusion

Although not quite as potentially lucrative as the real gold rush of the 18th century, this game does at least offer a great top prize and an RTP that could see wins becoming pretty frequent. The features here are also fairly generous and offer fun extra layers of gaming that create a more varied experience.