Outback Gold: Hold and Win

Outback Gold: Hold and Win Overview

iSoftBet, for their newest game, are taking players to the Australian outback in search of gold. Interestingly, as of 2018-2019, Australia is the second-largest producer of gold in the world, just behind the mammoth of production that is China. Thus, this is a very accurate theme for this game. Joining a long line of Hold and Win games, Outback Gold cynics will say is just another game of the same design in a different skin.

To disguise this, the designers have created an extra feature in the lightning modifier feature that you will see here. If you like high-quality games with Hold and Win at their centre, you’ll love this one.

The features for Outback Gold: Hold and Win, as briefly alluded to, are not overly numerous, but the features that have been involved are worth triggering. These begin with the lightning modifier feature. When lightning strikes the playing window (entirely at random), this feature will trigger. This can mean an instant cash win, the triggering of the Hold and Win feature or even a symbol transformation, turning gold coins into platinum ones. The other feature is the Hold and Win bonus, which we will explain later in the review.

Theme and Symbols

The theme for this game, as you can probably tell, is the outback of Australia. This means Kangaroos, Bearded Lizards, Parrots and Boomerangs. The outback is described as a remote and incredibly vast area of Australia. However, the outback is not a specific region but rather the name given to any area that is not yet urbanised or heavily populated. It has a similar meaning to the countryside but with a much larger area being referenced. The outback is a powerful and deeply rooted part of Australian culture both in terms of the native population and the European settlers that colonised the country.

The background for this game is a depiction of the said outback. In the foreground, you have the sandy coloured grasses that dominate a large percentage of the legendary area. In the mid-ground are a range of shrubs and tough-looking bushes that look used to the arid climate of the Australian wilderness. Further into the background are a few large hills or even mountains, typical of some parts, especially Western and central Australia. This whole scene is composed underneath a cloudy sky which, uncharacteristically of Australia, portends rain.

The playing board for this game is a simple yellow rectangle with a plain white interior that frames the symbols in an effective and clear format.

The symbols for this slot game are split into low-value, high-value and special symbols. The low-value symbols are the J to A in card royals, decorated with Australian patterns and objects such as the iconic didgeridoo and the boomerang. These symbols are joined by four more valuable symbols - the Kangaroo, the Parrot, the Bearded Dragon, and the incongruous Camel, oddly enough. The Parrot is the most valuable of these, paying out at 16x the stake for the top combination. On the other hand, the specials comprise the wild (which always lands fully stacked) and the gold and platinum coins which have relevance to the hold and win feature.

Game Play

Outback Gold: Hold and Win is played on a 5-reel, 5-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 Outback Gold: Hold and Win is 25p to £25 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 medium range. The return to player percentage for Outback Gold: Hold and Win is 96%, which is about average. The biggest payout that players can win on one spin is 5,000x your stake.

Features

The first feature included in this game is what is called the Lightning Modifier feature. It is triggered at random when a fork of lightning strikes the playing board. When this happens, one of a variety of modifiers will be applied. One of these is that you will be immediately rewarded with a one-time cash bonus, and another is that you will be given access to the Hold and Win feature. The final one is that the gold coins on the board will all transform into platinum coins, which helps to bring multipliers into the Hold and Win bonus.

The other feature in this game, as we have constantly referenced, is the Hold and Win bonus. This feature is triggered when the player lands five or more gold or platinum coins on the reels at once.

Once triggered, the coins on the reels are frozen to their positions, and three re-spins are awarded to the player. This special round takes place on a new gameboard that is made up of blanks, gold coins, platinum coins and jackpot coins.
This game also comes with a multiplier, which at the beginning of the round starts at 1x. However, this starting multiplier can be boosted depending on the number of platinum coins that are on the reels when the feature is triggered.
When players have exhausted their re-spins, the value of each coin is combined and then boosted by whatever multiplier is in play. This amount is then paid out to you in one lump sum.

However, you can win even bigger prizes if you land one of the three jackpots that depend on landing jackpot coins. The size of the jackpot depends on the type of coins that you land. The three different jackpots are explained below:

Mega Jackpot =1,000x stake
Major Jackpot = 200x stake
Mini Jackpot= 20x stake

Conclusion

Your love for this game will most assuredly be coloured by your opinion of the Hold and Win mechanic. If you are a fan, then you will probably enjoy this slot. However, if the Hold and Win thing isn’t for you, there isn’t much else here that would keep you entertained. That being said, the theme is nicely finished, and the wins aren’t too small in size.