Rainbow Riches Slot Review

UK’s Barcrest is a gaming pioneer that often goes unrecognized in today’s online industry. When we say pioneer, we mean in the sphere as a whole, including its offline segment. The company came into existence in 1968, quickly establishing itself as a leading name in the Bingo and Arcade sector. It was one of the most popular manufacturers of fruit machines for the UK leisure industry for many years, and its ownership changed hands from the US’s IGT to the Scientific Games Corporation in 2010.

So why discuss this provider’s online slots if its reputation mainly lies in the brick-and-mortar side of things? It is because they are responsible for one of the most played digital reel-spinners ever, Rainbow Riches. Released in May of 2009, this title has managed to maintain its popularity for over a decade. In the past few years, it is a perpetual top-five game. That seems unlikely to change any time soon. Thus, this is an ideal time to give it a look.

Theme & Design

The theme here is Irish folklore. Its most popular creature, the leprechaun, is described as a diminutive fairy, dressed in all green, with supernatural abilities, guarding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Hence, the name of this game. The gold part of this mythology comes from a famous Irish tale. In it, a farmer couple accidentally manages to capture a leprechaun. Since he becomes their prisoner, he tells them that he will grant them a wish in exchange for his freedom. The couple cannot decide on a single wish. Thus, they start rattling off items that they desire. The leprechaun interrupts them and tells them that they can have all that or retrieve his pot of gold hidden at the end of a nearby rainbow. Fueled by greed, the couple decides to chase after the fictitious fortune. So, technically, according to the story, there is no pot of gold, but that hasn’t stopped slot developers from churning out games that use this motif.

The visuals here are par for the course for titles that came out during this period. In all honesty, they are a bit hard to take in. Rainbow Riches is a 2D game that features vibrant contrasting colors and an outdated button design. The bonus features include 3D models. The reels spin in front of a barren landscape at dusk, which boasts a very saturated rainbow. There is no music in the base game, only sound effects. You get treated to a tune in the bonus features, and when you land a win.

An ornamented golden frame featuring an interwoven pattern contains all the reel-spinning action here. Under it is the buttons panel. You have your spin one on the rights side and the auto-spin and settings options on your left. In the middle, you will find your bet/payline adjusters as well as your wager/win info.

Specs & Gameplay

Rainbow Riches is a five-reel, three-row spinner with twenty paylines. It is a medium variance game, with a below-average RTP of 96%. Bet sizes here range from a penny to a whopping $500. The max bet on a payline is $25, and the game’s maximum win potential is x500 your stake. So, that is $250,000. Wins here happen when you land three or more identical symbols on a line.

The low-paying symbols here are your classic A-10 card royals. For five-of-a-kind, these royals payout prizes ranging from x5 to x7.5 your bet. The rest of the symbols are specialty ones. These are the leprechaun, a well, and a pot of gold. Plus, there’s a golden coin which is the Wild, substituting only the low-paying tokens. The game’s logo is a high-paying symbol. It will give you a win of x12.5 for five-of-a-kind. While landing five golden coins will yield a reward of x25.

Bonus Features

There is no Free Spins Round in Rainbow Riches. Instead, you get three other bonus modes here. Landing three or more Leprechauns gets you entry into the Road to Riches feature. When this happens, the game moves to a second game screen, featuring a road full of multipliers and a wheel of fortune. The wheel contains numbers one to six and two collect positions. You spin it, and each time it lands on a number, you move that many steps down the road, increasing your multiplier amount. If the wheel lands on the collect position, the feature ends.

Hitting three or more wells will activate the Wishing Well feature. In it, you get to pick one of three wells, with each one containing a random multiplier. Three pots of gold (only landing on reels two, three, and four) trigger the Pots of Gold feature. Once this happens, you will see the leprechaun sitting in a field with twelve pots spinning around his head. The one that stops above an arrow will reveal a multiplier that gets added to your stake.

GOSU Verdict

Ah, this is an old-school title. We assume its popularity stems from it getting featured in the UK market on big-brand gambling platforms. The slot itself is super-dated and boring. There is nothing more that we can say here. It is cool that it has three bonus features, its max win potential is acceptable, and we rarely see a reel-spinner that accepts a $500 wager. Those are a few nice things we can say about it. Other than that, this game fails to impress in 2021. We suggest you stay away unless you are a UK resident or you feel nostalgic and want to revisit this game for whatever reason.