About Wild Wild Riches
Regular readers of The Slot Buzz will know that slots veterans Pragmatic Play have just delivered their first branded slot in the UK, Peaky Blinders, based on the popular TV drama. It received mixed reviews due to it’s somewhat limited feature-list and low top payout despite making good use of the show’s narrative. But now with Wild Wild Riches they are back on familiar territory with the latest in a long line of Irish themed slots. This new offering looks great with its bright colours, cartoonish graphics and happy-go-lucky atmosphere, including a beautiful landscape background with rolling hills, blue skies and a rainbow.
The 5 reels are laid out in an interesting fashion with varying rows per reel in a 3,3,5,5,5 set up. Another twist is you have 576 ways to win instead of the normal paylines, so to achieve a payout you need to land 3 matching symbols on any row running from left to right.
Despite its light-hearted appearance, Wild Wild Riches gives a bumpy ride due to its high volatility, which means this makes for some risky gaming sessions. The payouts don’t come often, but when they do they could be huge, so this playing style will suit higher rollers and players who love risky slots play.
The Wilds play a big part in this game, as the title suggests, and these can help you on your way to the top award of 4,600x stake.
Symbols and Paytable
The symbols in Wild Wild Riches include a pint of stout, Leprechaun’s pipe, pot of gold, Celtic harp, toadstool and horseshoe. Other symbols in play are the colourful card suits, which look like precious gems outlined in gold. Despite the heavy Irish theme, no Leprechauns appear in the game, although you will find their top hats lying around!
The best-paying symbol is the pint of beer, which awards 8x your bet for 5 matches. The other symbols pay from 0.8x for 5 matching toadstools to 4x your bet for 5 matching Celtic harps. The card suits pay the lower rewards from 0.4x to 0.6x your bet.
The multi-coloured Celtic symbol is the Wild and this can appear on the first 2 reels to substitute and create more winning combinations.Â
Gameplay and Features
Pots of Gold
Pots of Gold appear on reels 3, 4 and 5 to award 1x to 25x your bet. On reel 5 you’ll find special symbols that can trigger a bonus feature if they land in combination with the Pots of Gold.
Jackpots
The Mini, Major and Mega Jackpots award 50x, 100x and 500x stake respectively. If you land Wilds on reels 1 and 2, Pots of Gold on reels 3 and 4, and a Jackpot symbol on reel 5 you’ll receive the relevant Jackpot prize.
Multipliers
The game has 2x, 3x and 5x Multipliers landing on reel 5. You need to hit Wilds on reels 1 and 2, Pots of Gold on reels 3 and 4, plus a Multiplier on reel 5 to receive a Multiplier reward.
Free Spins
If you land Wilds on reels 1 and 2 and a Bonus symbol on reel 3, you’ll receive re-triggerable 10 Free Spins with extra Wilds and Pots of Gold.
Ante Bet
If you place an Ante Bet of 20% extra on top of your base bet, you’ll receive extra Wilds on reels 1 and 2 to double your chance of triggering a feature.
Our Verdict
Wild Wild Riches makes the most of a tried-and-tested theme, albeit without the standard leprechaun character running around, which is quite a feat. The scenic background is idyllic and the atmosphere cartoonishly cheerful, so it’s impossible to have a spin on this without feeling a bit jolly. Pleasantness aside, Pragmatic Play does a good job of adding intrigue with its eccentric reel setup, which boosts your chances of hitting a bonus symbol. The 576 ways to win mechanic is a welcome change to the standard paylines, although you’d have to play a lot of expensive spins to find out how much of a difference the Ante Bet feature makes in practice. The Pots of Gold hold the key to making this game pay and the glittering pots do appear with some frequency to trigger the bonuses. All in all, Wild Wild Riches is a playful Irish slot with some interesting quirks that raise it above others in this overused genre.
