Rainbow Riches

We still recall a conversation we had with a friend of ours. He asked us if Rainbow Riches was worth playing, and our response was immediately: which one? In our Book of Ra review, we picked on Novomatic for re-releasing one game over and over again.

And here’s Barcrest casually doing the same, hoping we won’t notice! Today, we review the original release, which came out in 2009.

Rainbow Riches Slot Review

This slot is played on a five reel board, where each reel is three symbols tall. Players have access to a total of 20 paylines, which can be turned on or off at will. To win, simply collect three or more identical icons in adjacent positions, starting with the leftmost reel. All wins must follow one of the currently active paylines, or else the cash prize won’t be awarded to the online gambler.

Rainbow Riches shows that even basic special features can be a lot of fun! Their approach is to add several bonuses, and have them appear semi-frequently. The three special features are Road to Riches, Wishing Well and Pots of Gold. All of them are easy to trigger, and are quite fast to finish. Which opens the path to quickly win the next bonus… and so it goes!

Theme & Symbols

If you’re looking for an elaborate theme, we’re afraid you’re looking at the wrong slot. It’s supposed to be inspired by Irish mythology. You’ve got the leprechauns, rainbows and pots of gold, for example. But it takes a very laissez faire approach to the theme, since nothing else reminds us of Ireland. Well, except for the background. Kind of.

We’re baffled as to why Barcrest thought applying a purple filter to the background was a good idea. Our best guess that it was done on purpose to make the rainbow stand out more. But it’s a rainbow. It’ll stand out no matter what! We’d have preferred natural colors to whatever this is supposed to be.

Symbol designs are equally disappointing. The only Irish themed icons are special symbols, which are used to trigger bonuses. Everything else is incredibly generic. There are some attempts to make the playing card royals fit. But those decorations are minor, and hardly solve the lack of Irish themed symbols on the playing field.

How to Play Rainbow Riches

The game is played on a 5×3 board with 20 flexible paylines. It has a medium volatility, and a jackpot worth 500x your total bet on each spin. We expected the special features to allow us to reach past that maximum win, but no dice. No matter if you win it by getting a full screen of Wilds or by triggering a bonus, your jackpot doesn’t change.

Special features keep themselves short and sweet. They appear, grant their cash prize, and vanish until they’re called upon once more! Most of the time, you’ll get a small or a semi-decent win. Every now and then, you get a satisfying prize. And for the most dedicated players, the jackpot awaits! All three bonuses are different from each other, but none of them are particularly engaging. They’re just there.

To choose your total bet, adjust the number of available paylines and the coin value up or down. To do so, click the plus or minus arrows, until the wager is resting on a sum you’re comfortably staking! Gamblers can bet between €0.20 and €500 on each spin. This is an amazing wager spread, which will please both high rollers and casual players!

Bonus Features

There’s three special features, and they’re all triggered in the same way. The only difference is in their gameplay, and the icons you use to activate them.

• Road to Riches

Once this special feature is triggered, gamblers get to spin a bonus wheel. The wheel can land on a number, or the Collect symbol. Landing on a number grants a cash prize, and lets you spin the wheel again. This continues until players land on the Collect icon.

• Wishing Well

Collect three Wishing Well Scatters to start this special feature. This is a pick-and-click bonus, so just choose one of the wells to win a cash prize. Said cash prize can be anywhere between 2x to 500x.

• Pots of Gold

Three Scattered Pots of Gold in the middle three reels activates this special feature. Gold, silver and bronze pots spin on the screen. When they stop, the arrow will point to one of the pots. Each pot has a value between 50x to 500x. The value of the selected pot will be added to your balance.

Rainbow Riches Payouts

Rainbow Riches has a medium volatility, and a jackpot worth 500x your total bet on each spin. The slot’s RTP is 95%, which is one percentage point below the current industry average.