If there is one creature from folklore tales that evokes associations with immense hidden riches, it must be the tiny leprechaun. This is a small trickster fairy from Irish folklore that mends shoes and is believed to own a hidden pot of golden coins.
What better character to incorporate into a slot, right? This is precisely what slot manufacturer Barcrest did with their Rainbow Riches game. The slot derives its name from the superstition that the mischievous creature usually hides its pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.
Rainbow Riches gives off old-school vibes which makes sense since it was launched online in 2013. The game features 5 reels with 20 adjustable paylines. This is a video slot that has managed to retain some elements from the classic fruit machines.
The symbols are rather cartoonish but Rainbow Riches compensates with several nice extra features that increase its winning potential, including wilds and scatter symbols that trigger three different bonuses.
| Rainbow Riches Slot Summary | |
|---|---|
| Software Provider | Barcrest |
| Payline Number | 20 adjustable paylines |
| RTP | 95% (medium volatility) |
| Minimum Bet | $0.20 |
| Maximum Bet | $500 |
| Wild Symbols | The gold coin is wild and subs for all icons bar the scatter symbols |
| Scatter Symbols | Scattered symbols are represented by a leprechaun, a well, and a pot of gold coins |
| Bonus Features | Pots of Gold, Wishing Well, and Road to Riches multipliers |
| Jackpot | 200,000 coins |
Symbols and Winning Combinations of Rainbow Riches Slot
Rainbow Riches features a 5×3 symbol grid with 20 adjustable paylines. We recommend you refrain from deactivating any win lines, though, because this will decrease your chances of landing paying combinations.
In case of budget restrictions, it would be best to play all paylines at the lowest coin denomination. The minimum bet is only $0.20 which makes the game suitable for most players in our opinion. The reels rotate within an ornately decorated frame that sits on top of a purplish background with a rainbow.
The paying symbols in the base game are a bit boring because all of them consist of the card initials all reel spinners are acquainted with. One exception is the wild golden coin with the leprechaun image. It offers the highest value in this Barcrest slot, returning 25x your line bet. The Rainbow Riches logo gives you 12.5x your bet per line.
Five of a kind with Aces or Kings offers you a reward of 7.5x the line bet. The Queens, Jacks, and 10s pay less for five matches – you get only 5x the amount you stake on a winning line. Regardless of the combination, you need a minimum of three alike card-initial symbols to pocket a payout.
The wild and the Rainbow Riches logo pay for as little as two matches. The identical symbols must align from left to right on the reels to award a prize.
Bonus Features of Rainbow Riches Slot
Visually, Rainbow Riches attempts to replicate the experience you get when playing Barcrest’s original landbased machine of the same name. This partially explains the outdated feel of the graphics.
The online version features a wild substitution symbol shaped like a golden coin with the image of a leprechaun minted in the middle. This one replaces all symbols bar the scatters in Rainbow Riches. The scatters in question are your key to triggering the three exciting bonuses incorporated into the gameplay.
The first scatter is the Road to Riches symbol with the grinning leprechaun. You need three or more leprechauns in view to trigger the bonus. In this bonus game, there is a road paved with increasingly higher multipliers.
The leprechaun would spin a wheel containing different numbers (1 to 6) or the word “collect”. A spun number moves you the respective number of steps on the multiplier road. The leprechaun continues to spin the wheel until you hit the “collect” grid and terminate the feature. Here we saw multipliers of up to 175x your base bet.
Three or more scattered wells in any position trigger the Wishing Well feature. All you have to do is click on one of the three triggering well symbols and you will pick the stake multiplier it contains.
Finally, there is the Pots of Gold scatter that activates the eponymous feature. To get there, you need three such scatters to hit reels 2, 3, and 4 on the same spin. The game takes you to a field where you have a leprechaun with pots of gold above his head. The pots are spun and the one that ends up above the arrow in the lower part of the screen contains your multiplier prize.
Verdict
Rainbow Riches may look visually outdated but is still deserving of a spin or two. With three distinct bonus features, the game keeps players occupied and offers a more engaging spinning experience. Try it and if you like it, we suggest to check its more modern version that uses the Megaways mechanic.