Caribbean Gold

The Pirates of the Caribbean film popped into my head when I was trawling through the most popular slots each month and the WGS Technology slot Caribbean Gold stuck out from the list of games that I hadn't yet had a chance to look at.

With it being a new entry into the top five for that company, I decided that this was as good a time as any to see what the slot had to offer. So with that I strapped on an eye patch, popped a parrot on my shoulder, grabbed my cutlass and I'm now ready to do battle, so let's see what buried treasure lies beneath this popular slot game.

Overview

• Game: Caribbean Gold
• Developer: WGS Technology
• Reels: 5x3
• Pay Lines: 25 (selectable)
• Minimum Bet: 0.01
• Maximum Bet: 250.00
• Jackpot: 3000 coins
• Free Spins Bonus: Yes
• Other Bonuses: Yes
• Progressive: No
• Volatility: Medium

Where can I play the Caribbean Gold slot?

If you want to play the Caribbean Gold slot then the best place to head to play this game and a number of others from the same company is Red Stag Casino. Part of the appeal is its relatively new starter bonus which is now available on the site and which means that when you make your first couple of deposits on the site, you could earn a massive bonus cash amount of up to $2,500.

That is not the only part of the bonus however as in addition to this, you will also receive up to 500 Free Spins which you can use to play on a number of top slots at Red Stag Casino, including some of the most popularly played slots every month.

Presentation

The presentation on the Caribbean Gold slot is somewhat unusual compared to other slots. The backdrop of the ship is a fitting choice but the backdrop is static and in truth, it isn't that exciting to look at. The reels are the same sandy brown color, and while the symbols are easy to differentiate, it doesn't make for the most exciting slot visually. The music is dramatic though, but it only plays when the reels are spinning and otherwise the game sits in silence until you play, which is not the best way to advertise what the game has to offer really.

What's on the reels?

There are twelve symbols on the reels and the lower value of these are the five playing card low symbols, which range from 10 through to the Ace and offer wins from 10 coins up to 250 coins for five aces across the reel.

The parrot is also a lower value symbol but this offers small wins of 2 coins for landing two parrots up to 100 coins for five across the reels.

There are four higher value symbols on the reels which offer a range or prize from 20 coins up to 1,500 coins. These include the Skull and Crossbones, a cannon, a chest filled with treasure and the pirate himself with a hat and black beard.

Wild features

The golden compass is the Wild symbol in the slot and this can appear on any line and it substitutes for all the standard symbols in the game but not the Scatter symbol. The more Wilds you land, then the more chance you have of a better value win.

If you can land multiple Wilds across the reels from the leftmost reel, then you can win the top prizes in the slot up to 3,000 coins for five Wilds across the reels. Even four Wilds will see you win the same amount as five of the highest paying standard symbol (the pirate).

Free Spins features

The Free Spins bonus is triggered when you land three or more of the Caribbean Gold Scatter symbols anywhere across the reels. When this occurs, you are then taken to a second screen. On it are 8 Treasure Chest symbols and you must select from these until you match two multiplier values that are the same.

That will be your multiplier for your 10 Free Spins which will begin after this selection process has been completed. Each time you win in Free Spins, then the multiplier you selected will be applied to your standard win to give you a chance of a much larger value prize.

You can also win a prize of between 2x and 50x your bet depending on how many scatters you land to trigger the Free Spins bonus round.

Other bonus features

The other bonus feature on the slot is the Sunken Treasure bonus game, which can be triggered at any time, on any spin in the base game. When triggered you are then taken to a map screen where you pick from 15 Caribbean Islands in order to try and locate the buried treasure. Find the buried treasure and you will win the amount of money shown. Each selection you make reveals either a cash prize, a shipwreck or a treasure chest, the latter of which is the bigger of the two cash prizes.

Once you have picked three shipwreck symbols the bonus will end and you will lose half the amount of cash you have collected so far in the game. However, you can choose to end the game at any point and walk away with what you have earned, which is a nice feature rather than forcing players to play through the entire bonus game and risk losing half of what they have won.

Best feature of the Caribbean Gold slot

There's no doubt that the best feature on the Caribbean Gold slot is the sheer number of bonuses that are available to play in the game. The fact that you have a Wild, Free Spins and a randomly triggered base game bonus, all of which can see you land a sizeable win. Of the bonuses the Free Spins is the more lucrative, but I feel it is the added attraction of a randomly triggered base game bonus which is the more exciting aspect of the slot as it means every spin could be a big winner, even if you don't land a win on the reels.

What does the Caribbean Gold slot lack?

For me there are just a couple of niggles with the Caribbean Gold slot which take away a little of the gloss of the game, rather than being anything major wrong with it. I think the music should play all the time, not just when the reels spin, the presentation is too static and could have been animated and there are too many very low value wins. I'd have liked to have seen a few more wins around your bet level. However, these are generally minor complaints in what is otherwise a decent and fun to play slot.

Conclusion

There's one or two slight niggles with the Caribbean Gold slot, the first being that the sound is absent when the slot isn't being played and the second is that everything on the slot is rather static and not the most dynamic. There's also a few too many lower value wins but these smaller niggles apart this is a fun slot to play from WGS Technology. The games' medium variance ensures a nice balance of wins, if you are patient and the fact that it is a slot packed with solid bonus features means that it is a game which will tick all the right boxes if you are a player that enjoys these particular parts of modern slot games.

Ratings

• Presentation: 13 / 20 - The setting of a pirate ship is a perfect choice for the Caribbean Gold game, but the backdrop is rather static. The reels are in the middle of the rigging on the boat and they are all the same sandy brown color. The graphics are simple and cartoon-styled and fit the theme nicely. The sound is decent but only plays when you spin the reels which does leave the atmosphere lacking sadly.
• Game-play: 14 / 20 - The game play on the Caribbean Gold slot is good fun. Wins are relatively regular and the fact that there is a randomly triggered bonus feature in the base game does keep things interesting when you are spinning in this part of the slot. The bonus features offer a chance at the bigger prizes and you do feel like you get a fair amount for your money on each spin. However, I would also add that the slot plays much better when playing maximum lines (all 25) than it does when betting on significantly fewer.
• Bonus Features: 16 / 20 - I think the best aspect of this slot is the number of bonus features available in the game. The Sunken Treasure bonus can be triggered after any spin in the game and is a nice selection game where you can earn some decent prizes. The Free Spins has a neat multiplier bonus feature before you start to set the multiplier and the fact that up to 3,000 coins is available to be won in the base game with the Wild symbol makes this a really decent slot in terms of bonus features.
• Entertainment Factor: 14 / 20 - The Caribbean Gold slot has neat presentation, a number of nice bonus features and a decent base game. It is fun to play and when played with all lines in play, even at the lowest coin levels, it still offers a challenge but one which offers a nice balance between risk and reward. Overall, this is a fun slot with the dramatic music playing on each spin likely to hold your interest and have you coming back for more.
• Play Value: 13 / 20 - Overall, this is a medium variance slot and as you would expect, that means that you do get a balance of wins. Many are lower value wins, some with very small 2 coin rewards, but the usual number is 10 coins, which is still less than half what you bet. However, these are interspersed with the occasional bigger value win which does make the slot more appealing as they tend to come along in fits and bursts.
• Overall 70 / 100 - Caribbean Gold is a decent slot from WGS Technology, the game is designed neatly and it has a solid line up of bonus features, all of which link in neatly with the pirate theme. I like the way that the designers have kept the pirate theme strong throughout the slot and especially in the bonus features. It could have perhaps been a little more dynamically presented, but this is a solid medium variance slot and it is easy to see why many people keep coming back to play the slot each month.

Good Luck!

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