Gonzo's Quest - A New All-Time Classic?

The Lowdown

Gonzo’s Quest begins as he stands next to the five by three reel grid, impatiently waiting for a successful spin. Those reels display just seven different regular symbols, human and animal faces carved onto different coloured stone blocks.

Your job is to spin those reels and try to match the symbols on one of the 20 valid paylines. The avalanche feature adds a different dimension to gameplay, and the game itself has been beautifully designed.

How to Play

Your first task is to select a bet amount of between 20 cents and £200. Choose carefully, as that is quite a difference. Matching three or more symbols on pay lines from the leftmost reel will result in a win.

Any blocks involved in a winning combination then disappear, and replacements tumble down from above. This avalanche feature means that players can go on a winning streak, assuming that further winning combinations are revealed.

What’s more, as you win successive avalanche reels games the multiplier increases from x1 to x2, x3 and finally x5.

Besides the regular symbols mentioned previously, there are wild symbols which can help to unlock winning combinations. These grey stone blocks feature a question mark upon them for ease of recognition.

Wilds can stand in for any of the seven regular game symbols. The top prize on offer from Gonzo’s Quest is the 2,500 payout if you can find 5 of the top value regular symbols on a winning payline.

Special Features

Gonzo is on a quest to locate the legendary City of Gold. We can glimpse a golden pyramid behind the reels in the moment before the next cluster of blocks tumbles into place. However, actually making it to the city is a far more difficult matter.

Engraved golden blocks are the scatter symbols in Gonzo’s Quest. It can be difficult to locate scatter symbols in most slot games, but Gonzo’s Quest is extra tricky.

This is because the three (or more) scatters must appear together on a payline, not spread randomly on the reels as is generally the case. Our team must have spun the reels close to a thousand times before we triggered a bonus round today.

When you do finally unlock the bonus spins round, it is time to reap the benefits and boost your bank balance with some golden loot. There is one difference between the regular game and the free spins round, and that is the fact that the avalanche multipliers are higher in the bonus round.

Your first win will be multiplied by three instead of just by one, and things get better from there on. Your second consecutive win is multiplied by six, third by nine and if you get four or more consecutive avalanches they will be multiplied by fifteen!

You only have ten free spins, but those avalanche wins can still help you to score lots of that golden treasure. It is also possible to re-trigger another ten free spins should you find the three scatter symbols on a payline again, but don’t hold your breath for that one!

Gaming Experience

Gonzo’s Quest was released by NetEnt back in 2010, but since then it has consistently remained one of the most popular slot games around. Go to any NetEnt casino and you will be sure to find this game prominently displayed in the slot games lobby.

The main reason for this is that it is just so much fun to play. A return to player of 96% is not especially great, so clearly there is more to this game than just the bald statistics.

First of all, from that opening intro the graphics and animations are of the highest quality. Add to this the atmospheric ‘pan pipes’ music which celebrates every win plus incidental sound effects, and the overall experience is fantastic.

However, the main reason for the success of this game is that addictive avalanche reels feature. Gonzo’s Quest was the first slot game to use this feature and despite having many imitators it remains the most popular to this day.

The top jackpot prize of 87,500 coins certainly helps to explain the lasting popularity of this title as well. From the storyline to the main character and the gaming mechanisms, Gonzo’s Quest is a winner from start to finish.

This game may be getting older but it shows no sign of losing its popularity among slot gamers. Join Gonzo on his quest and find out why this has become one of the all-time great online slot games.