Cities of Gold Slot
Although the Aztec Empire only lasted between the 14th and 16th centuries, their cities can still be seen, and the tales of wealth and riches have long outlasted the civilisation. Among the many slot machines themed around the Aztecs, we now have Cities of Gold, from Blueprint Gaming, which sets the five reels and 20 lines against the carved stonework of temples and jungle vines that most slots of this type seem to feature.
The stone walls and columns of the city fame the reels beautifully, with small fires and lines of decorative gold dividing the reels. Piles of gold fill the streets of this ancient city, with precious jewels sparkling amongst them to add even more color. You might not actually get real gold coming out of this game, but the next best thing is cash in your casino account and with a huge top reward of 1,000x your stake, that can be a whole lot of cash.
As well as the potential to grab some huge prizes, you can also be rewarded with a special free spins round, which brings a mysterious wheel that’s seen above the main game into action. We won’t reveal the mystery of this Aztec artefact just yet, but all will be explained soon. It’s just one of the innovative ideas that comes out of the Oxfordshire studio of Blueprint Gaming. This company has been around for a while, but their range of slots is rapidly expanding and includes a number of hugely popular games based on cultural icons such as Spinal Tap, cartoon characters like Andy Capp and foul-mouthed children’s toys, such as Ted.
Aztec Icons
Although you can practice play on free Cities of Gold video slots, it’s available for real cash spins at the growing number of reliable online casinos which feature games and software from this popular developer. Whether playing for free or for cash prizes, you can’t help but be impressed by the visuals of this game. The colorful playing card symbols are decorated in an Aztec style and the higher prizes are claimed when masks, gold jewellery or bags of precious stones are seen.
Land the coins symbol right across a payline to collect a prize worth 25x the total stake, or the totem for a reward equal to 50x. The best payouts are yours when the wild symbol appears. Not only will this be able to substitute for others to complete combinations, but when it fills a line without substituting, you win 1,000x the amount wagered per spin.
Hopping to a Free Spins Round
A cartoon frog doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the theme, but not to worry, as any three or more examples of this cute creature, in any places, will take you to a free spins bonus feature. This is where the mysterious wheel comes into play.
The wheel has a series of numbers around it and before the feature begins, it spins to reveal how many free games will then play out. You could get 23 bonus games or be unlucky and have just 14 awarded.
Once the round has finished, it spins again, this time revealing a multiplier that will applied to any wins that were claimed during the bonus games. Once again, you could strike gold and have all wins multiplied by ten times over, or if fortune is not on your side, just have them paid out at the base rate.
Fun, Fair and Flexible Gaming
The Cities of Gold video slot has a high return to player percentage set at 95.98%, which ensures that over the long term, you will receive this amount back as winnings. Like all games from this developer, it’s fully licensed for fair play by the UKGC and independently audited. It can also be played on a variety of platforms including desktop PC’s, Macs, iPhones, iPads, Android and Windows mobile devices.
Betting Options
Just 0.20 is needed to get the reels spinning for real cash prizes. All lines are active by default, so you can’t just play a few of them, but this is never a great idea anyway, as you could see a huge win on an inactive line and not qualify for it. The maximum bet per spin is set at 100.00, which may put off a few high rollers but should be more than enough for most of us.
Other options that are controlled from the command buttons are the autospins and the soundtrack. Autospins leave you free to sit back and watch the game play out on its own, stopping if a feature is triggered, or when you reach any win or loss limits that are set before they are activated. The soundtrack is a pleasing enough tune that compliments the Aztec topic, although if you are playing in public, on the mobile optimised version of the game, perhaps it’s best to lower the volume.
More Aztec-Themed Games
Although you can find a wide range of online casino slots themed around Aztec civilisation, arguably one of the oldest is also one of the best. Aztecs Millions, from Realtime Gaming has some pretty basic symbols, which in part is due to the game being first released in the early 2000’s, but makes up for this with some impressive features, notably a multi-million Dollar progressive jackpot. You can win this massive jackpot at the end of any random spin, but it’s not the only thing that appeals here. Free games with multipliers that are based on the number of golden idols in view when they are triggered, plus a valuable wild symbol, should help players to grab at least a little bit of Aztec riches in this five-reel, 25-line game.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, in terms of visuals at least, we have the advanced 3D graphics of Indiana’s Quest, a slot inspired the adventures of a certain Dr Jones. Five reels and 20 paylines are filled with head carvings and whenever they match up to form a winning combination, the symbols in the win will disappear, with new ones dropping down to fill the void. This cascading reels system repeats if another combo is formed, but the prize will now be doubled and the multipliers increase if the sequence of cascades continues.
Spin Your way to an Aztec Adventure
Although the Aztec theme is seen on a huge number of slot games, it’s popular with punters for some very good reasons. Lots of shiny gold, decorative ornaments and patterned symbols can be added to the reels, which makes these games great to look at.
Fortunately, Cities of Gold has more to it than just good looks, as the beauty runs through to the way it plays out. Standard winning combinations pay some decent prizes, but this game really comes alive with the free spins feature and that bonus wheel which appears above the game when they are triggered.
Spinning up a number of bonus games and then a multiplier at the end of them is a fairly simple concept, but like all the best ideas, it works well. A number of Blueprint Gaming slots come with a huge range of extra features, (check out their Austin Powers video slot to see just how many bonuses can be packed into a single game), but Cities of Gold keeps it nice and simple.
