Goldbird Slots
Gold keys, gold feathers, jewelled eggs and an eagle made from precious metals are the shiny symbols found in the Goldbird video slot from Merkur. Now, we’re no ornithology experts, but birds are usually lightweight creatures and one made from gold isn’t going to get very far. But does this slot machine fly high, or come down to earth with a thud? Read on and we shall find out.
It’s a classic five-reel slot, where 10 paylines run from left to right and right to left. Prizes are won when matching symbols run across at least three reels on a payline, starting from either side. The head of this magnificent bird acts as any other symbol if it can then complete a winning combination, while anytime it’s seen, the reel it has landed on locks in place, while others spin once more for free.
Like most slot games from the Merkur company, Goldbird lets you gamble winnings, which is a way of boosting the value of a prize, or if it all goes wrong, losing it entirely. That’s why they call it a gamble. Merkur is one of the biggest names in the land-based and online casinos business, having been developing slots and more since the 1950’s. Although the games from this German company might not have the latest in state-of-the-art graphics, they usually come with some interesting features, and are all licensed by multiple gambling jurisdictions to ensure fair play.
Goldbird is a good example of their range, where relatively simple design features are coupled with high returns, along with an interesting set of bonuses and the option to gamble winnings. Free Goldbrid video slots can be tried out before playing for real cash stakes, but if you want to win some money, just 0.10 is needed to get started.
Feather Your Nest
There’s nothing overly complicated about the looks of Goldbird. Plain reels are set against a flaming red backdrop and the simple control buttons that are standard across the Merkur range sit below. Hidden away at the top of the screen is a ‘$’ symbol that opens up the paytable and it’s here that you can check out what each combination of symbols will pay out.
Standard J, Q, K and A icons fill out the lower-value end, but they will tend to be seen more frequently than high-paying symbols. These more valuable images include the crossed keys, which return prizes of ten times the per line stake when landing on three reels across a payline, with four being worth 25x and full set of five returning 100x.
The green and gold egg is worth the same as the keys, while the gold feather pays 25x, 100x, or 250x. The top symbol is a stylish red and gold emblem of a bird. This is worth prizes of 50x, 250x and 500x your line stake when landing on three, four, or all five reels. The head of our golden eagle will act as any other to complete extra combinations for you but isn’t actually worth anything on its own.
Reel Respins for Extra Rewards
Whichever reel or reels this wild symbol lands on will stay locked in place while other spin once again. Although it’s by no means certain, this could easily see more wilds appearing, or new symbols that create more winning combinations.
This happens whether the initial spin was a winning one or not, although the feature doesn’t repeat if the reel respin sees more wilds appearing.
An Optional Gamble Game
There’s two ways that you can try and gamble winnings if you feel lucky. There’s a classic guessing game where you double the win by correctly guessing if a playing card will be from a red or black suit. If you get it right, there’s the option to collect the prize or go again, doubling it until the gamble high limit is reached. A wrong pick will, of course, lose the round.
The Ladder gamble pays out if you time a click correctly as win values flash on and off. Get it right and you can keep going, trying to climb your way up the ladder to the prize at the top. Time it wrongly and you won’t necessarily lose everything, as you could just move down the ladder, giving you the chance to rescue the situation. It’s a fun option that takes a bit of skill and judgement.
Place Your Wagers
High rollers might want to look away now, as the maximum wager in this game is set at just 20.00 per spin. You choose your bet level from eight options, and most punters will find something to suit their budgets. Goldbird has a long-term average return to player percentage of 96.35%, which is quite generous and gives you a great chance to claim plenty of prizes.
More Feathered Friends
Feathers could fly when you load up the Birds of Fury video slot from Realtime Gaming. If you have ever played Angry Birds, you will be instantly familiar with some of the symbols, although it can catapult you to some high-paying spins when some of the features are triggered. A wild yellow bird and the game logo are special icons, with extra wins or free spins with multipliers triggered by each of these colorful symbols. Extra wild symbols can appear after any spin, while random multipliers can be applied to any win, and if three eggs appear, you click one to reveal an instant coin prize.
Toucans, parrots and other richly-colored birds will be seen across the Lucky Birds video slot that comes from the studios of Playson. Toucans give you two times the basic win values when this wild symbol helps to complete a combination. Even more valuable free spins will award prizes that are tripled from their base game levels.
The Verdict
With the exception of a maximum wager that’s set way too low, the Goldbird video slot is a quality game which comes with features that have been seen before but have been proven to be reliable and popular. Reel spins with sticky wild symbols can see lots of extra winning combinations being created for you.
The gamble features are an exciting option for some punters, but because it can be hard to get very far without losing the round, perhaps you should make a single guess and collect the win, or just play with smaller prizes.
Check it out at Merkur online and mobile optimised casinos and you could soon be flying high with the Goldbird slot game.
