Gold Bars & Rounds Scratch Cards
Nothing is more universally recognized as a signifier of wealth and prestige than gold. That has made gold – alongside other displays of wealth like diamonds and cash – a popular thematic element in the gaming world. Manage to find some coins or bars in a game, and you can be pretty sure you’re about to win a big prize.
That’s certainly the case in Gold Bars & Rounds, a new game from OMI Gaming. This scratch card title isn’t heavy on gameplay or strategy, but it does offer the one thing that counts for most players: the chance to win a big prize on every single play. And with prizes of up to 100,000 Swedish Kroner (SEK), this is one card that has the chance to change your life.
How to Play
Gold Bars & Rounds uses a pretty simple formula that you are familiar with if you’ve tried any other scratch cards before. The card in question features nine squares in a three by three grid, which at the start of the game form a large image of bars and coins. During the game, you’ll scratch away these segments, hoping to find three prizes of the same size. If you do, that prize is instantly awarded to you; if you don’t find any of these matches, your ticket is a loser.
At the start of the game, you’ll have to pay for your next card, which will cost you 10 SEK. There is also an option to purchase a free demo ticket if you want to see how the game plays out before you commit to spending any of your money. Of course, this demo does not allow you to win real money prizes.
If you choose to purchase a card, you’ll get the chance to physically make a scratching motion by clicking and then dragging your mouse pointer across each square. Once you’ve scratched enough of a given square, it will be fully revealed. Once you’ve completed your card, you’ll be able to see whether or not you’ve completed a winning combination. In either case, you’ll be given the option to either try again or exit the game after each purchase.
There are a variety of prize levels that you can potentially win while playing this game. At the lowest (and most common) end, you can win your money back with a 10 SEK prize. Many other amounts are possible, ranging up to a standard maximum of 9,990 SEK for the prizes that are simply displayed as numbers on the cards.
However, you may also unveil symbols that display one to three gold bars. These are the symbols that grant access to the game’s three largest rewards. The potential wins you can earn here are:
- Super (One Bar): 10,000 SEK
- Mega (Two Bars): 50,000 SEK
- Ultra (Three Bars): 100,000 SEK
There are also a number of special features that offer some ways to mix up the gameplay a bit. You’ll always have the option to turn off the slightly mysterious music if it bothers you, for instance. A swift play option makes the action quicker, by instantly revealing every card you buy rather than waiting for you to find out what’s hiding in each square. Finally, an auto scratch function allows you to instantly purchase up to 500 cards at once, all of which will play out with minimal delays (though you’ll still have the chance to stop the process at any time if you don’t wish to continue).
You’ll Need Luck to Come Out on Top
This shouldn’t come as a major shock to anyone, but Gold Bars & Rounds is not a game of skill. The outcomes are entirely random: you buy a card, reveal the predetermined symbols, and find out if you’ve won anything. There is a specific chance of winning each and every prize amount, with (in almost all cases) higher value rewards being harder to find than smaller amounts.
That means you can’t do anything in order to improve your odds during play. On the other hand, that means that you don’t have to worry about making any mistakes that will hurt your chances, either. In the end, the theoretical return to player will always be the same: in this case, 80.23%. That’s fairly low by online casino standards, but if you enjoy scratch cards in general, you’ll know that it is still a much better option than most state-sponsored, land-based lottery instant win games.
A Quick Fix for the Busy Gambler
Gold Bars & Rounds is not a game that will have you spending countless hours playing it again and again. There’s not much replay value here: with no strategy or decision-making involved, most players will find that this gets boring very quickly. Instead, it’s the kind of activity that players might try for a few minutes when they don’t have time for something more intense, in the hopes of making a quick score.
Of course, if you’re a big fan of scratchers, this could be a game you come back to time and time again – though we suspect other online titles in this genre with basic bonus rounds might be a little more engaging even for those who generally enjoy the simplistic gameplay. And if you’re only interested in betting when the odds are in your favor or very close to it, you’ll never want to come anywhere near this game. But for most casual casino fans, this title is a fairly good way to get a few bets in, or the perfect way to end a session in a relaxing manner.
