Gold Digger Megaways: Slot Overview

Gold Digger Megaways manages to catch you off guard in more than one respect. From the developer’s perspective, Gold Digger became an unexpected kind of smash and ranked among iSoftBet’s most played slots in its launch year of 2020. When we fired up Gold Digger Megaways, there was initially no sign of the ever-present Hold&Win branding that seems attached to much of iSoftBet’s recent output. Then, once the loading screen clears, it’s right there. That fits, since the original centred on picking the correct rock to set off a fairly involved streak respin bonus packed with different modifiers. Anyone who enjoyed that will be happy to hear it’s back, now supercharged by Big Time Gaming’s Megaways engine and joined by a new character.

Gus returns as well. The moustached miner stands to the left of the reels, tossing modifiers into play and chiming in with comments or encouragement. Alongside him is his faithful dog Boomer, who also lends a paw now and then. Mining-themed slots are everywhere, and while Gus resembles plenty of other reel miners, he and his canine sidekick make a friendly pair that brings extra character to the experience. Beyond them, the mine backdrop now shares space with a larger grid than before, plus a Gold Bet option, a feature buy button, and a gold-speckled ore box tucked into the corner.

Gold Digger shifts away from the classic 5×3, 20-payline layout to a setup featuring 6 reels plus a top tracker reel, delivering up to 117,649 ways to win. The minimum number of ways available is 324, while with Gold Bet enabled, 10,000 becomes the lowest Megaways count. Gold Bet adds 50% extra to the regular stake, with wagers running from 20 p/c to $/€20 per spin. Rated as a medium volatile title, the RTP changes depending on play: 95.97% in standard mode, 95.98% with Gold Bet active, or 96.86% when purchasing the bonus round.

Looking at the paytable, the game uses eight standard paying symbols, and wins are formed when matching tiles connect left to right starting from reel one. The four lower-value symbols are J-A card ranks, paying 0.5 to 0.75x the bet for six. Higher-value symbols include lamps, picks, gold carts, and Gus, paying 1.5 to 25x the bet for six of a kind. Found exclusively on the top tracker reel, wilds can replace any symbol except gold nuggets to help complete winning combinations.

Gold Digger Megaways: Slot Features

When the original Gold Digger arrived, iSoftBet’s Hold&Win line was more of an idea in the background than the cornerstone it later became. Because of that, the bonus round was previously titled Gold Link Respins. Here, it’s renamed Gold Hold & Win Respins and is supported by Cascading Wins, Mining Modifiers, and a bonus buy option.

Cascading Wins

Any winning symbol disappears from the reels and is replaced by new symbols cascading in from above, or from the side in the case of the tracker reel. This can create additional wins, and the cascades end once no further combinations are formed.

Mining Modifiers

On any spin in the base game, one of the following modifiers can randomly activate:

• Max Megaways – the reels fill up with symbols, generating the maximum possible Megaways.
• Mystery Blast – mystery TNT crates land, and Gus detonates them so they all reveal the same matching symbol.
• Boomer Bonus Add – Gus sends Boomer out to sniff up an extra gold nugget. This always triggers the Gold Hold & Win Respins bonus round.
• Boomer Lose To Win – Boomer is called in to turn a losing spin into a winning one or to set off a bonus.

Gold Hold & Win Respins

Hitting 5 or more gold nuggets in the base game activates Gold Hold & Win Respins. This feature runs on a separate reel set where only gold nuggets or special reel booster symbols can appear. You start with 3 respins, and each time a new symbol lands, it resets the respin count. When the respins are exhausted, the total collected prize is paid out. Gold nuggets carry values of 1x to 20x the bet or jackpot values. These are Mini, Major, or Mega, worth 25x, 50x, or 100x the bet. Reel boosters behave like so:

• Blues Gems add one additional space to their respective reel until they reach the top of the mine.
• Green Gems increase all landed nuggets to the next possible value.
• Red Gems award an extra life that is used once when respins run to zero.
• Purple Gems increase the win multiplier by +1 each time. Multipliers are applied to total winnings when the bonus ends.

There’s also Boomer’s Boost, which can trigger at random and has Boomer add extra nuggets or boosters onto the grid.

Bonus Buy

One more potentially handy addition that the original Gold Digger lacked is the option to buy the bonus. Doing so costs 75x the bet and ensures 5 gold nuggets will land.

Gold Digger Megaways: Slot Verdict

Anyone who enjoyed Gold Digger is likely to be very pleased with this return. iSoftBet hasn’t merely expanded the original to fit a bigger Megaways grid; it has also introduced a few fresh touches. Gus’ warm presence was a big part of the first game, and adding Boomer raises the charm factor in a slot that already had plenty of personality.

Boomer isn’t only there for company; his modifier effects proved genuinely useful during testing. In fact, he rescued one bonus round by dropping an extra life onto the reels on the last respin, which pushed the counter back up to three. Fundamentally, the respins bonus is still the same idea, though with a couple of tweaks. One is the larger reel set compared to before; another is that you no longer need to collect three gems to gain their modifier effects—one is enough. On top of that, Boomer can get involved, and there are also three smaller jackpot nuggets in the mix. Overall, the changes aren’t massive, but they do make the feature feel smoother, and it’s at least as entertaining as the original—if not even more so.

Gold Digger Megaways comes across as a strong remake on almost every level. It introduces an extra character, boosts the appeal, layers in more features, and expands the bonus round. Put simply, iSoftBet has packed in plenty of reasons to lure players back underground for another run.