Avalon Gold

Theme and Design

Following his intrepid adventures in Katmandu and Louisiana it’s fair to say that the last place we expected to find traveller Kane next was the mythical kingdom of Avalon! But here he is, searching out the gold left there by King Arthur’s foster brother, Kay (so the story goes). Turns out the narrative was a great choice by creators, ELK Studios.

The atmosphere is ethereal, with turquoise mists drifting through crumbling stone temples in front of which sits are 6x4 grid. Symbols drop into place with satisfying thuds as each round starts and classic celtic pipes, drums and strings play in the background. It’s stirring stuff and thankfully matched by the drama on the reels. Once into the game there are some particularly spectacular moments to look out for including the mystery boxes that appear to glow as they reveal their bonuses and hidden wilds that expand upwards, glowing gold.

All in, a first class production from ELK.

RTP and Variance

The RTP of Avalon Gold slot is 94%. This is lower than average for a slot game - most sit at around 96% - however it is not that unusual for ELK Studios who have noticeably tweaked the RTP of their games down in recent years. For comparison, others in the Gold series include Ecuador Gold (96.1%), Tahiti Gold (96.1%) or Katmandu Gold (96.2%).

Avalon Gold is also a high variance slot whose complex mix of features must align in rare patterns for you to get the very best from the game.

Maximum Win

Avalon Gold maximum win is 25,000x. This puts it at the top of the tree for the Gold series, far outreaching the maximum wins of Katmandu Gold (10,000x), Tahiti Gold (5,000x) and Ecuador Gold (a lowly 2,500x).

Symbols and Paytable

Avalon Gold starts out as a 6 reel and 4 row slot but depending on what happens on each spin it can grow to as high as 8 rows per reel.

It also utilises a pay ways model rather than paylines so wins are triggered by landing identical symbols on adjacent reels from left to right regardless of their position on the reels.  From a 6x4 start that gives you the classic 4,096 win ways set-up first seen in games like Raging Rhino (WMS) and Pink Elephants (Thunderkick). However, the game kicks on with consecutive Cascading Wins to climb up to as high as 8 rows per reel and 262,144 paylines.

The paytable is stacked with 12 paying symbols. They range from the low value cards, Jack through to Ace, valued at up to 0.3x for 6 on a line, through to the four premium pictures including the highest value Kane who is worth 5x for 6 on a line.

There is also a Golden Wild which subs in for any other symbol bar the bonus or Mystery Box to complete paylines.

All symbols, including the important Mystery Boxes explained below, can also land in 2x2, 3x3 or 4x4 super-sizes which gives you more chance of landing wins. We've even been known to land a super-sized Kane himself on occasion.

Features and Gameplay

Avalon Gold packs a lot in and despite its high variance it feels like there is rarely a spell where things slow down. This is helped in part by the fact that the game is using Cascading Wins so every winning spin is followed by explosions as winning symbols are removed and new ones drop in. And in this case, as in other ELK slots, another row is added to the reels.

Wilds and Expanding Wilds

All the while, wilds may drop on the grid to help you complete Win Lines. In a clever and innovative twist, they sometimes appear behind a standard symbol. In this instance you know they are there because you see a gold frame around the covering symbol. If the symbol they sit behind forms part of a win then they expand upwards to fill any space created in the latest Cascade. This can lead to wilds expanding 3 or 4 rows upwards to help form wins.

Mystery Boxes With Supernatural Powers

Fun stuff, but without doubt our favourite feature of Avalon Gold is the Mystery Boxes. ELK have produced a really special symbol here, one that looks like it has supernatural qualities thanks to the pentagram on its exterior and the way it animates when it activates.

Things you need to know about these boxes are that initially they simply drop onto the reels and sit there. They won’t move until either the game round ends or at least five are visible anywhere on the grid. Once five or more are in sight, they activate. Worst case scenario here is that they all reveal an identical symbol from the paytable or a wild.

5 extra wilds?  No problem! But best case is one of the following features. You’ll know if it’s coming because the pentagon glows and spins before revealing your bonuses. Each box will open in order to reveal a different bonus:

• if it’s a coin like a 5x then it’s a standard win;
• if it’s a multiplier, then that multiplier is applied to the total value of coins so far;
• if it’s a swiper, then 10 is added to the value of the last coin to be revealed by adding a ‘1’ in front of it. So, if it was a 5, it becomes a 15.
• if it’s a Collector is revealed, then it collects the value of ALL the coins revealed so far and reactivates them;
• if it’s a re-drop then it triggers another drop in which the Mystery Boxes are guaranteed to re-open.

It might not sound like much but picture a grid with 10 or 15 of these boxes on it, each revealing coin wins, multipliers and swipers. Then after a big win, they all re-activate and the feature starts up again. That’s where Avalon Gold can really deliver!

Up to 25 Free Spins

Something like this is possible in the free spins round, triggered by landing 3, 4, 5 or 6 scatters to get you 10, 15, 20 or 25 free spins. You can see highlights from our free spins round with 15 free spins below.

To give you a better chance of winning, mystery boxes stick between free spins until they are activated. And a ‘Safety Level’ is active. This effectively locks the number of rows in play at the level set in the last avalanche sequence. So, if you had 5 active rows from your first spin, your second spin starts at five active rows again.

Incredibly, the game also allows re-triggers. So you can land another 6 scatters for another 25 free spins.

And that's your lot - Avalon Gold packs a real punch. It's kind of relentless, but never boring.