When talking about the most dominant slots to have graced the online casino space, Rainbow Riches would likely come into the conversation. This Irish-themed game has been a staple for some time now, with there being numerous other releases lending themselves to the first installment. This game has a number of different attributes that have contributed to the rise of this title as a whole, and to understand what these are, we have dissected each of these in the sections to follow.
History of Rainbow Riches
The Rainbow Riches slot initially made its way into the i-gaming world back in 2009, although this game was originally a physical machine released in the year prior. However, due to the popularity this saw in physical casino establishments, the team over at Barcrest divided to create the digitized version that many are familiar with today. This was created in tandem with Light & Wonder, a team formerly known as SG Digital and Scientific Games, which have been active in the casino world as far back as the 70s.
After being developed into the same format as other online slots, Rainbow Riches was unveiled to the world. This quickly became a fan favorite thanks to the vibrant theme and numerous bonus elements, two aspects that can be attributed to the developer. These are things that have followed these developers, with these elements being consistent within all other releases in their portfolio. Since the release of the original Rainbow Riches slot, there have been numerous other installments into this franchise; however, we will be getting onto some of those a little later on.
Rainbow Riches’ Design
Embed from Getty ImagesOne of the key things behind the success of Rainbow Riches is its overall design. This game presents a 5×3 playtable that comes coupled with 20 different paylines, a standard layout that is still adopted by many more modern releases. The playtable itself is surrounded by an intricately patterned golden frame, with this contrasting the predominantly purple backdrop. The backdrop can be seen to display a sprawling plain landscape populated by different flowers and a pond, resembling the setting associated with Irish folklore.
Standing out from all of this, though, is a rainbow that loops over the top of the playgrid, yet another element alluding to Irish iconography. The overall theme is pieced together nicely with some twinkling and magical-sounding effects that play when spinning the reels. Despite this being released more than a decade ago, all of this still manages to hold up to this day.
The Symbols in Rainbow Riches
Although they are not revolutionary, the symbols are another reason why Rainbow Riches became so popular and remain that way to this day. There are just six symbols in this release, with these being the 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace card royals, as well as the game’s logo. Despite these being common in most other releases, these being the main ones in this release keep the base game intentionally simplistic, and their colorful design also fits the rest of the vibrant visuals in this release.
A Variety of Bonuses
Embed from Getty ImagesAnother element of Rainbow Riches that can be attributed to its rise is the range of bonuses. One of the main additions is the gold leprechaun coin, which acts as a wild symbol. Should this land on the playgrid, this could act as a placeholder, substituting for all other base game symbols.
There are other bonus symbols besides the wild, though, with there also being a wishing well, leprechaun, and pot of gold symbols. These each have their own corresponding bonus rounds, all of which we will be detailing next.
Beginning with the ‘Road To Riches’ round, which relates to the leprechaun symbol, and landing three of these could trigger this bonus. In this, a trail is presented, with different steps having different multipliers on them. Players roll a wheel of seven segments, six of these containing numbers 1-6. Depending on the number landed, you could progress the same respective number of spaces; however, if landing on the collect symbol, this ends the feature, collecting the multiplier players may currently be residing over.
Landing three or more of the wishing well symbols could trigger a bonus round by the same name. In this, players are presented with three wishing wells in which they can select one of these. Upon doing so, a random multiplier between 2x and 500x could be unveiled, with this essentially being a ‘Pick Me’ bonus round.
The final bonus round is the pots of gold feature, and landing three of the golden pot symbols could trigger this feature. During these, bronze, silver, and golden pots rotate around a screen. An arrow is then spun, and landing on one of these pots could once again unveil a multiplier.
Can Rainbow Riches Be Played on Mobile?
Another key thing that contributed to the rise of Rainbow Riches was its mobile compatibility. Debuting at the time mobile casino and online casino platforms began to really explode in popularity, being able to play this game on a range of different devices was a huge benefit when compared to other developers. This has been something that has remained consistent over the years, with the game still being optimized for a whole plethora of devices, automatically adapting to different screen sizes and maintaining the same gameplay experience. The requirements also remain the same, with only an internet connection being needed to do so.
Other Rainbow Riches Games
Embed from Getty ImagesDue to all of these elements combined together, the Rainbow Riches slot experienced a dramatic rise in popularity, with the release still remaining popular to this day. As we already mentioned, there have been a number of other sequels that have followed up on the success of the original.
Some of the more popular variations include Rainbow Riches Megaways, which makes the playtable dynamic. Rainbow Riches Pots of Gold, which integrates some jackpot values, and Slingo Rainbow Riches, which merges slot and video bingo gameplay together.
Despite all of these games coming with their own distinct innovations and game mechanics, they all still manage to pay homage admirably to the original installment that first kickstarted the series.
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