When people think of action heroes and slot franchises, names like Rich Wilde are often the first that spring to mind. The Gold series from ELK Studios has not proven quite as popular as some other series but it definitely should be. The Gold series focuses on Kane, a brave explorer who jumps through different time periods and locations. The character has starred in several titles to date, including Voodoo Gold, Ecuador Gold, and Katmandu Gold slot. These titles may all be set in different eras, but they have one thing in common – they are all highly enjoyable innovative titles. Let’s see if the Pacific Gold slot can continue that streak in this review.

For this installment in the Gold series, ELK Studios has taken us back to what appears to be some sort of period just after World War II. The setting, outside of being in the middle of the Pacific feels fairly ambiguous, but there is a sunken warplane in the background that indicates the time period. The plane appears to have crashed in some sort of jungle in South America, which the game brings to life with a moody color palette.

This backdrop is juxtaposed with the bright colors of the symbols, which appear to be Aztec or Lucha Libre-style masks. Kane himself, the slot’s intrepid explorer, also makes an appearance as one of the higher-paying symbols.

The Pacific Gold slot game is a fine example of the kind of enjoyable gameplay ELK Studios is capable of producing. The slot is based on a 6x4 grid with 4,096 different ways to win. This can soon increase though thanks to the slot’s avalanche feature. Whenever players score a win, the winning symbols are destroyed and replaced with new ones. As well as this, the game’s matrix can grow, with a maximum of 8 rows being available. This opens up a total of 262,144 ways to win.

The game can be played from a minimum of $0.20 up to a maximum of $100, which is a healthy wagering range that should satisfy both conservative players and those on bigger budgets.

ELK Studios has developed the Pacific Gold slot so that it can be used on a range of different mobile devices. The game works on both Android and iOS operating systems. The extended rows of the game actually make it one of the few slots that are better played in portrait mode in our experience.

Elk Studios has gone to town with the bonus features selection in the Pacific Gold video slot. Outside of the aforementioned Avalanche Mechanic, the first feature you will probably encounter is the Big Symbols. These are large versions of the symbols on the reels, up to a six of 4x4, and can lead to some generous payouts.

Next up are the Power Stack Symbols. These are normal 1x1 symbols, but they contain multiples of their symbol. These will then expand to be part of winning combinations and can be really useful to land.

The Pacific Wave is a row of up to 1x4 that will turn all of the symbols directly underneath it into Wild Symbols. Of course, the Wild does as you would expect and substitutes itself to help create winning combinations.

Another special symbol to look out for is the Ghost Box. This will collect all winning symbols and can then explode and then the symbols are spread out across the grid.

Of course, no decent online slot is complete without some free spins. You can trigger these by landing the Fighter Plane Bonus Symbols. The maximum amount is 25 with six symbols but you can retrigger them during the round.

The slot also has the ELK Studios X-iter feature, which is effectively a Buy Bonus that allows you to buy your way into any of the above-mentioned features.

The Pacific Gold slot has an RTP of 95%, which is a little bit lower than the average. The maximum win that a player can score in the game is 10,000x their stake and it is considered highly volatile.

The Gold series has delivered some gems over the years and Pacific Gem is another fine outing for it. The base game is incredibly engaging, the slot design is unique and stylish, and the bonus features are more than enough to keep players satisfied. The title has taken everything that was good about previous entries in the series and built upon it, making this a must-play title at the best online casinos.