Irish-themed slots are usually a hit or a miss. Too many of them cling to vintage gameplay, and the ones that do have something interesting to offer don’t pay a lot. That perspective will change for you as it did for me when you tried Wheel O’Gold. While the name is a bit of a cliché, this Pragmatic Play slot aims to deliver a bullion of gold your way.

As always, the slot draws heavy inspiration from Irish folk culture. There’s an animated leprechaun on the right that overlooks the reels, as well as items such as his pipe and hat, a pot of gold, and a delicious cup of frothy beer. The slot uses the Pay Anywhere system, which Pragmatic Play has recently been quite fond of. However, unlike its more classic counterparts, this slot shines with exciting features.

Among them are tumbles, multipliers, and bonus spins. That cheery music and the sharp graphics will get you into the right mood as soon as you start spinning on top casino apps. You’ll find Wheel O’Gold available for free or real money at the top Pragmatic Play casinos.

The Wheel O’Gold has a familiar setup. As a cluster pays slot game (Pay Anywhere is just a fancy name for it), you need eight or more matching symbols across the 6x5 grid to score a win. There are no wilds as usual for games of its kind. But the gold scatter pays nicely on it while also triggering the bonus round.

Wheel O’Gold’s symbols include a leprechaun hat, a smoking pipe, a pot of gold, a mug of beer, a golden shamrock, and a golden horseshoe. All the other symbols pay less than these and are displayed as stylized card royals that fit the theme.

It’s been a while since I wasn’t impressed by the visuals in a Pragmatic Play slot. Wheel O’Gold continues the stellar run the developer has been on with great graphics that perfectly suit the theme. So does the soundtrack in the background and the appropriate sound effects that’ll immerse you into the experience.

Playing the Wheel O’Gold is easy. Pragmatic Play doesn’t mess around when it comes to the layout, so most of its slot games look the same. The controls, including the betting range tool, are beneath the reels, and that’s where you should be headed. Choose between 20c and $240 per spin and hit the spin button when ready ($300 with Ante Bet).

The action in the base game is standard. You get a 6x5 grid with symbols that pay for combinations of 8 and up. The biggest wins are for 12 or more symbols. In this situation, you get the best returns for 12 or more leprechaun green hats, which pay 25x the bet. As mentioned earlier, there are no wilds. But, there are tumbles, which are almost always a part of cluster pays machines, and they haven’t been omitted here.

Each win triggers a tumble. They can continue as long as you keep landing winning combinations. All of a player’s wins are added to their balance after the tumbles end. If you’re lucky enough to score five consecutive tumbles, a multiplier wheel will appear on the screen. A random multiplier up to x50 will be chosen and applied to the tumbling wins up to that point.

That’s the only feature in the base game, but it’s one that can bring plenty of joy. I can testify that it does come into play often, although due to the high volatility, you shouldn’t expect it on every 5-tumble sequence.

The bonus round in Wheel O’Gold triggers with four or more scatters. You receive ten bonus spins for four scatters or 15-20 for 5-6. Before the bonus round begins, the multiplier wheel will spin on the right side. It applies a global multiplier between x2 and x50 on all wins in the bonus round.

When the feature begins, you’ll notice that all scatters on the reels are collected in a special meter above the leprechaun. On every 4^th scatter, the multiplier wheel spins again. The new multiplier is added to the value of the previous one. For example, if you receive x2 initially and you get another x2, the total multiplier will now be x4. At the same time, four scatters also grant four bonus spins to keep you entertained and locked in.

There’s both a bonus buy slots and an ante bet feature in Wheel O’Gold. The first one costs 100x, while the latter costs only 25% more but increases the chances of landing bonus symbols.

The Wheel O’Gold slot didn’t impress me in the base game. It was hard to hit five consecutive tumbles to get a multiplier, and I only won with low-paying symbols. After around 20 spins, I decided to give the Ante bet a try. It took around ten more to get to the bonus round.

The perspective changed right away. The bonus round is much more rewarding and fun to play. I didn’t have the luck to hit the highest multiplier, but I managed to hit two x2s with eight bonus spins. The total payout was around $30, which isn’t a bad return, considering I didn’t pay 100x for the bonus buy.

Wheel O’Gold’s RTP is set to 96.02%, right around the average for highly volatile slot games. The maximum projected win is 10,000x the bet.

Wheel O’Gold is a modern Celtic slot that will appeal to both new and seasoned players. The base game may not be so attractive unless you hit five consecutive cascades, but the bonus round surely is. With increasing multipliers and bonus spins for scatters, it pays to invest a bit more in the ante bet feature.

If you’re in for more Irish folk tales at the best casinos online, take a look at Playtech Origins’ Leprechaun’s Luck Cash Collect Megaways. You can also go for iSoftBet’s Power Coins Leprechaun or some of the classic Irish slot tales, including Rainbow Riches.