Gonzo’s Quest Review
Gonzo’s Quest is a ground-breaking slot from NetEnt, featuring the adventures of Gonzalo Pizarro, a Spanish conquistador. It is a five-reel, three-row game with 20 fixed paylines. It uses Avalanche Reels with multipliers to boost your wins, and a free falls feature where enhanced multipliers of up to 15x come into play. It is a medium variance slot with an RTP of 95.97% and a top payout of 37,500x.
Name: Gonzo’s Quest
Developer: NetEnt
Paylines: 20
Reels: 5
Rows: 3
RTP: 95.97%
Variance: Medium
Top Payout: 37,500x
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ABOUT THIS SLOT
There are a rare few slots that can genuinely be considered as game-changers, and Gonzo’s Quest is definitely one of them. NetEnt’s 2011 slot was the very first to use a combination of Avalanche Reels, also known as Tumbling Reels, or Cascading Reels, combined with multipliers, to create exciting win sequences. Of course, that mechanic is the driver behind the famous Megaways™ series as well now. Back in 2011 it was completely new.
But it’s not just the Avalanche Reels that make this game a classic, it’s also the beautifully constructed 3-d reel set and backdrop, the famous stone symbols that crash into place with each ‘spin’ and the excellent artwork. Most readers will know the story of El Dorado, the city of gold that was an obsession of every single Spanish conquistador that came to Latin America back in the days. And here, thanks to NetEnt’s creative team, we get to chase the dream ourselves, whilst following the adventures of Gonzalo Pizarro, or just Gonzo, a man on a mission to the very gates of the El Dorado.
The basics are as follows: this game takes place on a five-reel, three-row set with 20 active paylines in play at all times, paying from left to right. You need 3 matching symbols on any line to trigger a win, and three of more scatters to set up the free drops. More on that in a moment.
RTP, VARIANCE AND PAYOUTS
Gonzo’s Quest has a medium-high variance, so its payouts are fairly even, though it has been known to get tough at times and throw a mean spell of dry spins at you too. The RTP is set at a fairly average RTP and the top payout depends on how far into the multiplier sequences you can get. Base game spins have a top payout of 2,500x when 5x multipliers are in play, whilst free spins round plays have a top payout of 37,500x when 15x multipliers are in play.
SYMBOLS AND PAYTABLE
The reels are set on the very gates of El Dorado, and Gonzo will be there to keep you company as you play, although he does not appear on the reels themselves. The symbols in Gonzo’s Quest are all carved into stone blocks. There are animals – snakes, birds, alligators and fish; symbols – of health, fire and the moon; and Mayan Masks in different colors. The health symbol is most valuable at 125x for five on a line.
Look out as well for the Wild which is represented by the Question Mark and subs for all other symbols to create wins, and the Golden Mask which is the Scatter that will trigger the Free Falls feature.
GAMEPLAY AND FEATURES
There are two additional features in Gonzo’s Quest – Avalanche Reels and Free Falls. The Avalanche Reels feature is active in both the base game and the Free Falls feature, but importantly, the progressive win multiplier can reach higher values in the bonus round. Here is how it works:
AVALANCHE REELS FEATURE
In the iconic Gonzo’s Quest reel set, the stone blocks literally fall out of the sky with each play. And every time players land a winning combo of three or more matching symbols, the winning icons disappear, making room for new symbols to land and, hopefully, create new winning combinations. Meanwhile, with each successive win, the multiplier meter in the top right of the screen is subject to an increase of 1x, up to a maximum of 5x in the base game, and 15x in the Free Falls round. After any non-winning spin the multiplier resets to 1x.
FREE FALLS FEATURE
The excitement gets turned up a notch in the Free Falls Round where the paytable is enhanced still further.
Land three or more Scatters on successive reels, beginning from the far-left reel, and you will trigger the Free Falls feature. This is basically a Free Spins round. Players get 10 freebies to begin with, but 10 more free spins can be triggered during the feature by landing 3 more scatters on a single spin.
This time the Avalanche Multiplier starts at 3x rather than 1x and goes up to 15x after at least four successive avalanches. That pushes the top available win up to a massive 37,500x.
OUR VERDICT
Gonzo’s Quest, like Starburst, Dead or Alive and Aloha! Cluster Pays goes into the cannon of great NetEnt slots. It’s awesome design and artwork are eye catching to start, and it’s the combination of this and the revolutionary Avalanche Reels mechanic that made this game so popular. The features are pretty simple in truth, with the thrills coming as a win sequence grows and the multiplier pushes upwards. Landing wins with high value symbols like this, and with a top 15x multiplier, is a rare treat, but when it comes it is something akin to reaching the gates of El Dorado itself!!
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