Spartan Gold Slots
Before we begin, let’s get it off your chest right now… “THIS. IS. SPARTA!” Okay, now that that’s done with, we can move onto the task at hand: getting to grips with this slot machine from Play Pearls based on the ancient Greek city of Sparta.
Unique in every sense of the word, and seen as the epitome of civilisation at the time, it’s no wonder that there is still gold to be found if you look close enough, Spartan Gold that is. Turned into a handy slot machine of 5 reels and 20 paylines, you’re able to go back to ancient times and savour the spoils of war.
Thankfully you won’t find any conflict here, just a ton of free spins and a substantial jackpot to walk away with, which is much better than bloody wounds. Not to mention you’ll be able to walk around as a proud Spartan once you finally get your hands on all that gold in PlayPearls’ game.
Ancient History
While everything we actually know about this time period can be found firmly in the past, what we need to do is connect with it today, and to do that we have to pay our dues and invest a small stake.
As this is a slot machine from PlayPearls, the pay-in amount is quite low, 0.10 to be exact should you start at the very bottom, therefore giving you a total of 2.00 for your overall bet. Users can increase this steadily if they wish to and reach a risky 80.00 credits in all, but it isn’t necessary for you to do this to appreciate the title. There is no maximum bet widget to fast track you, so you’re going to have to switch to manual and do it yourself.
Seeing as we’ve just touched on the topic of paylines, let’s look more closely at them and see how we go about setting the amount we want. There are numbers on either side of the outer grid, all labelled and colour coded – these are your paylines, and so you need to select the number that is your preferred amount of choice.
Now that those two are complete, you can move onto the automatic play option that’s available, allowing you to recline in that comfy sofa of yours and watch as the software picks up the slack and does the work so you don’t have to. In Spartan Gold you won’t be able to determine how many spins will occur before this mode ends, nor can you select a win or loss limit, however you can terminate the feature at any time.
Aside from the help button and the volume controls, there really isn’t anything else you need to know about this interface; PlayPearls always seems to favour a more basic set of controls, which we find helps make the overall experience a lot more enjoyable. It’s free from distractions.
A Grecian City
Unlike a lot of historically inspired slot machines, Spartan Gold moves away from textually rich graphics and foreboding figures, and instead delivers a more cartoony and easy going set of aesthetics. You could argue that it doesn’t fit in, but it appears to work rather well, and it definitely helps the activity to stand out from others of a similar nature.
While there are several symbols you’re going to want to match up for those all important credits, there is no doubt in our mind that the free spins tile is going to be top of your list. This is because, not only does it gift you up to 40.00 credits, but it also delivers a series of free turns should you get over three of them. The starting amount is 8, but if you manage to find all five along those reels then you’ll be rewarded with a staggering 40 free spins, which we think will have you reaching for that auto button in no time.
There’s a wild up for grabs too, but seeing as it doesn’t do much different from its usual gig, it isn’t really worth mentioning. It removes others symbols and that’s it. And while there are other tiles after that, their amounts become so tiny that it makes you wonder why PlayPearls have created a game only to have it deliver no monetary substance…
False Gold
Saying a slot machine isn’t good is something we try to avoid for every title has its positives, however Spartan Gold just feels like a fast buck move from the company rather than a well designed investment. It gets a decent audience, and for most the small payout will be enough to keep them returning, but it really isn’t anything special by any stretch of the imagination.
We’d like to see a bit more ‘meat’ to the context of the slot – have some weightier imagery and many more features.
