Gold Rush Express is a well-known online pokie that you can play for free and real money. Developed by Area Vegas, this mining and railway-themed slot offers fun and big-win vibes for New Zealanders.
With a 96.45% RTP and the chance to win up to 5,000x your bet, Gold Rush Express certainly becomes an exciting option worth trying out for new players and experienced ones alike. So, let's get into a bit more detail.
Area Vegas released this 5-reel, 20-payline video pokie on June 23, 2023. Having a certain mining and railway backdrop, Gold Rush Express offers some really unique variance between adventure and fortune. Something else?
While high in volatility, it may take some time before those big wins come along in the game of Gold Rush Express. For NZ gamblers, the fun is in some of the features that include free spins, bonus rounds, and hitting a jackpot game. But we will tell you about them a bit later, mate.
The offered 96.45% RTP means you can expect a decent return over time, but the highs can be few and far between due to high volatility. If you are the kind of person who actually enjoys waiting for big and rewarding moments, then this can be a perfect pokie for you.
This slot is filled with really amazing features that make each spin rewarding. Let's analyse together the key points that make Gold Rush Express a hot title:
Gold Rush Express runs on a 5x4 reel layout, introducing 20 fixed paylines. These are always on and allow a player to catch big wins in every spin. To win in the base game, a user has to match symbols across active paylines from the leftmost reel.
Are fixed paylines easier for beginners? Surely! They simplify the gameplay by providing a clear, set number of ways to win. Feeling lucky?
In Gold Rush Express, premium symbols pay anywhere between 2x and 5x your stake for 5-of-a-kind wins. These are your tickets to higher payouts, and if five matching premium symbols land on a payline, be sure of a nice win.
The Wild symbol is the most necessary one to help you complete winning combos. It substitutes for all regular symbols to help form wins, except for the Scatter, Rush Express, Bell, and Gold Train symbols. Five Wilds landing on a single payline pay 10x your bet, so it’s also a very valuable symbol when trying to hit big wins.
For us, one of the outstanding features of the game is the Rush Express. How to get it? This is triggered by Rush Express symbols landing on reels 1 to 4; to collect these, you need either a Bell or Gold Train symbol on reel 5.
This one is triggered when a Gold Nugget Rush Express symbol lands during the base game. It's just a Jackpot Pick Game where you pick symbols to collect a set of three Jackpot symbols. If you reveal three matching Jackpot symbols, you will be awarded the corresponding jackpot prize, which can be 20x, 50x, 500x, or 5,000x your stake, depending on the jackpot level.
Three scattered dynamite sticks anywhere on the reels will trigger the Free Spins feature. Once it is activated, you get 10 FS immediately. During this round, the Rush Express feature has more hit frequency. This provides an extra chance to land the big wins. During this time, there are no retriggers; it means you cannot gain more free spins in that very feature.
And now a few words about another cool thing - multipliers. They are available to you during the Free Spins and the Rush Express feature and can increase your payout. The multipliers apply to cash prizes and will boost your wins up to 10x their value.
Gold Rush Express is fully optimised for mobile. You will have no problem playing this game either with your smartphone or tablet - the performance is great, and it keeps high-resolution graphics wherever you play it.
And because the game is written in HTML5, it can easily work both on different browsers and platforms with no additional applications or extra software download necessary. Be it on Android or iOS, this full experience leaves no dent in terms of either gameplay or visual appeal.
Gold Rush Express is a mining-and-railway-themed slot with bright colours and sound effects. More detailed? The reels are set in the background of rugged mountains and old train tracks, which immediately evokes the adventurous spirit of the Gold Rush era.
Symbols like gold nuggets, train cars, and dynamite sticks add to the excitement, while rich colours and detailed design keep players engaged. The railway and mining theme adds a unique and thrilling atmosphere to this pokie, making it an outstanding slot game.
Gold Rush Express is a pretty straightforward game, even for beginners. Here is a quick guide to start playing it:
Select your preferred bet size, which ranges between NZ$0.20 and NZ$50. You can adjust your bet according to your budget in this game.
Hit the spin button to start playing. You’ll need to land matching symbols across 20 paylines to win.
Receive your free spins by triggering Scatter symbols that will lead to bonus rounds.
The game boasts an array of different symbols, all offering various payout amounts - they will often be helped along by Wild symbols that substitute into complete wins. For the best chance of landing a win, here are some key tips and general advice from the Smartpokies team:
First of all, take a look at the paytable before you start spinning. This will show you the value of each symbol and how much you can win with different combinations. The more premium the symbol, the better the payout, and the Wilds help you complete lines by substituting for most other symbols except Scatters and special feature symbols.
The Free Spins round and the bonus game are the most promising features in Gold Rush Express for reaping bigger benefits. You get to enter the free spins round upon landing three Scatter symbols, and dynamite sticks, which offer you 10 FS with a higher possibility of triggering the Rush Express feature. The bonus game and free spins come with multipliers that can increase your win significantly, so be on the lookout for these opportunities.
Good bankroll management is necessary for any pokie player who aims at long-term success. Determine your budget before you start playing and stick to it. Make sure you only bet that amount that you are ready to lose.
Any examples? This game has a wide range of wager sizes starting from NZ$0.20 to NZ$50, so you can easily adjust the stake to your budget. With a smaller bankroll, such as NZ$20, you can bet NZ$0.20 per spin and enjoy up to 100 spins. If your bankroll is moderate, say NZ$100, then you can bet NZ$1 per spin, striking a nice balance between the frequency of spins and the size of potential payouts. Change your stake accordingly to suit your comfort level.
Note: If you are on a winning streak, it may be very tempting to increase your bets, but be very careful not to overextend. Always play within your limitations.
To make sure that gameplay is fair and payouts secure, always play Gold Rush Express at licensed online casinos. Good platforms are regulated and audited regularly, which means the games are fair.
Look for casinos with a good reputation, decent customer support, and positive player reviews. In New Zealand, consider only those online casinos licensed by trusted authorities, such as the Malta Gaming Authority or the UK Gambling Commission. The Curaçao Gaming Control Board is also a good option.
To make this experience even more exciting, lots of online casinos often provide a set of attractive offers: welcome bonuses, free spins, loyalty rewards, and others. For example, a casino gives 100% up to NZ$200 for a deposit; this means that you can double your bankroll in one stroke. You deposit NZ$50 and get NZ$50 extra to bet with - a total of NZ$100. With such rewards, mate, you will be able to try more games and increase your chances of winning.
But that's not all! We also suggest you always read the terms and conditions before claiming your bonus. This might happen that a casino has you over on wagering the bonus 30 times before you can withdraw any cash; for a NZ$50 bonus, that means NZ$1,500 in bets before the money is yours and withdrawable.
No-wagering bonuses are pretty cool, too, where you might get 20 free spins on certain pokies (for example, Gold Rush Express) and keep whatever you win with no strings attached. These are great for those NZ players who want rewards with fewer complications.
While games, such as the Gold Rush Express pokie, can be so much fun, you really do want to make sure you are playing responsibly. Gaming sessions need to have a time limit and it’s important to stick to your budget.
Do not chase losses; similarly, know when to stop. If you find gambling to be a problem, many online casinos provide self-exclusion resources and links to organisations in NZ that help people with gambling addiction.
Our final thoughts? High volatility, entertaining bonus features, and massive wins in Gold Rush Express create a very exciting combination. Indeed, the Rush Express feature is filled with jackpots and multipliers that make it highly wanted among players who love high-risk and high-reward pokies.
With an excellent opportunity to win up to 5,000x your stake in the jackpot game, this surely will add thrills to New Zealanders. The Free Spins round, even though a little restrictive on retriggers, has bigger payouts because of the increased frequency of the Rush Express symbols.
Gold Rush Express is for gamers who love mining and railway themes, high volatility, and multiple ways to win. With its unique features and big wins possible, it is a pokie really worth trying, especially if you want to have fun and rewarding gameplay with a bit of risk.
It is 96.45%. Yes, that's a very good rate for a high-volatility game, meaning it's designed for players looking for bigger wins over time. But remember, online casinos can lower the RTP through different settings.
Of course, yes. Most gambling sites offer the Gold Rush Express demo version. You use it as an excellent way to get hold of how gameplay and features work before going for some real betting.
The maximum possible win here is 5,000x your bet. This can occur during the bonus game or by hitting a jackpot combination on the reels.
How many paylines does Gold Rush Express have?
Gold Rush Express has 20 paylines, which means you can potentially get winning combinations across these reels.
Free spins are triggered by landing three Scatter symbols anywhere on the reels. This will unlock the free spin round, where you get chances to increase your winnings with no additional bets.
