Empire Gold: Hold and Win Online

The Empire Gold: Hold and Win slot machine was launched in 2023 and is part of Playson’s Hold & Win series, which already includes, for example, the popular Coin Strike slot and many other games. The main feature of this series is its bonus round, offering significant wins and jackpots. This game retains the features of previous slots but benefits from a new design and slight gameplay modifications. You’ll find all the information in my review.

Its medium to high volatility, 95.76% return to player (RTP), and maximum win of x5000 make this slot machine appealing to everyone, from high rollers to beginners. I’ve tested the game and can confirm that with a good betting strategy, you can profit from it. But before that, it’s important to understand all the game’s features. My review will help you do just that.

Theme and gameplay

Empire Gold: Hold and Win draws inspiration from ancient Rome, featuring legionaries, gold coins, ornaments, and arena battles. The game board displays various symbols representing artifacts from that era, and the grid itself is placed on the battlefield. The graphics are excellent, despite the limited visual effects. The background lacks animation, but winnings and bonuses are animated on the board. The game is fast and stable on any device.

The sound design is also excellent: an epic soundtrack makes you feel like you’re preparing for battle against the legionnaires. The reels, winning combinations, special symbols, and bonuses are also well-executed.

Having tested the game on Android and iOS, I can assure you there are no restrictions. The mobile version offers the same graphics and sound quality as the PC version. The interface is also well-suited to smaller screens.

Symbols and prices

The traditional mechanics of collecting winning combinations in the Empire Gold: Hold and Win slot machine made it even more appealing to beginners. It features 25 fixed paylines on a standard 5×3 grid. Wins can be obtained for 3 to 5 identical symbols on a payline. All wins can only be collected in one direction: from left to right, starting with the leftmost reel.

The amount of your winnings depends on the symbol that forms the winning combination on the payline, as well as the amount you bet per spin. You can spend between $0.20 and $50 per spin. This range allows beginners to adopt cautious strategies or high rollers to place large bets.

The legionnaires and the shield are high-paying symbols on the slot machine. They offer significant multipliers, from x0.2 to x10, but rarely form winning combinations. Generally, these symbols award payouts through a Wild symbol.

The symbols representing cards from A to J are very lucrative. They offer small multipliers of x0.2 to x2, but these combinations appear quite frequently. By maintaining your initial balance, these symbols help you wait for bonuses to be triggered, where you’ll receive maximum winnings.

In addition to the traditional payout symbols, you’ll also see special symbols: Wild, Bonus, and Scatter. These special symbols activate the slot machine’s bonus features, allowing you to win big. During the bonus round, you have the chance to win maximum payouts. We’ll discuss this in the next section of our review.

Features and bonuses

The bonuses in Empire Gold: Hold and Win might seem familiar, especially if you’ve played other games in this Playson series. But let’s take a closer look.

Wild

The Wild symbol, present on all reels, increases the frequency of winning combinations and offers payouts ranging from x0.6 to x12. It uses the expansion function.

The Wild can extend across the entire reel, thus greatly increasing the frequency of winning combinations.

Free Tours

The Free Spins feature is activated by a combination of 3 Scatter symbols on the game grid. You will receive a payout equal to your current bet and 8 free spins. If, during the free spins round, you again get a combination of 3 Scatter symbols, the number of free spins will increase by 8.

The unique feature of this bonus round is that there are no low-paying symbols on the game grid, only high-paying symbols, a Wild, and a bonus symbol. This significantly increases the chances of winning big and triggering the bonus game.

Bonus Game Hold and Win

To activate the bonus game, you must collect at least 6 coin symbols on the board. You will then access another game grid, exclusively for bonus symbols, and receive 3 free spins. Each new symbol on the board resets the spin counter to 3.

There are several types of symbols on the board:

• Coins with values ​​from x1 to x16 of the stake.
• Mystery Symbols – The gold coin with the legionary turns into a jackpot or a silver coin at the end of the bonus game.
• Jackpot – The coin provides a payout in the form of one of 3 fixed jackpots.

During this bonus round, you can collect coins of different values ​​and win jackpots. The bonus game result will be a payout equal to the sum of all the collected values ​​and jackpots.

In total, the game offers four fixed jackpots:

• Mini: x20
• Minor: x50
• Major: x150

The maximum Grand Jackpot x5,000 can only be won if you manage to fill all 15 cells of the game grid during the Hold and Win round.

Treasure Chest Feature

During the base game, a random Treasure Chest Feature may be activated. All coins are collected in a chest above the game grid. You can activate the Hold and Win bonus at any time, even if there is only one bonus coin left on the board.

RTP and Volatility

Empire Gold: Hold and Win has medium to high volatility. This means you can expect an optimal balance between frequency and payout size. However, my tests showed that the slot’s volatility remains higher than average. This is an important factor to consider when choosing a strategy.

The RTP of 95.76% is average and offers a minimum house edge of 4.24% during longer gaming sessions. This is an optimal indicator for most slot machines.

Conclusion

The Empire Gold: Hold and Win slot machine is capable of offering significant wins to anyone who uses all its features. Its main feature is the Hold and Win bonus round, where you collect coins and jackpot symbols. This mechanism will certainly be familiar to experienced players, and beginners will quickly appreciate its full potential. I would also like to remind you of the Random Treasure Chest feature: it allows you to activate the bonus game at any time, even when playing with the minimum bets.

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