DonKey & the GOATs Features
Some slots have the ability to confuse the heck out of you as soon as they turn up on your screen. Congratulations to AvatarUX, you’ve really done it this time!
It is impossible to get a handle on this game unless you play for quite some time or read through the instruction manual. Lucky for you, I chose both options and can give you a complete rundown of what's in store.
The setup
Your first impression might be that you have mistakenly loaded up a Megaways game. Don't worry, you are not alone. This is Golden Ways!
Ordinarily, this game is made up of 6 reels and 5 rows, although one of them is known as the ZapReel and is this developer's answer to the Megaways Tracker Reel. It runs horizontally across the top bringing symbols in from right to left. On this is ZapReel, an Uppercut Wild symbol may land. If a win is created in any of the positions directly below it, this Wild expands down across the entire reel.
Wins are made by landing combos of symbols, 3+ in size, on adjacent reels. The lowest-paying symbols are various pieces of boxing equipment and the medium-range symbols are 3 boxers. I'm pretty sure that these images depict Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali and possibly Sugar Ray Leonard. The high-paying symbols are the 3 boxers in action. Winning symbols are removed and new ones drop down into their place.
Introducing the features
The cascading reels are an important aspect of this game as they have a direct bearing on the Vegas Reel Multiplier feature. For every 3 wins in a sequence, a Multiplier is added and remains in the Global Multiplier Meter to see if another 3 wins land and improve this figure. When you're winning sequence is finished, the Multiplier disappears.
The Vegas Reel serves another purpose other than to hand out multiplier figures. If you're lucky, you will see the DonKey symbol—a slightly less than flattering ode to Don King—land and bring you a modifier. There are 3 modifiers waiting on the Vegas Reel and these are:
- Wild Bombs - a number of random wild symbols will appear on the reels
- Synced Reels - two or more reels are synced together to potentially bring a big win
- Low Pay Removal - all instances of one low-paying symbol are dismissed from their positions and better ones take their place.
Are we nearly there yet? Almost. Hang in there!
Finally, there is the small matter of a Champions Wheel and a Free Spins Bonus to look forward to. To trigger the Champions Wheel, you need at least 3 scatter symbols to appear. The wheel is actually 2 wheels in 1 that spin independently of each other and award you a number of spins and a number of ways. This is what you take with you into the bonus round. Depending on the number of ways you are awarded, the reels will now stretch to accommodate the result.
All of the other modifying action continues to take place during the bonus and you also have the added benefit of the Global Multiplier sticking around for every spin and it can keep growing thanks to the Vegas Reel Multiplier modifier.