Nugget Ridge

Nugget Ridge: Slot Overview

The irresistible pull of mining into the earth for gold has drawn another casino game maker in for a saunter, both thumbs firmly hooked into its belt. The slot maker in question is Relax Gaming, a studio that is no stranger to this sort of thing, in its gold-addled release Nugget Ridge. That the studio has picked a not entirely original theme has been exacerbated by the fact that this is a repeat performance of a slot Relax Gaming released way back in the wild days of 2021, going by the name of Wild Chapo. As such, Nugget Ridge is not a showcase of the funky new ideas Relax has been cooking up in its workshop. However, the original was a pretty fun game, so maybe some of its explosivity will rub off on its clone.

Where Wild Chapo popped graphically, Nugget Ridge sort of just sits there, all dried up in the desert heat like a tired raisin. Depending on how you play the game, the optics vary from a gigantic, almost full-screen set of reels to one portraying a middle-of-nowhere spot that might not be rampant with life, but is, however, covered in bags and bags of sweet, sweet nuggets. The same location in a nighttime version is used for the free spins round, which is fine and dandy; nothing wrong with it, though the crazy antics of Chapo and friends are highly conspicuous by their absence.

15 paylines cross Nugget Ridge's 5x3 gaming area, awarding winning combinations left to right. This is a highly volatile trip to the desert, where the RTP comes in at 96.36% when playing in the regular mode, or a healthy 97% when buying the feature. Click the coins button to pick a wager, where the options range from $/€0.10 to $/€100.

Nugget Ridge's symbols are Wild West J-A, lanterns, picks, gold carts, and gold nuggets. A line of 5 royals pays 4x the bet for all kinds, and a line of 5 matching premium symbols pays 10x-25x the stake. Wilds substitute for all symbols except scatters and can be found on all reels. A line of 5 wilds pays 40x the stake. The game has an expanding wild, and when landing these symbols, they expand upwards if there will be a win. There are also colossal wilds taking up 4 positions.

Nugget Ridge: Slot Features

Nugget Ridge's features are respins and expanding wilds in the base game, a wild frenzy free spins round, and a feature buy.

Base Game Features

• Respin Feature - The respins feature triggers by landing 2 scatters in the base game. When triggered, the scatters convert to sticky wilds. Landing new wilds sticks them to the reels and awards an additional respin.
• Expanding Wilds - When a TNT detonator lands in the base game, it expands upwards to create more wild symbols.

Free Spins

Hitting 3, 4, or 5 scatters awards players 7, 9, or 11 free spins, respectively. Hitting 3+ scatters during the round awards an extra 3 free spins. The triggering scatters are stored in the positions they hit, as are any newly landed scatters while free spins are active. On the final free spin, stored scatters convert to wild symbols. If there is more than one scatter stored at the same position, they create wild multipliers with a value corresponding to the number of scatters stored at the position. Wild multipliers multiply each other when they are part of the same winning line. The highest possible multiplier at one position is x5.

Feature Buy

Buying free spins costs 60x to guarantee a bonus round triggered by three or more scatters.

Nugget Ridge: Slot Verdict

If you're going to choose between Nugget Ridge and Wild Chapo, the latter is probably a better option. Not just because it's the original, or as any sort of quiet protest against cloned output, but simply because it's a more enjoyable version, with a far greater amount of character and colour. Chapo himself is a vibrant personality, and he was joined by a charismatic cast of donkey, dog, and owl. The original possessed a much stronger graphical presence that popped from the screen, bringing the desert alive in all its dusty, explosive beauty. Nugget Ridge, by contrast, looks the part - nothing eye-rending, but at the same time, there's nothing charismatic or even particularly interesting about the way it looks.

That aside, the gameplay is bang on the same as before, from a technical perspective. The base game sparks from time to time with respins and expanding wilds, both able to shoot off a satisfactory result. The real action, however, is saved for free spins, where tension is built by storing scatters, capable of turning a modest win into something considerably more substantial when unleashed on the final spin. Stacking multiple scatters in the same position is the key, and multipliers multiplying each other in the same winning line can be a potent mix. It is volatile, though, and the fuse won't always be lit, but it may also be quite exciting, should multipliers team up with others across winning lines. It's a simple yet neat system that arms the bonus round with enough suspense to keep things interesting.

The trouble is that Nugget Ridge never quite manages to shake the feeling that these features have been better served before. They've certainly been presented in a more lively and unique way. The mechanics still work, and there's enough wild activity to produce some white-knuckle moments - up to a win cap of 10,000x - yet without the personality that made the original stand out, the whole thing feels a little too anonymous. Players who missed the original may find a perfectly competent wild-driven slot, but those who caught the original are likely to wonder why they should settle for this dusty rerun.