The Swedish software developer Fantasma Games created a slot machine called Goat Rush, although players might be forgiven for mistaking it for ‘Gold Rush’ if they only gave it a fast glance due to the rarity of goats in online slots. The G.O.A.T., developed by Blueprint Gaming, is the only other game that immediately comes to mind. Considering that goat was, depending on the source, the fifth most eaten meat in the world in 2022, and that goat milk is a popular replacement for cow milk, this is a bit unexpected. In addition, don’t you think goats are adorable? Why not go check them out while they’re in Goat Rush?
While most of Fantasma Games’ online slots take place in fanciful settings, the rural setting of Goat Rush is a nice change of pace. The equipment, some of which is overgrown with vines or similar growth, is strewn over the area, giving the impression that it was once a mine that was closed down. If you get some spins for free, your suspicions could be validated. The goats aboard the train and in the background of the reels are as docile as any other animals can be expected to be. But who knows whether this is the start of the goat apocalypse. Goats will no longer be content to be confined to a fence post and fed the scraps that humans discard. Oh, well, I went off on a tangent there. Keep going.
Goat Rush is a slot machine game that adheres closely to industry standards, with a grid with 5 reels and 3 rows and 20 fixed paylines. A win is triggered when at least three identical symbols appear on an active payline across adjacent reels. As we shall see, each triumph activates the Respin function. To begin, one of Goat Rush’s main selling points is not its statistics or huge, impressive metrics. While the high risk/low reward structure may sound somewhat specific when presented like way, the 94.25% RTP is a major drawback. If Goat Rush seems interesting to you, you may play it on any device for as little as 20 cents up to £/€60 every spin.
In this game, goats are the wild symbol, and they can only be activated in the main game by the Dropping Wild or Mystery features. A victory of five wild goats pays five times the wager since wilds can stand in for any other paying symbol. The next set of symbols is a haphazard quartet of characters worth 2–5 times the wager, while the lowest-paying symbols are the standard card suits of diamonds, spades, clubs, and hearts, paying 1.25–1.5 times the wager for a full house.
The Goats Are in a Slot Machine
As previously noted, the Respin feature is triggered anytime a winning line is formed. The reels will respin once a win has been tallied in the Win Meter. A re-spin will proceed until there is no longer a winning bet line. After that, the Gold Multiplier is applied to the Win Meter total and prizes are distributed accordingly.
Both the Wild Train and the Wild Drops
Above reels 2-5, you’ll see the Wild Train’s four carts. A wild or an empty cart is randomly assigned to each spin or respin. When a successful combination activates the Respin function, the locations of all winning symbols are highlighted. In the event that a wild card in a Wild Train cart lands in an unmarked position, it will go to the lowest marked position on the next respin. A Dropping Wild will not appear if a Walking Wild has moved into the only indicated spot on a reel, which happens after a Walking Wild has moved.
The Great Outdoors
At the beginning of each respin, all existing wilds on the reels will advance to the left by one position. The Gold Multiplier is boosted by one for every Walking Wild that moves off the leftmost reel.
Multiplier of Gold
As was mentioned above, the Gold Multiplier begins at x1 and rises by 1 whenever a wild disappears from the playing field. In the main game, you can win a multiplier of x1, x2, x3, x5, x7, or x10; in the bonus round, you can win a multiplier of x1, x2, x4, x6, x10, x20, or x50. Repetitions cease, and the multiplier starts over.
Unknown Attribute
The Mystery function can trigger a Mystery Pattern or Mystery Wilds at the beginning of any spin. In the main game, only Mystery Patterns appear, however both types appear during free games. One random spot is filled with a wild symbol and the other five with standard pay icons when the Mystery Pattern is activated. One to three wilds appear on the reels during the Mystery Wild feature. Mystery cannot happen during a respin.
Bonus Turns
If you get three scatters while playing the standard game, you’ll get 10 free spins (or you may spend 65x your bet to get them right away). Each scatter symbol landed during the bonus round earns +1 free spin, while the Gold Multiplier and Win Meter reset between each free spin. It’s possible to get up to 15 more spins at no cost.
Slot Machine Goat Rush Decision
Fantasma Games is an unpredictable bunch, but in a good way, as they encourage their gamers to go in all sorts of offbeat directions with them. For example, we did not anticipate examining Goat Rush, a game in which goats ride miniature choo choo trains. Sure, it doesn’t make perfect sense, but that’s okay. Goat Rush is one of those upbeat, endearing atmospheres that makes you want to press the play button immediately to find out what happens next.
I have to admit that Goat Rush did not deliver in a major way. There’s a lot going on in this game, with respins, marked spots, extra wilds, moving wilds, progressive multipliers, and so on, but it sometimes feels like a tempest in a teacup rather than anything that actually progresses. Although Goat Rush is very unpredictable, it seems to be aimed for a demographic who enjoys a burst of activity over all-or-nothing gaming, which is one of the many strengths of Fantasma Games. It’s not like Goat Rush was a cakewalk or was shy about tipping the scales in its favor. The fact that the maximum win in the game is 3,344 times the wager lends credence to this opinion, as does the fact that mathematics is not Goat Rush’s strong strength.
It’s hard to get angry at a dog for destroying the sofa if you have to look into its eyes and remind yourself that it’s just a dog and doesn’t understand what’s right from wrong. Play testing Goat Rush provided a glimpse of this, what with all the goats running about wide-eyed. Putting away these sentiments, Goat Rush was a busy game, but it didn’t leave much of an impact from a gameplay standpoint or generate much enthusiasm for a second playthrough.