The visuals in Golden Chief are nicely done - the lower value A to 10 symbols feature Native American style additions. They’re joined by a totem pole, a bear and a squaw. There’s also a wild that substitutes for everything bar the scatter and awards payouts of up to 500 coins per payline.
Look out for the Golden Chief who is the expanding wild - when he lands and covers a whole reel, he’ll also increase the number of paylines in play on that spin up to 50 or 100. If playing at less than £1 per spin, you will play with 10 paylines and the expanding wild will give you 50 paylines. If playing at £1 or more a spin, you will play with 20 paylines with the expanding wild increasing the number of paylines up to 100.
Mystery symbol upgrades are also in play when the number of paylines increases - this can see any lower value playing card symbol being upgraded to something potentially more lucrative. This will naturally give you bigger wins.
The Golden Bonus logo symbol is the scatter - land 3 of them and you’ll trigger the Bonus Wheel. 4 triggers the Super Bonus Wheel while 5 triggers the jackpot (a 500 times stake prize). A spin of the Bonus Wheel awards 1 of 3 bonus features:
- Free Spins feature (5 for 3 scatters or 10 if spinning the Super Bonus Wheel) - look out for Heap Wilds which can expand horizontally (to cover up to 5 reels) as well as vertically.
- Cash Canyon feature - move along the canyon trail collecting prizes as you go. There’s up to 500 times your stake to be won.
- Totem Trail feature - climb the totem pole to reveal increasing multiplier prizes up to 500 times your total stake.
As usual with Barcrest slot games, Golden Chief gives the chance to play in Big Bet mode. This is a series of 5 linked spins that offer expanded scatter symbols, extra mystery symbol upgrades, sticky expanding wilds and 100 paylines active at all times. The RTP increases too as you raise your stakes. Finally, you can also trigger the Free Spins feature – 1, 2, 3 or 4 Golden Bonus symbols will give you 1, 2, 5 or 10 free spins.
Golden Chief ticks all the usual Barcrest boxes - the design is very much like what you’ll find in a brick and mortar casino slot game. It’s not the most stunning design but is solid enough. You’ll also find a decent selection of extras in play. If you want to up the action levels and can afford the higher stakes, then the Big Bet mode is worth a go.
If you like slot game that offer plenty of choice when it comes to features, then Golden Chief should appeal. There’s nothing spectacularly showy on display here but it’s a solid all-rounder and worth a spin if you like this theme. Alternatively, you can opt for the classic Wolf Run by IGT or Wild Hunter by Playson.