Nugget

Nugget: Slot Overview

At times, you get so used to something being a certain way that when the opposite occurs, it can be so shocking it has you questioning if this is real life. Imagine, for instance, back in the day, first coming to terms with the fact the earth is actually round, not flat, or that the planet is not the centre of the universe but rather it's orbiting a pretty ordinary star about halfway to the edge of the Milky Way. Just as shocking as those epoch-defining moments (we jest) was reviewing DonKey & the GOATS from AvatarUX. Get this: it was not a PopWins slot. Proving that DonKey & the GOATS was not a one-off genetic defect comes the Western slot Nugget, following in the footsteps of its boxing predecessor, possessing a number of technical tweaks to go with a scene change.

As for the scene, nugget hunters find themselves in a creaking saloon while a real head nodder of a tune is provided by a piano player plinking away somewhere. Nugget doesn't have the same neon Pop Art kind of pizzazz GOATS had, but the visual connections are there for all to see. For one, Nugget's got the ZapReel up top, disconnected from the main reel set, and a set of features to one side similar to the way they are displayed in GOATS. The art style is, in some ways, reminiscent of Hacksaw Gaming's Wanted Dead or a Wild, or even the later release 2 Wild 2 Die, where the grainy, atmospheric look is like seeing the world through a moonshine haze.

Designed by game creators Mr WU for AvatarUX, Nugget conducts business on a main grid made up of 6-reels and 4-rows, plus an additional 6-position row of symbols on top called the Zap Reel. Ways to win can vary wildly, all the way up to 531,441 – winning combinations are created when matching symbols land on at least 3 consecutive reels from the leftmost reel on the grid. Sporting a highly volatile math model, Nugget has a stack of ways it can be played, including ante bets and feature buys available from the Xpress menu, though no matter the approach, its RTP remains steady at 96%. When clicking the coins button, players may pick a stake from 20 c up to $/€100 per spin.

The game is not short of regular pay symbols, possessing 11 of them in total. They are J-A card ranks as the lows, a hat, glasses, and hammer as the mediums, three rather interesting characters as the highs, and a dual pistols-wielding Gunslinger as the super high symbol. Landing 6 OAK winning way awards 2x the bet for the lows, 2.25x for the mids, 2.5x for the highs, or 3x the bet for the super high. Winning symbols are removed from the reels by a tumble mechanism, which replaces them by dropping symbols downwards on the main reels or from the side on the top reel.

Nugget: Slot Features

Nugget's features are its Payday symbol, Wild West Rewards, ZapReel, Gold Rush, Prospector Wheels, and Xpress buys.

Payday Symbol

Whenever a Payday symbol lands on the reels, a random Wild West Reward is triggered. Possible rewards are the HOTX Gunslinger, mystery symbols and low-pay removal. In the base game, the reward comes with 1 to 4 lives, which count down with each subsequent spin. In free spins, the reward comes with 1 to 5 lives, which activate for each subsequent free spin till the counter reaches 0. Also, in free spins, each unlock of a Wild West Reward grants additional free spins equal to the number of lives for that reward. More than one reward can be unlocked at once. If the same reward is unlocked while it is active, it gets extra lives.

Wild West Rewards

These rewards are:

• HOTX Gunslinger – when active, Gunslinger symbols get a multiplier equal to the number of Gunslinger symbols on the reels. Also, any Gunslinger symbol on the ZapReel adds to the total multiplier values its own unique multiplier.
• Mystery Symbols – when active, a random number of symbols on the reels are converted to golden nuggets. At the end of the spin, they all reveal one random symbol.
• Low Pay Removal – when active, a random number of low pay symbols are removed from the spin.

ZapReel

The ZapReel is the name given to the horizontal reel displayed at the top of the screen, displaying symbols that can connect and form wins with symbols on the regular reels. In addition, when the HOTX Gunslinger is active, Gunslinger symbols appear on the ZapReel with unique multipliers attached to them that are added to the total multiplier of all Gunslingers at the end of the spin. The multiplier values are x5, x10, and x15.

Gold Rush

Once per free spins round, the Gold Rush can trigger at the start of any spin. When triggered, the Gold Rush awards additional free spins and the frequency of both Gunslinger symbols and Payday symbols is greatly increased. In addition, if the HOTX Gunslinger reward is active, the multiplier of the Gunslinger symbols is double per symbol, from +x1 per symbol to +x2 per symbol.

Free Spins & Prospector Wheels

Free spins are triggered when at least 3 free spins scatters hit. Before entering free spins, players are able to engage one of the two Prospector Wheels – the Take Wheel or the Gamble Wheel. The Take Wheel generates a number of free spins and starting ways for the free spins round. The Gamble Wheel offers a chance to upgrade free spins to a higher tier with a bigger number of free spins and starting ways, but there is also a possibility of losing the free spins.

Xpress

From the Xpress, players can activate these options:

• Ante bet with double, triple, or quadruple the chance of triggering free spins for 1.25x, 1.5x, or 2x the bet, respectively.
• Dynamite Strike – 10x the bet to guarantee the Payday.
• Buy Bonus – 60x the bet for up to 9 free spins and up to 46,656 ways. Or gamble for more.
• Buy Bonus Plus – 120x the bet for up to 10 free spins and up to 86,436 ways. Or gamble for more.
• Buy Bonus Premium – 240x the bet for up to 12 free spins and up to 153,664 ways. Or gamble for more.
• Buy Bonus Ultra – 500x the bet for up to 14 free spins and up to 331,776 ways. Or gamble for more.
• Buy Bonus MAX – 1,000x the bet for up to 15 free spins and up to 531,441 ways.

Nugget: Slot Verdict

Again, it was a surprise to see AvatarUX pull away from its beloved PopWins mechanic, and like Donkey & the GOATS, the studio received a helping hand from Mr WU to do so, which sounds like a mysterious shadow figure, or the leader of an underground gang of renegades skating a thin legal line, but is actually a group of people with experience in the industry. The connection between the two slots shows, too, because, as in the previous release, Nugget is packed to the saloon ceiling with features, betting options, and big numbers.

Tumbles and masses of ways keep the general base game moving along, with Payday symbols triggering Wilds West Rewards spicing up the flow. At this stage of the game, on a personal level, Nugget lacked the same level of danger lingering just beneath the surface GOATS had, possibly because a boxing match's very nature on its own has more nerve-racking tension to it than a laid-back saloon scene where patrons are enjoying a bubbly piano piece.

Like GOATS, though, Nugget can technically pop its pistols and get to shootin'. Its three Wild West Rewards are different to the Vegas Reel Rewards, too, satisfying the need for variety, but the benefits of removing any sort of Vegas Reel Multiplier are debatable. Now, multipliers do come into play, yet only on the Gunslinger symbol, which arguably makes for a more volatile, more focused experience. Doing things this way has had a positive impact on winning potential, as Nugget boasts a figure of 25,000x the bet, 25% higher than its ring-bound predecessor.

Still, it's hard to say whether Nugget is a clear improvement over DonKey & the GOATS. It's arguably not the sort of explosively presented Western slot that grabs you by the nose ring and drags you kicking and screaming into a gritty world of pain. But it is definitely not worse than the previous slot, and all of the new features, plus the popularity of Western themes in general, means that any gambler tickled by GOATS should be tickled by what Nugget can do, too.