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Golden Goose: Winning Wizards Slot
Winning Wizards is a five-reel slot with a total of 20 adjustable paylines that is part of software supplier Microgaming’s Golden Goose series. This is one of four games where players get the chance to unlock various lucrative bonus games and features in exchange for placing the optional Golden Goose side bet. Winning Wizards borrows its theme from the wonderful world of wizardry where magicians dwell and wait for players to give the reels a spin to reward them with a huge flat-top prize of 10,000 in coins.
The game boasts a dark purple color scheme in line with its wizardry theme. The symbols that can reward players with a high-value payout include a purple crow, a golden ring with a sapphire, a book with incantations, a magic scepter, and a potion bottle.
Two special symbols are included for the extra benefit of reels spinners. There is a scatter with a crystal ball while the eponymous wizard is wild and substitutes for other icons. Spinners can set the reels in motion for as little as $0.20 if they activate all 20 paylines, which makes the game fitting for all sizes of casino bankroll. Bet levels allow you to wager anywhere between 1 and 10 coins per payline.
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Golden Goose: Winning Wizards has two special symbols to offer but their function has nothing to do with triggering the extra features of the game. The wild symbol is represented by a wizard and can be used as a substitute for all other icons but the scatter. This way, players are enabled to form a greater number of winning combinations when they are missing matching symbols on a payline. The maximum prize in Winning Wizards stands at the marvelous 10,000 coins and is granted to the spinner who matches five wild wizards. Moreover, all winnings generated with the assistance of the wild wizard are doubled.
The second special symbol is a scatter containing a crystal ball on a crimson cushion. The scattered crystal ball awards a prize of 100 coins for five matches but apart from that, there is practically nothing “special” about it. It does not trigger any free spins or second-screen bonus games as scatters would normally do. The truth of the matter is, the scatter in this Microgaming offering is no different than the regular paying symbols. In fact, there are some regular symbols that actually offer higher prizes for matches. Such is the case with the second best payer in Winning Wizards, the scepter which returns 4,000 coins for five matching symbols on a payline.
| Symbol | Two on a Payline | Three on a Payline | Four on a Payline | Five on a Payline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 100 |
| J | 2 | 4 | 20 | 200 |
| Q | 0 | 4 | 40 | 400 |
| K | 0 | 5 | 50 | 500 |
| Purple Crow | 0 | 9 | 90 | 900 |
| Sapphire Ring | 0 | 10 | 100 | 1000 |
| Potion Bottle | 0 | 15 | 150 | 1500 |
| Incantations Book | 0 | 25 | 250 | 2500 |
| Magic Scepter | 0 | 40 | 400 | 4000 |
| Wild | 0 | 100 | 1000 | 10000 |
| Scatter | 0 | 3 | 25 | 100 |
Bonus Games and Features
As we explained above, there are several bonus features in this version of Winning Wizards but these are not unlocked by any particular combination of matching symbols. Instead, they are triggered at random whenever the players activate the Golden Goose functionality. This feature involves an optional side bet that is estimated at 25% of the player’s original wager. So if your initial bet stood at $10.00, the next spin would cost you $12.50 once you have activated the Golden Goose feature.
There are four random features the Goose can trigger, starting with a pick-me bonus game where you are taken to a second screen with the goose presenting you with five cards that are facing down. Your aim is to select one of the cards to receive up to 11 free spins with a maximum 6x multiplier on your profits.
The second feature the Golden Goose bet can help you trigger is called Choose the Money or the Egg. The name pretty much speaks for itself – you are expected to choose between cash or an egg. You pick the egg for a round of up to 50 free spins with a 3x multiplier on your wins. The second option is to pick the money and collect up to 10,000 coins.
The Golden Goose optional bet can also randomly transform all symbols on the reels into golden eggs. When this happens, players are required to select one egg from each reel, with each selection hiding a cash prize of a different value. The ceiling on winnings for the duration of this feature is set to 5,000 in coins.
Last but not least, the Golden Goose may decide to surprise you by making an unexpected appearance on the reels. The goose will greet you with a wave from the screen, lay an egg, and earn you an additional cash prize.
Conclusion
One of the biggest advantages of the revamped version of Winning Wizards is that Microgaming developers have literally overloaded the game with extra features and interesting bonus games. However, what many veteran spinners would probably dislike about this updated version is the Golden Goose itself.
If we have to be entirely fair, this functionality does not do justice to spinners as it requires them to invest more of their money to gain access to bonus games which otherwise would have been triggered at no charge in the majority of Microgaming slots. While the betting limits are indeed quite flexible here, some short-budgeted spinners may not be pleased by the fact they are charged additionally for bonus features.
Other than that, the game offers quite a decent paytable, with a top prize of 10,000 in coins. There are wilds for completing more matches, but the scatters are pretty much like regular symbols as all they do is pay for winning combinations. In conclusion, if you do not feel like making the optional bet and do not mind the lack of bonus games, you can try the original Winning Wizards version – it offers the same theme, design, and gameplay minus the Golden Goose wager.
