Aztec Gold Mines Slot Review

The game is set in the Aztec Jungle, complete with rich verdant foliage and wooden animal heads placed over the 25 grid spaces. Two displays reveal your money and treasure totals beside the grid. The Aztec-themed soundtrack develops suspense as you pick tiles. The simple yet effective design is continued over the two game symbols and the animations used. 

Golden treasures with diamonds on top and bottom are the winning symbol. The multiplier figure in the middle of this symbol depends on the number of mines and the level progress. A Montezuma-like image is the'mine' in this Minesweeper-style game. If the player reveals a Montezuma Mine, the round ends and all progress and awards are lost.

Aztec Gold Mines is a simple game, with the pick-and-click system being the only factor in play.

Pick-And-Click

Players choose from 25 spaces on the grid. If a treasure is revealed, the player collects the value displayed and can either end the round or pick again. This process repeats if another treasure symbol is revealed. If a player reveals a Montezuma Mine, then the round immediately concludes, and the player walks away with nothing. 

1.     Use the left-grid menu to select your bet size and Montezuma Mines. More mines make the game tougher, but increase the potential award. The RTP varies by my choice: 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, or 15. The fewer Montezuma Mines you choose, the quicker it is to find a treasure, but each win is worth less. 
2.     Select a square. If you reveal treasure, your award will show in the top-left corner. The more treasure you reveal, the higher your prize.
3.     After each click, you can cash out your winnings and start a new round or pick again.
4.   Reveal a mine and the round ends, and you forfeit any winnings.

Aztec Gold Mines is giving me Marmite vibes. I know some players will love this game, and others will not. Firstly, if you go into the game thinking you are playing a slot, you will feel either disappointingly deceived or delightfully surprised. While visually the game has lots of slot similarities, there are no reels, no paylines, and heck, nothing spins! Instead, Aztec Gold Mines sits between a simple fruit machine (where bonus features are minimal) and an instant win game (with a simple and fast gameplay arc), but leans neither one way nor another. An argument can be made that Aztec Gold Mines is an early iteration of the Crash Games, which are currently making waves in the online casino world.

This puts the Aztec Gold Mines games in an awkward grey area, allowing it to fall through the gaps of such a crowded market when I think there is a good number of players who would enjoy the unique nature of the game. Aztec Gold Mines works as a great stepping stone from Crash/Instant Wins games to online slots, and I can also see the Fruit Machine traditionalists enjoying the mindful simplicity offered with the Aztec theme, a refreshing shift from classic casino motifs.

The betting range starting at £1 is a lot higher than slot games, and while play time is longer than instant win titles, the margin is not much larger, so if you are a small bettor with £10 to spend, your bankroll will go 10x further on a slot with wagers starting at 10p per spin. The math model for the game is on par and, (depending upon gameplay decisions), even much better with the RTP ranging from 96% and 98.88%, while the 288x top payout fits with traditional Fruit Machines.

All in all, I think Aztec Gold Mines is a very unique game that has fallen through the cracks due to the sheer wealth of online slots out there and the rapid pace the industry operates. So long as you go into the game not expecting a slot-based experience, I give the Aztec Gold Mines slot a noteworthy score of 8/10.

Rating: 8.0