Leprechaun Goes Wild slot review

What’s the craic with Leprechaun Goes Wild? Well, this high volatility, 5-reel, 4 column slot with 20 paylines might not be the looker we’ve come to expect from Play’n GO, but it might just surprise you.

At first glance, I wasn’t too impressed by the design. The symbols are on the flat and boring side. It even feels slightly old fashioned. Even when a win is registered, there isn’t the usual high-quality animation found in other Play’n GO slots.

But then, the more I played, the more I realised I was enjoying the slot thanks to the features that come with it. It’s also kind of cheeky which fits perfectly with the Leprechaun theme since they are known to be mischievous ones.

Symbols

Even if I was expecting a little extra from the symbols (this being Play’n GO), I did notice these symbols growing on me the more I played. The designs, together with the happy go lucky music and FX just put a smile on my face.

The symbols, from highest to the lowest consist of:

• The scatter tile which takes the form of the iconic four-leaf clover substitutes for all symbols. It will also trigger both the Luck of the Irish feature and the free spins round.
• The Wild tile takes the likeness of 5 cheeky Leprechauns. It substitutes for all symbols bar the scatter and yields 40x with five-of-a-kind on a payline.
• The pot of gold yields 20x with five-of-a-kind on a payline.
• The top hat yields 17.5x with five-of-a-kind on a payline.
• The wooden pipe yields 15x with five-of-a-kind on a payline.
• The glass of mead yields 12.5x with five-of-a-kind on a payline.
• The lucky horseshoe yields 10x with five-of-a-kind on a payline.

The lower-paying symbols use card suits between 10 and Ace and all yield 2x with five-of-a-kind on a payline.

Features

The one symbol which will bring about the much-desired features is the four-leaf scatter. With this symbol, you will unlock both the free spins round and the Luck of the Irish feature.

• The Free Spins round

This is triggered when 3 clovers appear on reels 1, 3 and 5. Once this happens a screen will appear where you will spin a four-leaf clover wheel which has different amounts of free spins on each leaf. For the initial free spins, you can win either: 7, 9, 11 or 13 free spins.

As soon as the free spins round start spinning, you will notice that the wild tiles made of the 5 different Leprechauns are sticky. If you manage to land a Leprechaun on each of the 5 reels the four-leaf clover wheel will appear once more. It will spin offering extra spins (this time it’s 3, 5, 7 or 9 spins that can be won). This feature can only happen once per free spins round.

• Luck of the Irish

The Luck of the Irish feature has two outcomes and is triggered when 2 four-leaf clovers appear anywhere on the reels. In the first outcome, another four-leaf clover appears thus activating the free spins rounds. In the second outcome, 5 extra wilds are added to the grid - one on each reel. If you’re a free spins lover like I am you will probably hope for the first outcome, but I did manage some nice wins around the 25x with extra wilds on the reels.

Either way, the Luck of the Irish feature is what makes this game so exciting. Whilst in other games you are just waiting for the 3 scatters to appear, here you get an extra chance at a nice win even with just 2 scatters.

In conclusion

My experience with this slot has been a rollercoaster ride. The first time I took the reels for a spin I was getting some impressive wins. After 20 spins or so I entered the bonus round and won 460x. Then, after another 10 spins, I got 2 Clover Scatters on the reels which triggered the Luck of the Irish feature. A third scatter appeared and I entered the bonus round once more. Here I got a win of 563x. This is the result of the game’s high volatility which has a rating of 9/10.

But with such high returns comes the possibility of losing funds quite quickly. When I tried my hand at this the second time, I quickly depleted my funds chasing the bonus round. Then when I did finally get it I only won a disappointing 19x.

Whilst the theme is incredibly fun, I could recommend casual players to keep in mind the volatility of this slot before trying it out. There will be times where it will yield only little amounts. However, I know more hardcore players will enjoy the engine behind this.