Gonzo’s Quest Slot

The Wombat says: “Ah, the Gonzo’s Quest slot – all about the famed El Dorado and the legend of the city of Lost Gold – full of fabulous riches and endless wealth”.

If I wasn’t busy being the most famous Wombat on this side of Darwin, I’d fancy my chances as an explorer myself.

We find Gonzo, a cheeky Conquistador inspired by the famous Spanish explorer, in a Central American tropical rainforest

He’s a fun and irreverent character who watches over your spins from the side of the screen, occasionally tipping his hat to you if you win big, and encouraging your progress in the game. Gracias Gonzo!

The animations on this game still look great – slots have come a long way since the Tomb Raider Secret of the Sword slot– and that was a sequel!

Latin Spins

Like thousands of other explorers from the Spanish Empire, the Gonzo´s Quest slot features the man himself on a search for riches in Latin America.

The intrepid explorer has acquired a treasure map that should lead him to the mythical Eldorado…

Along with its Inca temples, stone carvings and intricate Mayan relics, the Gonzo’s Quest slot transports you to the jungles of Central and South America. This slot game gives you a taste of what those greedy gold hunters were looking for back in the 1500s…

These are beautiful graphics from Net Ent again – take a look at the Red Riding Hood slot for another example of their work.

Gonzo’s Quest Slot – Mapping it Out

Now to the gameplay: this is a NetEnt classic with five reels, three rows and twenty pay lines. The slot has a minimum bet of 0.20 and a maximum of 50.00 so there’s something for everyone.

Released in 2013, this original game is still one of NetEnt’s most popular!

You’ll hear Gonzo muttering away to himself a the side of the game. He gives you a good fist pump if you land a nice win, and gets his map out from time to time (but he holds it the wrong way up).

There are a few mosquitos about, so he keeps scratching his beard and he does the odd dance move. He’s a multi-talented hombre in other words!

Gonzo’s Quest Slot: Mechanics

We love the mechanics of the slot: winning symbols disintegrate and fall off the bottom of the screen like a crumbling Mayan tomb.

And the “used” symbols are replaced by a new set of blocks that drop into place from above. The whole process is called Avalanche Wins and it was this game that made this mechanic famous.

It’s like a fancy version of Tetris or Candy Crush.

The graphics and action are up there with the likes of the Poltava slot from Elk Studios.

Multiplier Trail
What makes this process even better, is that each subsequent Fall of winning blocks increases the win multiplier from 1x up to 5x.

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Free Fall Bonus

Then there is the Free Fall bonus round. In the Gonzo’s Quest slot, the golden mask is the Free Fall scatter symbol.

Line up three or more anywhere across the reels and you’ll get ten Free Spins (called Falls).

The multiplier starts at 3x with the initial avalanche but goes up to 15x with more than four consecutive free falls. That Multiplier Trail kicks in again, but this time it’s been supercharged. Free Fall symbols must appear in succession, beginning from the first reel on the left.

You can also re-trigger Free Falls with three more Free Fall symbols while you are in the bonus.

Wild symbols are pretty common, and it’s not that unusual to get four or even five symbols on a pay-line, with more than one winning combination present at the same time here.

Note that only the highest win per line is paid.

Aside from the great gameplay, this Wombat loves the storytelling in Gonzo’s Quest. It’s worth watching the introduction to find out how Gonzo found himself in the middle of the jungle in the first place!

Wild Symbols

The Wild Symbol stands in for any other symbol to make up winning combinations.

And that includes the Free Falls golden mask symbol which is very unusual for a slot, believe me!

Mobile Gonzo’s Quest

Like many NetEnt games, this slot looks fantastic on a phone or a tablet. We can’t fault the designers for their work. Swipe up to go full screen and enjoy the graphics on your mobile.

You can play in either portrait or landscape mode. That’s not something we can say about all of the mobile slots we play. We prefer playing while holding our screen sideways.

Another good feature is that you can change to left-handed mode in the settings. So if you are a leftie, you can play one-handed with your thumb if you want to as the game will move the spin button to the other side of the screen.

That’s a Swedish design for you!

What Exactly is El Dorado? Some Background.

El Dorado, Spanish for “the golden one”, was a mythical tribal chief based in modern-day Colombia, who, the Spanish conquistadors believed owned so much gold that he covered himself with gold dust as an initiation rite.

As we all know, gold was rather popular in the Spanish Empire (to be fair, it is still pretty popular). The legend of El Dorado changed to become a city, a kingdom, and then an empire as time went on.

Many explorers searched in vain over the years for this golden empire including Spanish conquistadors in the late 1500s and even Sir Walter Raleigh.

The explorers searched Colombia, Venezuela, and parts of Guyana and northern Brazil for the fabled city and its golden king. They never found it. Gonzo continues the quest!

Conclusion

The Gonzo’s Quest slot is a great all-rounder.

High-quality graphics make this feel more like a video game than an online slot, and the original play separates it from your usual slot games.

This was a game changer when it first came out and it has spawned many copycats, but not many match it.

Look out for new Gonzo games,  Gonzo’s Gold from NetEnt, and the Gonzita’s Quest slot from sister company  Red Tiger Gaming plus the very popular Gonzo’s Quest Megaways slot – for players who like to max out the pay-lines.

Wombat score: 4.5/5

Que bueno, Gonzo. A classic game that ages like a fine tequila.