Midas Golden Touch 3: Slot Overview
The magical touch guy, King Midas, is back in developer Thunderkick's online slot Midas Golden Touch 3. Whilst King Midas famously turned everything he came into contact with into gold, his power was somewhat lacking in Midas Golden Touch 2, which, for several reasons, failed to sparkle as alluringly as the original 2019 release Midas Golden Touch. They say three times the charm, so will Midas Golden Touch 3 be an improvement? Will players burned by the previous release be willing to forgive, forget, and move on? Time to find out if the third installation has the golden touch.
Thunderkick has taken a slightly different art direction in Midas Golden Touch 3. It's less cartoonish-looking, if that's the right phrase, compared to the previous two slots. The graphics have more realism to them while depicting a similar sort of columned to the roof, ancient palace, Greco-Roman style thing. Art is subjective, but Midas Golden Touch 3 didn't have the same warm golden glow that its sibling slots had, though the more realistic look might be extra appealing to some people. The soundtrack still soars, though, particularly during big win count-ups, if you can get them.
Coated in gold, what else, is Midas Golden Touch 3's gaming grid. It spins 5 reels, landing 3 rows of symbols on each and there are 15 paylines evaluating winning combinations. With 94% RTP, this is a highly volatile online slot, offering bets between 10 c to $/€100.
From the bottom of the symbol hierarchy to the top are 9-A playing card ranks, a chest of riches, an expensive-looking cup, a crown, and King Midas. Five-of-a-kind royal wins pay 5 to 7.5 times the bet, and the same size win made from premium symbols is worth 15 to 75 times the bet.
Midas Golden Touch 3: Slot Features
Thunderkick has injected some new to go with the old, as the features include wild symbol multipliers, the Gift of Midas, free spins with sticky respins and an Epic Multiplier, as well as bonus buys.
Wild Symbol
Midas Golden Touch 3's wild symbol does more than just substitute for any of the regular paying symbols. Any payline with a wild symbol has a multiplier based on the number of wilds in the line. A single wild grants an x2, 2 wilds grant an x4, 3 wilds grant an x8, 4 wilds an x16, and a full 5 wild line comes with an x32 multiplier. Wild symbols have the same payout value as the King Midas symbol.
Gift of Midas
The Gift of Midas feature may trigger at random in the base game, adding symbols to the grid. When triggered, 1 to 9 wilds or 1 to 3 scatters appear on the reels in random positions. This feature does not appear in the bonus round.
Bonus Game
Landing 3 or more scatters triggers the bonus game and 5 free spins. The Epic Wild's starting multiplier depends on the number of scatters collected when going into the bonus round. Triggering the round with 3, 4, or 5 scatters starts the multiplier at x2, x5, or x10, respectively. The Epic Wild replaces all symbols except the scatter. Collecting scatters fills a meter that upgrades the Epic Wild multiplier.
During the feature, any win triggers the Sticky Respin mechanic, which locks winning symbols in a win line and respins the others. The Respin feature continues until no additional winning symbols are locked. Wins can increase the Epic Wild multiplier value and award additional free spins.
Feature Buy and Bet+
Players can buy a 3, 4, or 5 scatter triggered bonus game for 100x, 150x, or 250x the bet, respectively. The Bet+ plus is where it is possible to activate the Bonus Boost for 1.5x the bet to make each spin 2 times more likely to trigger the bonus game or the Bonus Boost Plus at 3x the bet to make each spin 5 times more likely to trigger the bonus game. At 30x the bet, players can trigger the Gift of Midas on each spin.
Midas Golden Touch 3: Slot Verdict
Midas Golden Touch 3 has had an artistic overhaul, and it looks and sounds attractive, but beyond that, the game played out about the same as Midas Golden Touch 2 did. Non Bet+ base game spins could be a drag, dead spinning their way to nowhere. It felt like either Gift of Midas triggered, which could be good, or nothing much happened. Wild multipliers didn't quite have the major presence hoped for. As such, players stung by the previous Midas slot might be in for a case of déjà vu when test-running Midas Golden Touch 3.
Naturally, the bonus game is the more exciting phase of play, and Midas Golden Touch 3 now provides bonus buy gamblers three options rather than just one, so triggering the feature with 5 scatters, thereby bestowing a starting x10 on the Epic Wild, can be guaranteed. At a price. The feature is pretty close to the way it was before in some ways; a roaming wild multiplier that's upgradable by collecting scatters and Sticky Respins are the main events. Now, extra free spins can be granted by landing wins, and the multiplier increases, too, via the same method. It's not bad on paper, but it might be rougher in practice.
There is a nice potential interplay of features happening here if you can get them, and the max win is big at 20,000x the bet, but as far as roaming wild multiplier slots in the Ancient World go, gamblers might be better off with something like Slotmill's Tyrant's Fall for instance. While there are good ideas in Midas Golden Touch 3, it remained about as likeable as Midas Golden Touch 2.
Midas Golden Touch 3 offers a polished look and solid potential, but its recycled gameplay and occasional sluggishness keep it from feeling truly golden.
