Zulu Gold

Pack your bags as you are about to join Kane for his next reel expedition on the slot from Elk Studios. Zulu Gold will take you to the African savannah for a volatile discovery tour across six dynamic reels with wild substitutions, mega symbols, Wild Walkers, Charged Wilds, Zulu Stacks and a free spins feature with a progressive multiplier that can lead to wins of up to 10,000 times your bet.

Recommended Casinos to play Zulu Gold

Slot Details

Zulu Gold is a cascading video slot with six dynamic reels, 4 – 8 rows and 4,096 to 262,144 ways to win. Pays are awarded for three to six matching symbols landing on adjacent reels from left to right only. You can join Kane on his next reel quest on desktop, tablet or mobile from 0.20 to 100 coins. The game has high volatility with an RTP of 95%.

A Zulu throne room provides the setting for Zulu Gold and the play area nests between two pillars of colourful beadwork and matting with warrior shields and weapons. Entering the free spins lights the torches and the carved lioness behind, above the throne. Zulu Gold carries the bold and colourful style of the Zulu with the quality expected from Elk Studios.

The pay symbols of figurative Zulu style start at the low end with four animals awarding up to 0.3x for six of a kind. Next, come four painted emblems that pay up to 1x your bet for six of a kind. Lastly, a buffalo, rhinoceros, elephant and Kane complete the line-up and pay up to 5x your bet for six of a kind. A Zulu mask represents 3 kinds of wild symbols, which substitute for symbols except for the numbered multiplier symbols (seen only in the free spins) and the African sunset bonus symbols, which trigger the free spins for landing three or more.

Zulu Gold Slot Features

Zulu Gold is the latest in the Gold range of slots that began in 2019 with Ecuador Gold, closely followed by Tahiti Gold. Elk Studios have since added Voodoo Gold, Black River Gold and more recently Katmandu Gold to the popular series. Let’s take a closer look at what Zulu Gold brings to the table.

Core to the gameplay is still the Avalanche mechanic that cascades symbols onto the default 6×4 grid at the start of a spin sequence. Any winning combos are first paid before they shatter and disappear to make room for new symbols to drop into place.

After each winning avalanche, the expanding game mechanic activates, adding one row to the game window and gradually increasing it from four rows and 4,096 ways until the maximum of eight rows and 262,144 ways to win. Mega symbols can create uneven reel heights during the expansion process. In the base game, the grid resets to the default size and the round concludes when no new wins occur after a fresh avalanche.

Consistent through the series are Mega symbols which can appear at any time during a cascade and can elevate the levels, opening up the play area for more symbols to fill. Mega symbols come in a 2×2, 3×3 or 4×4 size and destroy smaller symbols below when tumbling down, only resting when they meet wilds, bonus symbols or the bottom. When resting directly above empty spaces due to wilds or bonus stops, they fill the vacant spots with the same symbol type.

Zulu Stacks are identical symbols of two, three or four symbols high in stacks. When falling on top of symbols, they will increase the height of the play area and open up space for more symbols. Any symbols except wilds or bonus scatters can appear as Zulu Stacks.

In addition to standard wild symbols, Zulu Gold features Wild Walkers and Charged Wilds. The Wild Walker is the head of a lion that moves to leave a trail of wilds behind and remains unaffected by avalanches, staying in play for the sequence. The Wild Walker does not affect existing wilds or bonus symbols and also breaks through Zulu Stacks, leaving a wild in place. The Charged Wild has lives that appear layered over each other, disintegrating a life when in a winning combination. These stay in play until their lives are used, or the avalanche sequence ends.

Landing three bonus symbols will trigger the Multiplier Free Drop bonus game. Three bonus symbols award ten free drops, and four will start 15, five awards 20 and six bonus symbols will grant 25 free drops. Free drops can be retriggered the same way for the same values. The feature starts with the standard size of 4 rows but with a safety level. Each winning cascade will elevate the safety level by one row at the end of a sequence, opening up the grid for the next free drop with the higher safety level for the remainder of the round.

The bonus features a progressive win multiplier, starting at x1 and displayed in the shield to the left. Multiplier symbols of random value can now appear and will fall to the bottom as inactivated symbols. Collecting three adds their total value to the progressive multiplier and renders them inactive. They will stay on screen and landing another one will reactivate them, adding the total of the four to the current progressive multiplier.

Inactivated multiplier symbols will stick between free drops, but inactive ones will be removed. Charged Wilds also stick between free drops until their lives are exhausted and all wins during the round are multiplied by the progressive multiplier value shown, which never decreases.

Elk Studios has included the X-iter Modes for unrestricted jurisdictions, offering players direct access to a variety of scenarios and features. On Zulu Gold, a total of five X-iter Modes are available for a one-time bet between 5x and 500x the default stake. Click on the X-iter icon on the left (desktop) to have the options displayed.

• Win Spin – 5x bet: The following spin is guaranteed to land a winning combination, although it might not cover the bet amount.
• 3 Zulu Drops – 25x bet: Three consecutive drops/spins where Zulu Stacks are guaranteed to land on every spin.
• Bonus Buy – 100x bet: Starts a spin that will guarantee to land at least three scatters and trigger the Multiplier Free Drop Bonus.
• Wild Walker – 250x bet: Three consecutive drops/spins where a Wild Walker symbol is guaranteed to land on every spin.
• Super Bonus Buy – 500x bet: Gets you a standard bonus feature but with persistent multiplier symbols.

Final Verdict

Zulu Gold has compelling features and gameplay making it a worthy addition to the Gold series, sure to entice existing fans and attract new ones. But, while Elk Studios continue to impress with graphics and clever reel innovation, they have moved away from the 96.xx% RTP (found on all Gold titles) down to 95% for Zulu Gold. However, every cloud has a silver lining, which in this case, is a single RTP version.

Zulu Gold – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. What is the maximum win potential on Zulu Gold?

Elk Studios noted a maximum win potential of 10,000 times your bet. At minimum stake that would be 2,000 credits. Any feature in progress will end instantly once the win cap is reached.

2. Where can I play Zulu Gold by Elk Studios?

Upon its release, you should find Zulu Gold at most casinos due to Elk Studios popularity and reach. For a list of recommended casinos check the top of this review or take a look here.

3. Which game from the Gold series has the best RTP?

Katmandu Gold has the best RTP at 96.20%. The rest come with an RTP of 96.10%, except for Zulu Gold at 95%.

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