In my earlier gambling days, I adored the G+ series of games from WMS now owned by Scientific Games). At the time they were designed to push the volatility a bit, while still providing decent chances for good wins. That seems pretty quaint compared to the volatility seen on games today.
As someone who would bet 25 cents or 30 cents a spin on these games back in the day, I’d get very giddy when here or there I’d have a good win of $20-30, and once recall getting incredibly excited on getting an over $100 bonus on the very game I’m writing about today, Thai Treasures.
Thai Treasures and its sisters/clones, Treasure Diver and Roman Dynasty, all offer some real potential with five of a kind line hits that can reach up to 20,000 credits times the line bet if you get really lucky, but even semi-premium symbols can get you in at 300 credits for a line hit (which, on what is generally a 30 line/30 credit game is 10x) and premium symbols offering more.
It wouldn’t be uncommon for me to put $10 into a machine, keep getting 10-15x 5 of a kinds, and play for quite awhile, which is part of what made these games fun – they have some potential to provide hits and keep things going, but they weren’t incredibly tough in the process, especially compared to games out there today.
At the time they came out, they were tons of fun, but even now when I find them on the gaming floor, I still aim to put $20 through them in part because even the base game was engaging.
But while the base game can provide some solid hits to keep you going, the free spin bonus is where the potential truly lies. The number of free spins depends on the amount of bonus symbols landed:
- 3 bonus symbols: 10 free spins
- 4 bonus symbols: 12 free spins
- 5 bonus symbols: 15 free spins
The amount of free spins matter because the bonus can escalate quickly. All of the standard symbols on the pay table start out at a 1x pay. Each time it pays, the multiplier increases, starting with 5x, then 10x, 15x, 20x and capping at 25x. So if you land the same symbols repeatedly, the pays even on smaller line hits can get quite exciting.
You can retrigger, but because of the multipliers, you get less additional spins on the retrigger:
- 3 bonus symbols: 5 free spins
- 4 bonus symbols: 7 free spins
- 5 bonus symbols: 10 free spins
One of the symbols is removed from the reels on the bonus, so accordingly a different set of reels is used on free spins. And the top line hit on the top symbols is not multiplied, given it’s already massively higher than any other on the pay table.
Watch and Learn
Here’s RandomSlots with a video that includes the pay table screens for Thai Treasures and two sessions, including a bonus:
Here is a session from TheBigPayback:
