Sometimes a video slot gets so much hyped up before its release that expectations are raised sky high. Then the game disappoints. But this has not been the case with Playboy Gold that went live at Microgaming online casinos last week. It has been making waves at sites like Royal Vegas, Roxy Palace and Jackpot City. There were some misgivings because Playboy Gold was being developed by a new entrant Triple Edge Studios. But these also have been put to rest. Triple Edge can definitely give the big boys a run for their money.

The artwork is outstanding The Playboy Bunnies Stephanie, Hiromi, Cia and Carly stand outside the reels beckoning players. The reels structure is unique. It has 6 reels, 10 rows and 100 fixed paylines. The total bet is 50 times the line bet. The high paying symbols are four differently coloured Playboy bunny logos, each of which represents one of the girls. These are followed by gold and silver casino chips and the four playing card suits. The gold chip is the wild symbol.

The innovations in Playboy Gold keep coming. The four middle reels spin together and include 4x6 jumbo blocks of the Playboy Bunnies. Each cell in the block converts to the corresponding bunny logo if line payouts are to be made. If you land the entire jumbo block of any of the girls on the reel set then one of three features is randomly awarded. These include a payout multiplier of up to 5x on all wins and a bonus payout of up 30x the total bet. But the Respins feature is easily the most exciting. The jumbo block expands to cover the entire central reels and gets locked in place. Reels 1 and 6 containing only wilds and blanks respin up to four times. The wilds at the end of each respin also get locked. The payouts are awarded after the last respin.

Three Playboy ring symbols anywhere on the reels trigger the wheel bonus. The wheel is spun to determine which feature is awarded. One offers a bonus of up to 100x the bet. The second awards 10 free spins with a guaranteed full jumbo block on each spin. In the Match Bonus you have to pick cards till you get a matching pair of the same girl. The girl then awards the payout assigned to her. If you get a match in the first two picks you win the prizes allotted to all four girls.