Where's the Gold feature: the Dynamite trigger, the character pick and the gold wilds

Trigger

3, 4 or 5 scattered Dynamite, anywhere on the reels

Scatter pay on the trigger

2, 10 or 50 × total bet

Free games

Up to 10, equal to the nuggets under your character

Gold wilds

Up to 3 symbols turn gold; they substitute for all but Dynamite

Retrigger

Yes, during the feature

Bet in the feature

Same bet and lines as the spin that triggered it

Step 1: three Dynamite

The feature starts when “3, 4 or 5 scattered DYNAMITE” land anywhere on the reels in one spin [1]. They don’t need a payline, and they pay on their own before the feature begins: 2 times your total bet for three, 10 times for four, 50 times for five [2].

The rules say three, four or five all trigger the same feature. Nothing in the help file gives more free games for more Dynamite; the extra Dynamite show up in the scatter pay.

Step 2: pick a character

Next, the game asks you to “Pick a character”. In the rules: “Select a character. The selected character is denoted with a spotlight” [1].

Each character has a window below it. What appears in that window is your prize:

• Nuggets are free games. “The number of free games won is equal to the number of NUGGET appearing in the window directly below the spotlight” [1].
• Symbols become gold. Symbols that appear in the window are replaced “by GOLD SYMBOLS during the free games” on the reels [1].

The help file sums it up: “WIN up to 10 Free Games and up to 3 wild gold symbols” [1]. Aristocrat’s own showroom put the symbol part plainly: “each symbol collected turns all occurrences of that symbol WILD during the Free Games” [5]. Who the characters are is on the characters page.

Step 3: the free games with gold wilds

During the free games, “GOLD SYMBOLS are WILD and substitute for all symbols except scattered DYNAMITE” [1]. If your character’s window showed the wagon and the letter K, every wagon and every K that lands during the free games arrives in gold and fills in for anything else on a line.

The gold symbols are drawn as golden versions of the regular ones: a gold prospector, gold wagon, gold MINE, gold pick and shovel, and gold A, K, Q and J [2]. They pay as wilds on the same paytable as the base game.

Two more rules apply in the feature:

• “Bet and lines played are the same as the game that triggered the feature” [1]. A feature won on 25 lines at 2 cents a line, $0.50 a spin, plays out at 25 lines and 2 cents.
• “Feature can be triggered again during the feature” [1]. Three Dynamite during the free games give you another pick; “the number of features remaining is indicated by the number next to NUGGET”.

Is there a best character?

Aristocrat’s rules don’t say one character is better than another. The pick decides which window you open; the rules describe the contents only as nuggets and symbols, up to 10 free games and up to 3 gold wilds. Nothing in them points to a pattern in which character pays more, and the cheats and tips page explains why no pattern of picks can be learned.

How the feature differs in the newer versions

The Cash Express Luxury Line version keeps the classic’s idea and states the numbers: five characters, 3 to 10 free games, one to three symbols. The Jackpot Carnival Deluxe version is a different game that shares the name; its hammer climbs the reels for multipliers instead. The Aristocrat page sets out all four games called Where’s the Gold.