Rainbow Riches: a leprechaun from the pub, seen from Ireland

Where the game comes from

Rainbow Riches was designed by Barcrest, a British maker of pub fruit machines that is now part of Light & Wonder. It began on the machines that stood beside the dartboard in pubs and clubs across Britain, moved to bookmakers' terminals and then online in the mid-2000s. That lineage explains its character: a straightforward five-reel game, three separate bonus rounds, and a lot of personality in the sound and the characters.

For an Irish audience the theme is, let us say, a matter of taste. Shamrocks, fiddles and a leprechaun in a green waistcoat are an outsider's Ireland. Plenty of players here enjoy the game anyway, for the simple reason that the bonuses are fun, and it is fair to judge it on those rather than on the costume.

Three bonuses, three different games

The base game uses five reels and twenty lines. Three special symbols each open a different feature, and it is the variety that has kept the game alive:

• Road to Riches. Three or more Road to Riches symbols start a trail. A spinning wheel moves you along it, and each step carries a larger multiplier of your stake. You stop when the wheel says collect.
• Wishing Well. Three wishing wells on the reels take you to a pick screen, where you choose one of the wells to reveal a multiplier.
• Pots of Gold. Three pots on the middle reels trigger a pick in which a bronze, silver or gold pot reveals a cash multiplier.

There are no free spins in the original. That surprises players raised on modern slots, but it is the pub-machine structure: bonus games that resolve in one screen and send you straight back to the reels.

The number worth knowing: 95%

The classic Rainbow Riches has a published return to player of around 95%, lower than the 96% or more common in newer online releases. It is also one of the games where operators can select lower settings still. That is a real cost, and it is the reason we would not recommend it as a game to grind through a bonus.

Read the other way round: on the same €500 of total stakes in an evening, the expected cost here is about €25, against about €16 on Big Bass Bonanza. You can decide the character and the bonus games are worth the difference. It is just better to decide it knowingly.

The spin-offs

Barcrest has built a franchise on the original: Rainbow Riches Pick'n'Mix lets you choose which bonus features are active, Megaways and Reels of Gold versions change the grid, and Drops of Gold and other editions add modern modifiers. Each has its own RTP and volatility, and several are higher-variance than the gentle original. If you liked the 2000s game, the Pick'n'Mix edition is the closest in spirit.

Who the game suits

• Players who enjoy frequent, short bonus games more than long free-spins rounds.
• Low-stake sessions where the entertainment is the point and the ceiling does not matter: the top prizes are modest by modern standards.
• Anyone nostalgic for the pub machines, who knows the RTP is lower and is happy to pay a little more for the familiarity.

If you want an Irish-themed slot with more modern maths, look at the bigger catalogues and filter by theme; there are many. Our popular games hub lists the titles Irish players search for most, and the online slots guide explains how to read a paytable in a minute.

Where to find pub-style and Irish-themed slots

Barcrest-style bonus games and leprechaun themes turn up in most big lobbies. These are the five sites we cover, with what each brings for this kind of player.