We’ve all thought about that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow at some point or other. It’s in movies, fairytales and books, in which there’s something about a leprechaun in green clothes with an Irish accent that enchants us. It’s no surprise that the slot game Rainbow Riches is one of the most popular slot games in the UK.
As a luck-based game, Rainbow Riches features all of the classic themes that we crave when looking for a lucky break with a fun casino game that doesn’t require a great level of difficulty. There’s four leaf clovers, leprechauns, and gold and silver coins that have been carefully crafted by Barcrest Game Studios to keep players coming back to the game, time after time.
Below, we’ll take a look at the history of rainbow riches and how it has become so successful as the modern game it is today.
The history of Rainbow Riches
The first rainbow riches slot game was released in 2008 as a traditional slot machine in a brick and mortar venue. The slot machine had two screens, with one for 5×3 reels and one for the special feature called Road to Riches. This feature offered players even more opportunities to win and featured a wheel of fortune style of playing.
Rainbow Riches was the most popular slot game of its time and could be found in pubs and entertainment venues across the UK. Some of the major benefits of the game included its quick pace and great rewards system that offered a higher return rate than other slot machines of its time.
The jackpot for the early version of the game was £500 – it was rare that players would win this. Part of the draw in of the game was that it was so easy to play and the theme offered excitement that players could discover the pot of gold.
The Rainbow Riches brand
Rainbow Riches couldn’t have become what it is today without a strong brand. The game first developed its strong wide-reaching reputation through an abundance of available slot machines across the UK.
Standing out from the crowd of standard ‘fruit machines’, Rainbow Riches could be considered as one of the earliest versions of themed slot games. While the theme is simple, it’s a timeless classic that draws on Irish magic and fairytales which helps players to escape from the real world and get lost in the excitement of finding the riches at the end of the rainbow.
This strong theme helped Rainbow Riches to dominate the market and become the success it is today in which many players of casino games instantly recognise the game, as well as those that have never played before.
Rainbow Riches today
Today, Rainbow Riches has been transformed into an online offering in order to keep up with the rate of digital advancements. Thanks to this, Rainbow Riches is now accessible to players across the world, rather than the audience it started out with in British pub scenes.
The online offering meant that players could now access their favourite slot games from anywhere, whether it was on the go on a mobile phone, from the comfort of home at 2am in the morning, or even on a remote beach if there’s a Wi-Fi connection. Thanks to this increased exposure, Rainbow Riches continued to increase in revenue.
The Rainbow Riches spin-off
As the slot game continued to succeed, a new version of Rainbow Riches was released in 2018, called Rainbow Riches Slingo. Given the popularity of bingo in the UK too, the makers of Rainbow Riches decided to go one step further by combining the traditional slot game with bingo to make it appeal to an even wider target audience.
Rainbow Riches Slingo is a truly unique slot game where players select their wager before they start playing. In order for a player to win Rainbow Riches slingo, they need to get as many slingos as possible. A slingo is a combination of five symbols from one side of the grid to the other.
In 2019, yet another version of Rainbow Riches was released called Rainbow Riches Megaways. Megaways provided even more entertainment as it added a huge 117,649 ways to win. There’s also an exciting new feature where players can purchase a bonus game for a higher-priced bet, known as Buy A Bonus.
To date, there are around 9 different versions of the Rainbow Riches game. These include:
- 2008 – The first version
- 2009 – Rainbow Riches with extra features
- 2012 – Rainbow Riches Pick ‘n Mix
- 2017 – Rainbow Riches Free Spins
- 2018 – Drops of Gold
- 2018 – Rainbow Riches Slingo
- 2018 – Home Sweet Home
- 2019 – Rainbow Riches Megaways
- 2019 – Leprechauns Gold
The slot game Rainbow Riches has been around for a long time. Starting out as a humble slot machine in British pubs, Rainbow Riches is now one of the most famous and most played slot games in the world.