Goblins Cave Slot Review + Legal & Licenced Casino List for 2023

Goblins Cave by Playtech is the unicorn of the online slots world. While it offers a super high RTP – which is set at an astonishing 99.32%, and plenty of features promising a whole world of opportunities, this game is just not available anywhere. But that’s no reason to stop reading about this iconic slot that continues to capture the imagination of many.

Goblins Cave – Legal and Licensed Casinos

This game cannot really be played anywhere. If we ever come across a legal and licensed casino that stocks it, we will update this list accordingly.

Goblins Cave Free Play Demo

The demo version of this game is just as hard to find as the real-money version. If that ever changes, we will be sure to include it!

Goblins Cave Slot Overview

The Goblins Cave slot is a famous yet impossible-to-find release by Playtech, which continues to be listed among the titles with the highest RTP and most sought-after features. But what makes this game so coveted? In this addition to our online slot reviews page, we aim to find out!

Classic payline slots with three reels are the bread and butter of the vintage online casino world. In fact, every gambler knows them as they’ve laid the foundation and groundwork for the modern real money slots.

Commonly featuring symbols such as sevens, fruit, jokers, horseshoes, dollar signs and other icons associated with luck, three-reel slots still maintain their charm and spark nostalgia, especially for veteran players.

Having said all this, Playtech only kept the retro structure of the three reels, three rows and three paylines for Goblins Cave. The theme, on the other hand, was quite daring and imaginative for its time.

In this game, players are invited to explore a goblin’s underground lair, where dozens of treasures abound. These range from golden coins, rings with precious stones, crowns and even the elusive lamp of Aladdin (or a very close lookalike!), which is at the ready to grant you three wishes!

Interestingly enough, the game also has a unique rewards system: here, the goblin spins some kind of mechanical device and, if you’re lucky enough to land the most valuable symbols, you’ll get paid accordingly.

And while this may have seemed like a weird addition when it first hit the market, it’s now seen as the precursor of the money wheel concept, which is used in contemporary slots to trigger random prizes, free spins, and other bonus games.

Moreover, despite being released in 2012, the Goblins Cave slot has been enriched with an abundance of innovative extras, such as Wild substitutions, line bet multipliers, an original Hold Feature, and several bonus games.

But the reason this game is so legendary is its RTP: going up to an astonishing 99.32%, this game is one of the highest-paying slots ever created. And this may just explain why the game is not available at any casinos anywhere!

Goblins Cave Slot Features

Are you ready to plunder all of that goblin loot? Although the game is mostly packed with small value wins (as most rudimentary three-reel slots are), it still delivers quite a bit in terms of extras.

The only real downside to mention is that there are no additional spinning modes offered, such as Autoplay or Turbo Mode.

Players can only spin manually and each extra feature needs to be triggered organically as there are no Bonus Buy features available here.

Wild Substitutions

The game’s Wild symbol is a red ruby with a ‘Wild’ inscribed upon it. Should you land three of these on a vertical active payline, you’ll receive the game’s top payout of 150x your total bet. However, smaller payouts are still awarded if you only land one or two wilds on a bet line.

It’s also important to note that Wild symbols can only fall on the first three rows of the three reels. From this point forward, players can choose if they wish to hold certain symbols or not.

Hold Feature

After you’ve set your stakes and made a first spin, you’ll quickly notice that only the bottom row gets filled with random symbols, ranging from low to high-paying, as well as wilds, scatters, and so on.

On your second spin, you can then choose to trigger the Hold feature from the button just underneath each row. Once activated, any of the previous three symbols can be held in place, while the rest of the reels and rows get filled.

If you’re lucky enough to land only winning symbols on the bottom row on your first spin, they’ll automatically be held in place for the next spin.

Bonus Game

If you’re used to playing brand-new video slots, you’ll appreciate Playtech’s creative genius even more, as it was among the first developers to implement Pick & Click bonus games. As such, you may already be familiar with how they work in practice.

To trigger this bonus game, you’ll need to land three lantern symbols on an active payline, either horizontally or vertically. Once activated, players are transported underground, in a deeper part of the cave, where they will find 11 treasure chests lined up on a wooden board. Your goal is to pick the luckiest ones and be rewarded with instant cash prizes.

All treasure chests contain some kind of reward, big or small, so you won’t leave the round empty-handed! After all rewards have been collected, you’ll be taken back to the base game.

Pro tip!

Use the Hold feature to hold onto the lanterns!

Goblins Cave Slot RTP & Volatility

Goblins Cave slot can be played with three different RTP scores – 94.5%, 95.7% and 99.32%. If you activate all three paylines and play with the maximum number of coins, you’ll enjoy the game’s top RTP score of 99.32%.

This is, by far, one of the highest RTP scores we’ve seen in a retro slot game and the best odds ever offered by a Playtech launch. And, thanks to its medium level of volatility, you can trigger medium-size wins with decent frequency.

The maximum payout is capped at 150x (between 22.5 – 11,250 in real money), depending on your stake.

Symbols & Paytable

Across European folklore, goblins are often depicted as mischievous spirits and tricksters – which means that, although they appear friendly, they may change their tune when you try to deprive them of their precious gold!

For authenticity purposes, Playtech laid out an impressive assortment of riches as special symbols on the reels, such as:

• Golden coin – pays 1x your stake for three of a kind
• 3 Rings symbol – pays 2x your stake for three of a kind
• Red, Purple and Green Rings – pay between 5x-15x your stake for three of a kind
• Three-Crowns symbol – pays 20x your stake for three of a kind
• Red, Green and Blue Teapots – pay between 20x-50x your stake for three of a kind
• Red, Purple and Green Crowns – pay between 75x-125x for three of a kind
• Red Ruby – Wild symbol, replaces all other symbols aside from the scatter, pays up to 150x your stake for three of a kind
• Lantern – bonus/scatter symbol, three of them trigger the bonus game

Theme, Graphics, Soundtrack & User Experience

As expected from a classic slot, when it comes to the graphics and symbol design, there isn’t much to write home about. Both have an outdated feel, leaving just enough details present to complete the theme.

On the left side of the reels, we can find a geriatric, but friendly-looking goblin, equipped with vintage glasses, cosy house slippers, and a wool turtleneck. He is sitting atop a mountain of golden coins and other valuables.

This quirky protagonist adds interactivity and soul to the experience – from his casual outfit, we can gather that we are, in fact, entering the goblin’s house and participating in a quest. The goblin triggers the reel movements using a mechanical device, with random prizes dropping as we advance into the game.

The only aspect that is slightly less pleasant is the minimalistic, arcade-style soundtrack, which becomes slightly repetitive and annoying after a while. There is no music present, only the celebratory sounds following a win and those of reels filling with symbols.

Stakes & Betting Range

In the Goblins Cave slot, you can toggle between a coin range of one and five per spin, enabling a maximum bet of 75 and a minimum bet of 0.15.

Because the game features three fixed paylines, your bet will be increased by three each time.

On the right side of the screen, you will find three columns – ‘bet’, ‘line bet’ and ‘paid’ – these will help you track your current stakes and wins more easily.

Pro Tip!

If you’re a high roller, you can press the ‘bet max’ button to play with the highest stakes by default.

Goblins Cave Slot Mobile Play

Unfortunately, given the fact that this is such an old-school release, Playtech didn’t have access to the most sophisticated engines when developing the game. As a result, if you want to try it out from a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet with Android/iOS, you may run into some compatibility issues.

Your best bet is to use a desktop device or a laptop and play the game straight from your browser.

Goblins Cave Slot – Pros & Cons

Are you up for the challenge of stealing treasures from under the goblin’s oversized nose? If you’re stealthy and don’t get caught, here’s what to expect from this underground descent:

Our Goblins Cave Slot Verdict

Playtech’s Goblins Cave slot was a successful early attempt at introducing several modern elements to an otherwise outdated slot layout, such as money wheels, free spins, mythical creatures, and reel locking. In fact, this game truly bridges the gap between the past and present and it is our hope that it will one day be available again!

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