Midas Golden Touch 2

Midas Golden Touch 2: Slot Overview

'All that glitters is not gold' as the saying goes, unless you happen to be King Midas when he was deep in golden touch mode. In which case, you can just touch any old thing and transform it into gold. The problem is, King Midas' 'gift' turned out to be a curse because there was no off switch – literally everything he touched turned into the valuable metal. That would make eating, performing ablutions, and getting intimate tricky endeavours. Gold is big in the online slot industry, though, making King Midas ideal subject matter. He worked a measure of magic for 2019's Midas Golden Touch from Thunderkick, so the question now is, will he drum up the same amount of enchantment for the sequel, Midas Golden Touch 2?

If the first graphical impressions are anything to go by, the outlook is promising. Midas Golden Touch 2 has a feel that is familiar to the original, but the artwork looks sharper, more defined, more Kingly, for want of a better word. A gloriously majestic columned structure is where Midas Golden Touch 2 is held, in the base game and for free spins, which really looks the sort of place a monarch would walk sagely around, casually casting a stay finger on a random object instantly turning into a treasure of untold value. Midas Golden Touch 2 looks good, in other words, and made a rosy visual impression.

The stats, huh, they might start to lose people. The RTP, really, since it's a figure of 94.27% compared to the 96.1% RTP of the original. The volatility is high, and the active gaming area is a 5-reel space, each reel holding 3 rows and crossed by 15 paylines. Bet levels are 10 c to $/€100 per spin, and players can buy the free spins round if they so choose or activate one of the two Bet+ options. One of them is the Bonus Boost, which increases the stake by 50% to make each spin 2 times more likely to trigger the bonus game (RTP 94.55%), or the Bonus Boost Plus, which triples the stake to make each spin 5 times more likely to trigger the bonus game (RTP 94.63%).

For low pay symbols, Midas Golden Touch 2 has 9-A card ranks, worth 5 to 7.5 times the bet for 5-of-a-kind, as well as a treasure box, a goblet, a crown, and King Midas as the highs, paying 15 to 75 times the bet.

Midas Golden Touch 2: Slot Features

Midas Golden Touch 2 sticks to the original game's script for the most part, with its wild symbol multiplier, and free spins with Sticky Respins, as well as a Gift of Midas base game feature, a feature buy, plus an Epic Wild which appears in the free spins round.

Wild Symbol

The wild substitutes for any symbol except the scatter symbol. Any payline including a wild has a multiplier based on the number of wilds in the payline. One wild grants an x2, two wilds grant an x4, 3 wilds grant an x8, 4 wilds grant an x16, and 5 wilds grant an x32. A winning line of wilds has the same base value as the King Midas pay symbol.

Gift of Midas Feature

The Gift of Midas feature can trigger randomly in the base game, adding a special symbol to the reels. When active, the effect adds 1 to 9 wilds or 1 to 3 scatters to the reels in random positions. This feature does not trigger in the bonus game.

Free Spins Bonus

Hitting 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols triggers 8, 10, or 12 free spins, respectively. In the bonus, any win triggers a Sticky Respin feature where the winning symbols in a win line are locked, and the other symbols respin. The respin feature continues until no additional winning symbols are locked. In addition, an Epic Wild symbol is placed on the reels at the start of each free spin. The Epic Wild has a starting multiplier of x2, and it can replace any symbols except the scatter. Collecting 3 scatters fills a meter, doubling the multiplier up to a maximum of x32 and granting +2 free spins. Collected scatters persist during free spins/respins.

Feature Buy

The feature buy lets players buy entrance to the free spins bonus for 100x the bet. The RTP attached to the feature buy is 94.75%.

Midas Golden Touch 2: Slot Verdict

When Midas Golden Touch 2 appeared on the review queue, it evoked a feeling of déjà vu. Didn't we just review this not long ago? No, actually, what rippled through the memory banks was Midas Golden Touch Christmas Edition. That one was an Xmas remake of the original game, meaning it was close to a reskin. Midas Golden Touch 2, by comparison, well, it's not super different to the original either. The graphics have been rebooted; they look shinier by comparison. Especially the floor beneath the gaming grid. That's a nice floor. Very reflective. When reflecting on Midas Golden Touch 2, the gameplay is close, so if you liked what preceded it, there is a very good chance you'll like this version as well.

One little fly in the milk is the lower than usual RTP. After seeing the same sort of figure tarnish Xterminate, it appears this may be a new Thunderkick trend as if its games weren't punishing enough. Where ELK Studios goes, Thunderkick seems to be close behind in this instance. It's a shame because while the RTP gap is arguably undetectable while playing the game, it's like a psychological knitting needle stab in the hand. Not great. Winning potential has been boosted, now weighing in at 15,000x the bet compared to the 10,100x of the original and Christmas version of Midas Golden Touch. However, this is a Thunderkick piece, so, like King Midas, divine intervention might be needed to turn the outcome into something gold and shiny.

To sum up, Midas Golden Touch 2 is not a paradigm shift of a sequel. It's closer in spirit to, 'here, if you liked the first, then have this, it's the same but more.' Well, less when it comes to RTP, and that stat might be the determining factor for deciding whether to choose the original release or part 2 amongst discerning gamblers.