Going back to the interesting theme and visual design, Aureus is highly reminiscent of old school cartoons. For those unaware, an Aureus is an ancient Roman golden coin. This ties into the theme, though in a fairly scattered way.
The setting is apparently Mount Olympus, going by the artwork. This in itself isn’t unusual as far as online pokies go. What is unusual is the vibrant cartoony graphics, seemingly inspired by old school cartoons. To the left of the grid is a mighty deity, and one would expect that it was Zeus, since he rules over Mount Olympus. This seems to be Jupiter instead, going by the staff. Either way, the artwork is appealing, demonstrating that the designers at Crazy Tooth Studio are clearly a talented bunch.
The background showcases a stunningly bright colour palette that strongly resembles early Disney, which certainly isn’t a bad thing. A great temple stretches up to the sky, backed by a pleasant green meadow. Meanwhile, who might be either Jupiter or Zeus can be seen watching over the grid, animated in an extremely convincing manner. It is all rather engaging, and certainly striking as far as pokie themes go.
The symbols, as would be expected from the title, are all coins. Silver, bronze and gold coins litter the reels, coming in a variety of sizes. It seems like it might be a bit bland, but each individual coin is so richly designed, and incredibly detailed that it all simply adds to the atmosphere.
Each coin comes with a value, ranging broadly between 5 and 300. How you potentially get your hands on the coins is, of course, where things get interesting!
Entertaining Simplicity
CoinVerge is certainly an unusual concept, going against virtually everything seen in other online pokies. The system works as follows; once the reels are spun, a set of brackets are randomly assigned to either side of the grid. Where the brackets align, a collection area is created. All coins within the collection area are awarded to the player. It’s simple, yet elegant, and will likely be making an appearance in a few more pokies in the future.
As far as bonuses are concerned, it is mostly what might be expected in a slot game. Randomly, a special coin will appear on the reels, and if falling within the collections area will grant a special feature. Multiplier adds a multiplier to the other coins in the collection. Upgrade transforms all low paying coins into high paying coins. Collect Column awards all coins within the column. Collect All awards all coins on the grid, and Respin awards 2, 3 or 5 respins. Note that the Respin can be retriggered, assuming that another coin with the same bonus lands within the bracket. This means that huge payout potential can be unlocked with a single spin, assuming that the player is lucky.
Last is the Lightning feature, which is where Jupiter lends the player a helping hand. At random Jupiter may feel the urge to provide a blessing, and will blast the reels with lightning. When he does so a new bracket will appear, guaranteeing a win for that particular spin.