Introduction to Bushido Gold
Bushido Gold is a casino slot from ELK Studios, and an unexpected continuation of one of the studio's most renowned series, which was born in 2019. The adventures of a brave explorer, Kane, began in Ecuador Gold and continued through multiple instalments until they reached the final (or so we were led to believe) chapter in Valhall Gold in 2023. Then, a surprising comeback emerged in 2025 as Elysian Gold, and now we're dealing with another one. Even though Kane has supposedly died in the closing part of the saga, venturing to the Norse afterlife, now he's back among the mortals, fighting as a Samurai in the war-torn feudal Japan. As tradition has it, he brings quite an impressive arsenal of features, from cascading and an increasing grid size to big symbols and multiple special symbols with various attractive functions. Let's see how his Japanese incarnation measures up to all the other ones we got to know over the years.
Enter the battlefield and fight for wins up to 25,000x the bet, or try the risk-free demo mode at the top of the page to explore the game's mechanics without putting your real money on the line.
Theme, Gameplay & Payouts
Bushido Gold is a video slot from ELK Studios with 6 reels, 4-8 rows, and 4,096 ways to win, which can grow to much higher numbers if the grid is in its maximum size. Before starting your session, you can choose your stake from a range of options, from a Min.bet of 0.2 up to a Max.bet of 100. Considering the game's default RTP of 94.00%, which is significantly lower than industry standards, typically ranging from 96% to 96.5%, you should be prepared for potentially lower long-term returns. The math model combines medium-high volatility, which distributes more value to high wins while making them slightly less frequent, with a max win capped at 25,000x the bet. The base game hit frequency is 20.9%.
Bushido Gold, despite being set during one of the wars that ravaged Japan, begins peacefully, with an emotional soundtrack intertwined with gusts of wind leading the atmosphere, making you feel like walking through the golden grass fields visible in the background. Dark clouds hang over the horizon, like morbid messengers heralding the upcoming turbulent events. The entire scene, even though clearly touched by the aura of destruction, still beams with Samurai pride and resilience through intricate symbols falling into the space between two massive red pillars in the middle. If you're ready to embark on this mythical journey, you can launch the game on any modern device, whether your prefer to play on a desktop, a smartphone, or a tablet.
The paytable is divided into three distinct groups of symbols, which award payouts whenever you match at least 3 identical ones on adjacent columns, starting from the leftmost one. The low-paying icons come in the form of Japanese-style card ranks, such as J, Q, K, and A, awarding 0.3x the bet for matching 6 on a winning way. Emblems with images of fish, a lizard, a stork, and a fox represent the mid-paying symbols. Those pay from 0.8x to 1x the bet when 6 matching ones align on adjacent reels. The high-paying icons come in the form of Samurai masks in colours of blue, green, and purple, plus the portrait of Kane himself, awarding from 2x to 5x the bet for complete ways of 6. In addition, there are several special symbols available in the game, including Wilds, The Ninja, Cannons, and Bonus symbols.
Special Features & Slot Mechanics
What is the max win in the slot Bushido Gold?
You can win up to 25,000x the bet.
What features are available in the slot Bushido Gold?
The features are Cascading & Expanding Grid, Big Symbols, Exploding Wilds, Slice, The Ninja, Cannons, Bonus Game, and Feature Buy (X-iter).
Cascading & Expanding Grid
The cascading mechanism offers the possibility of scoring multiple wins within the same spin. Each winning combination disappears from the grid, leaving empty spaces behind to which the remaining symbols fall. Next, new icons will drop in to complete the view and potentially award more hits. Additionally, each consecutive cascade increases the height of all reels by 1 symbol, up to a maximum of 8. The sequence continues until no new wins can be created.
Big Symbols
All regular paying symbols can land in four sizes: 1x1, 2x2, 3x3, or 4x4. Each Big Symbol is counted as the number of single symbols it contains. Whenever empty spaces are created underneath a Big Symbol, they will be filled by single instances of the same type.
Exploding Wilds
Wilds perform a traditional role of substituting for regular symbols when winning ways are evaluated. Additionally, at the end of the round, they explode, removing standard symbols around them and activating any special ones caught in the blast zone.
Slice
When two matching symbols appear on the leftmost and the rightmost columns on the same row, the Slice feature is activated. It cuts all symbols on that row into two and activates any special ones.
The Ninja
The Ninja is a dormant symbol until activated by the Exploding Wild or the Slice feature. It releases between 2 and 10 throwing stars into random positions, which turn into Wilds or activate special symbols.
Cannons
Three types of Cannons appear on the reels, and each needs to be activated before it awards its respective feature.
Cannon = shoots up a pillar of Wild symbols that covers all spaces toward the top of the grid.
Big Cannon = a 2x2 symbol that shoots 2 adjacent pillars of Wild symbols.
Golden Cannon = shoots up a pillar of Wild symbols that expands the grid to the maximum size of 8 rows.
Bonus Game
Gathering 3 or more Bonus symbols on the grid at the end of a base game spin triggers the Bonus Game. You receive 6 Ninja Drops and 2 extra ones for each additional Bonus symbol in the triggering combination. Throughout the game, The Ninja symbol appears on every drop.
Feature Buy (X-iter)
Like many other games from ELK Studios, the Bushido Gold slot comes with the X-iter menu, which contains several options for triggering features and bonuses at a set price.
2.5x = Bonus Hunt with a 3-times higher chance of triggering the Bonus Game.
5x = Mega Hunt with a 6-times higher chance of triggering the Bonus Game.
25x = guaranteed maximised grid and a Slice feature.
100x = Regular Bonus Game.
500x = Super Bonus Game, with a maximised grid on every drop.
Final Thoughts on Bushido Gold
We feel like many seasoned players, upon seeing Bushido Gold, will think what we thought: do we really need another one? The series, even though consisting of nine instalments at the time of Valhall Gold release, seemed to have gone out on a high. There was plenty of variety in features injected into the same cascading, expanding grid, and most of the locations used as the setting were unique. Well, that last chapter set in the Norse afterlife might have been an exception, but on account of a solid previous track record, you could let it slide. Compared to all those compelling adventures, Bushido Gold comes across as a bit generic. The scene, despite its usual top-tier graphics and impeccable gameflow, operates on commonly used in slots imagery revolving around feudal Japan and samurai. Given ELK's usual ingenuity when coming up with engaging themes, this one feels like a choice made by someone who just wanted to push out the next Gold part without giving it too much thought. It's still consistent throughout, with mechanics properly supported by the visuals, but we can't shake the impression that the usual edge brought by an unusual place is missing here.
Feature-wise, Bushido Gold is sharp and to the point. There are no revolutionary ideas here, either, but the smooth coexistence of several powerful functions does the job. Cannons are a true powerhouse, capable of flooding the reels with loads of Wilds, working hand in hand with the expanding grid. The Slice is a nice touch as well, further magnifying the significance of growing reels and pushing the usual 262,144 ways limit to new heights. Fusing those elements together, you've got the mysterious Ninja symbol with the power of creating even more Wilds in random positions, and providing even more assistance during the Bonus Game, where it's constantly present on the grid. All in, the setup is cleaner than some of the previous Gold series, which can also makes it look more robust.
Bushido Gold carries a lot of force in its straightforward features, although it lacks the usual spark of audiovisual ingenuity common to many of the previous parts of the series.
