I conclusion, the free version of Buffalo Gold slot allows you to play the game free of charge. Every day, a player receives a wheel spin which enables him or her to win credits to play the slot game. For the additional game credits, you can purchase them in the slot game menu. Therefore, I recommend you to play for the mid stakes.
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Buffalo Slot Machine
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You are more likely to see a Buffalo Gold slot machine in a live casino these days than the original Buffalo title. This Aristocrat slot adds a new twist to the free spins slot bonus. Here you collect golden buffalo heads. As you hit targets, more and more of the regular symbols turn into buffalos – giving you huge big win potential.
More recently, Aristocrat created a new version of Buffalo Gold. This adds a bonus wheel and jackpots to the original game. Buffalo Gold Revolution is covered below, though the focus will be on the hugely popular regular version.
Most of the time you’ll find Buffalo Gold in a mid-sized cabinet. This game often comes in banks of 3 or sometimes carousels. In some casinos you’ll find giant screen variations, which literally tower above you. Buffalo Gold is not yet available at online casinos in the US.
Basics and Game Play for Buffalo Gold.
Like the original Buffalo, you’ll spin over a 4 by 5 grid of reels. An all-ways winning system is used. This means you need symbols on consecutive reels from the left in any position to trigger wins. Denominations vary, with the most common penny version offering bets between 60c and $3,60c.
Wild symbols, showing a sunset scene can appear on the middle 3 reels. These can get multipliers at random, which apply to all the wins they help create. Wild multipliers work together, giving you big win potential when you hit 2 or 3 wilds in a single spin.
Graphics are similar to the older Buffalo slots. The distinctive purple Buffalo symbols pay best. You only need 2 from the left to trigger a win with these symbols. Eagles, Elk, Coyotes and wolves are the remaining original / higher paying symbols. Playing cards aces down to nines are used for the smaller wins.
Collect Gold Buffalo Heads
The Buffalo Gold slot machine is so popular that people that follow it can enter the ’15 head club’. This means that you got the free spins and then collected all 15 of the special golden buffalo heads on the reels.
The free spins are triggered by hitting 3 or more of the gold coins. You get 8, 15 or 20 spins for 3, 4 or 5 of these. While you are in the free spins bonus, just 2 more coins will add 5 more spins to your total.
During your bonus, the sunset wild symbols will always get a multiplier of 2x or 3x.
Gold heads look like sparkling versions of the buffalo symbols – seemingly charging at you from out of the screen. When you get one, you’ll hear a rattlesnake sound effect, and it will move up to the top of the screen – where a meter shows you how many you collected.
As you collect them, the different original symbols turn into buffalo symbols.
- Collect 4: Eagles Change
- Collect 7: Coyotes Change
- Collect 12: Wolves Change
- Collect all 15: Elks Change
By the time you have a couple of these symbols as buffalo, the potential for huge wins with multiple 5 of a kind buffalo, shoots up. Combine these with those wild multipliers and easy retriggers for extra excitement.
Added Wheel Bonus: Buffalo Gold Revolution
The newer version of this game adds a jackpot bonus wheel into the mix. Instead of simply triggering free spins, you get a wheel spin. There are 3 outcomes:
- Free Spins: This simply starts the bonus feature covered above, the number of spins depends on how many bonus symbols you triggered with
- Coin Amounts / Jackpots: Win a progressive jackpot or cash amount, then spin again
- Extra Heads: Get between 1 and 3 gold heads to kick start your spins, then spin again
Each time you spin and do not trigger the free spins, the wheel will upgrade. This adds more gold heads and bigger cash prizes for your next spin.
With sharp new graphics, ‘Revolutions’ adds some extra incentives without straying too far from the game play of the main Buffalo Gold game.
Where in the US Can You Find Buffalo Gold?
No live casino would miss out on offering this hugely popular game. You are likely to find them in groups – often alongside other titles in this range including Buffalo Grand, Buffalo Stampede and Buffalo Diamond. In tribal casinos the class 3 Buffalo Xtreme is offered too.
This game is not restricted to the big-name casinos in West Virginia, New Jersey and Pennsylvania – you’ll find it in states that allow gambling across the country.
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Buffalo Gold has not yet made it online. In states which have regulated online casinos there are plenty of games which aim to emulate the theme and aspects of the game play. With more and more casinos due to appear online in states from Michigan to New Jersey – it may only be a matter of time before the iconic Buffalo Gold slot machine joins them.
Wrapping Up: What Makes Buffalo Gold So Popular?
While the original Buffalo slot has plenty of fans, Buffalo Gold has become the go-to for fans of this series. The solid base game is a big reason to enjoy this title. Wins can come from nowhere, with any line hit with wild multipliers having the potential for 27x on your wins.
It is the free spins bonus which is the main appeal. You will need a few retriggers to hit the top of the gold head collection ladder. As you move up, the screen will slowly fill with the top-paying buffalo symbols. If you are lucky enough to get all 15, especially with those wild multipliers, then you could be looking at some huge hits. Let’s hope this title joins the list of popular Aristocrat slots at legal online casinos in the near future!
Buffalo Slots
If ever there was a genuine legend in the slot machine world, it has to be Buffalo. This game has been the most popular slot in Vegas for so many years now, it's incredible. Buffalo eclipses other hugely famous slots like Cleopatra and Wheel of Fortune, in terms of the number of machines in the casinos and the number of people playing them.
The popularity of Buffalo isn't limited to Vegas, it is massive in casinos all over the US as well as in Canada and Australia. The game is also starting to break into Europe, where Aristocrat games have historically never been particularly prevalent.
It is very easy to find Buffalo slots in every casino in Las Vegas and some casinos have huge areas dedicated to just this one game. One of the best places to play this game is Harrah's, where they have a big area in the middle of the slot floor which has mostly Buffalo.
How many versions of Buffalo Slots are there?
One of the most amazing things about Buffalo, is that every single one of the new versions they produce seems to be a massive success. These new games all retain the best aspects of the original, whilst at the same time, adding new and exciting bonuses and features, which improve on the previous versions and keep the gameplay interesting.
After the original, the next version made was the 'deluxe' version. In that game, the basic play was the same as the first one, but you could choose the multipliers of the Buffalo icons in the bonus game. If you pick a higher multiplier (up to 5x), then you get fewer free spins, but if you pick a lower multiplier (up to 3x), then you get more free spins.
After the Deluxe version, the next really big version (there were a few minor updates in the meantime) was the Stampede game. This is the one with the elongated screen, where the Buffaloes run up the screen. This game still feels like it is quite new, although it can look a little dated in some casinos, is the screens have started to fade.
Following the Stampede version, came the Buffalo Gold and Buffalo Grand games (they came out quite closely to each other), with their huge screens, amazing sound and a lot of innovative new features like spinning wheels (Wheel of Fortune type thing) and new bonus games.
Buffalo Gold
Taking a look around the Vegas casinos, whichever type of casino you go to (big or small, Strip, Downtown, or off Strip) the most popular of the 'newer' versions seems to be Buffalo Gold. In some casinos there are literally dozens of them on the slot floor!
Buffalo Gold is particularly attractive because you can win a huge amount on the bonus game, even if you only play 40 cents per spin. It has been known for players to win over $4,000 in the bonus round on Buffalo Gold. To do that, you will need to hit all the 15 golden Buffalos during the free spins and then keep re-triggering the game after that.
Online, the only version available is the classic game, albeit an updated one with nice shiny graphics. The mathematics of the free online version (and the real money one, if you happen to live in a country where it is available) is identical to the original Vegas one.
Free Slot Games Buffalo Gold
Buffalo Gold Slots
Buffalo Stampede
Afer the deluxe version was released, the next version to come out was the Buffalo Stampede game. Buffalo Stampede looks very different at first sight, but the game play has kept all the appeal of the original, so it is still great fun. Possibly, it is even better than the original, although it is more expensive to play - 70c per spin minimum!
Buffalo Stampede slots also has lots of new features, which are really exciting. One of these is where the buffalo seems to run straight at you, approaching like it is coming out of the screen, laving the lassoos on the screen.
Another great feature is the one where the buffalos stampede up from the bottom, elongating the screen as they run. As they do this, the number of rows increases, meaning that you can win on a far greater number of pay-lines during the stampede.
Just like Buffalo original, the stampede and deluxe games give you a great chance of re-triggering the free spin bonus when you are playing. This is because you just need two bonus symbols to re-trigger the games, whereas in the main game you need three of them to start the bonus playing.
Buffalo Stampede Slots
Buffalo Grand
Out of all the versions of Buffalo, the Grand edition is possibly the most fun in terms of sheer entertainment value, but probably not in terms of value for money. The game seems to benefit players that bet more, because it has a jackpot that can only be won if you play max bet (unlike the jackpot on the Buffalo Stampede slot, which can be won by any bet)
So, if you play this game on a lower stake, then you will have to put up with a lower payout rate and so you would be likely to lose your cash a bit more quickly, on average. On the other hand, the game has amazing graphics and actually gives players a chance to win really big in normal play and not just the bonus.
The reason you can win big on Buffalo Grand during regular play, even on minimum bet, is because the screen is so huge and has so many paylines. If you line up a whole load of Buffalo on the same screen, you could find yourself getting a huge multiplier.
Buffalo Grand Slots
Less Well-known Versions
At the same time as those three hugely successful games have appeared, there have been some other versions of Buffalo which are also really good, but quite hard to find in the casinos.
For example, there is a game where you can choose the mathematics of the game, in that you can pick the volatility. This version is interesting, because the game actually has different math in different places around the US and in different countries, but with this one you can choose the one you prefer.
There is also a new, but old-fshioned style of game, with 3 reels. This one is very much like the original Wheel of Fortune game in style and appears to be more of a limit game, than a penny slots. Like many 3-reel games, the three-reel Buffalo slots is one you really need to play max bet per line ($3 per spin, or more) to get any type of value from your play.
There is also a massive version of the original in many casinos. This one is so big it's actually hard to focus on the game when you play. It also features a love-seat for two people, so it's a great one for couples and lovers to enjoy.
In addition, a game called Buffalo Max - this game rewards you for betting more and does not appear to be very popular. Possibly, players have rejected it because it feels like you are being punished, if you just want to play for 40 cents per spin, instead of 400 cents.
Most recently, Aristocrat has launched a 'Diamond' version, which features a 4k screen, to celebrate 10 years of the game. Although the game was launched in 2018, to celebrate the decade since it was released in 2008, most casinos will not see it on their slot floor until 2019.
The Buffalo Diamond game has an unusual 'honeycomb' style format to the reels and is bound to be another big hit. Whether it stands the test of time, like the original and many of the latest versions, remains to be seen. Only time will tell.
Real Money Buffalo Slots
To play Buffalo slots for real money online, you will need to be in a country where Aristocrat games are available in online casinos. This includes the UK and some other European countries, but does not include the US, Canada, or Australia, Unfortunately.
That said, there are quite a few 'copies' or close 'emulations' of the game available (unofficial versions) in several online casinos. To find these games, please visit our real money slots page, where you can find the best casino to play.
Fans of the Aristocrat games in Australia and New Zealand will generally know and love them as Pokies, rather than a 'slot machines'. Pokies are the term used for slots and video poker - see our online pokie casinos page for more details
The same terminology is also used in New Zealand casinos. and you will find the same games in New Zealand as you find in Australia.
Buffalo online pokies is definitely one of the most popular games out there and you will be sure to see this one along with other Aristocrat classics, like Zorro, Big Ben, Wild Panda, More Hearts, More Chili, Wicked Winnings and Where's the Gold.
In Canadian casinos, the Buffalo slot game is as much loved as it is in the USA, including Las Vegas, Reno and Atlantic City. What you will find though, is that the payout table might be much different. For some reason, the payouts on Buffalo vary from place to place. I have no idea why, but I do know that my favorite is the one in Las Vegas.
Similar Games Online, to Play for Real Money
If you would like to play games online that are similar to the Buffalo slot machine - that is, with the same mathematics (the 243 winning lines) and with similar free spin bonus games, then the best game to play would be Jaguar Mist. It is essentially the same game as Buffalo, but with a different theme. Jaguar Mist used to be available online, but it got taken down in 2018, so you have to go to a bricks and mortar (land-based) casino to play now.