Rainbow Riches History

by The Wombat on 07-Nov-22

Let’s talk about one of the most famous online slot games today: Rainbow Riches. We stock multiple Rainbow Riches variants at Wombat Casino. It’s such a great game, why wouldn’t we?

Why is this Irish themed game so popular? Originally, it launched in pubs and clubs in the UK, spread into bookies, and then mushroomed online. There’s no stopping the little green leprechaun!

The Full History of Rainbow Riches

This casino game can make a claim to be the most popular slot game in the United Kingdom. It was originally developed by Barcrest, who focused on a popular slot theme: Ireland. Well, they do say that the Irish are a lucky bunch. You’ll be seeing plenty of rainbows, leprechauns, and gold and silver coins across the reels.

The first Rainbow slot hit the market in 2008 and it had two reel sets, one for the 5×3 reels and one for its famous bonus feature. This was the “Road To Riches” feature of course, a Wheel-of-Fortune type side game.

It was very successful and spread into pubs and betting shops across the land: a fast video slot machine with a good pay out structure and entertaining game play.

Which is the best Rainbow Riches game?

Due to its success, new Rainbow Riches games followed. Rainbow Riches Slingo came out in 2018 which combines the Rainbow Riches slot with bingo.

Next came the Megaways version which came out in 2019 with a licenced Megaways win system from BTG.

Rainbow Riches games: a Chronology

Since the original game, there have been 27 new variants launched and the list continues to grow. Here is a timeline of the launches:

2008 – The original version, and still the most popular.
2009 – The classic game with more features
2012 -Pick ‘n Mix
2016 – Leapin’ Leprechauns
2016 – Rainbow Riches Reels of Gold
2017 – Free Spins version
2018 – Fortune Favours
2018 – Drops of Gold
2018 – Home Sweet Home
2018 – Slingo version of this popular casino slot
2018 – Home Sweet Home
2019 – They launch the Megaways version
2020 – Pots of Gold
2019 – Leprechauns Gold
2020 – Cluster Magic
2020 – Midnight Magic
2020 – Jackpot o’ Luck (Roxor Gaming)
2020 – Rising Wins (Roxor Gaming)
2021 – Race Day
2021 – Cash Cluster
2021 – Power Mix
2021 – Rainbow Reveal (Light & Wonder)
2022 – Rainbow Frenzy
2022 – Piles of Cash (Light & Wonder)
2022 – Power Pitch (Light & Wonder)
2022 – Crops of Cash (Light & Wonder)
2022 – Megaquads

Who Are Barcrest?

And what of the company behind this smash hit success, Barcrest?

Barcrest was around when online casinos were still in short trousers: they’ve been making games since, 1968, creating fruit machines for casinos, pubs, bars and betting shops, and they have become a leading name in the UK casino industry.

In 1998, Barcrest was bought by US giant IGT (of Cleopatra fame), but the subsidiary continued to operate as Barcrest. This helped IGT to expand into European markets, while Barcrest picked up new players around the world.

In 2011, Scientific Games bought Barcrest from IGT for $33 million.

They are still going strong and the story continues!

Other Developers

Most of our favourite leprechaun games were developed by Barcrest, but there have also been a few releases by Light and Wonder (who are owned by SG Digital like Barcrest) and Roxnor.