Gold Rush Game

Gold Rush Game puts you on a quiet California creek with a steel pan, a shovel and a claim of your own. Scoop gravel from the creek, swirl the pan so the heavy gold sinks, then tilt it gently to wash the sand away and pick out the flakes left at the bottom. Play this gold rush game free online with no download or sign-up, on a computer or a phone.

A little history

The California Gold Rush began in 1848, after gold was found at Sutter’s Mill. Many prospectors worked the streams with simple pans. Panning works because gold is much denser than sand and gravel. When you swirl a pan of wet gravel, the gold sinks to the bottom while the lighter sand rises and washes over the edge.

How to play

• Scoop. Tap the creek, or press Space, to fill your pan with gravel. Each scoop hides a few pieces of gold in sand and heavy black sand.
• Swirl. Drag circles on the pan with your finger or mouse, or hold A or D. Swirling sorts the load: the gold settles to the bottom and the light sand rises to the top.
• Tilt and wash. Raise the tilt with the tilt bar on the right, the Tilt buttons or W and S. In the green zone the water carries the top layer of sand over the lip. In the red zone the pan tips so far that gold slides out as well.
• Keep it wet. Tilting pours water out of the pan. When it runs dry, nothing washes, so dip it back in the creek by tapping the water or pressing Space.
• Pick out the gold. When almost all the light sand is gone, press Pick out gold (or F). The black sand stays behind, as it does in a real pan, and your flakes and nuggets go into your poke.

The assay office, tools and claims

Take your gold to the assay office to sell it for coins. The price per gram changes a little each day. Then buy better gear:

• Large steel pan: holds 40% more gravel, so each scoop has more gold.
• Riffled pan: ridges on the side catch gold, so much less of it washes out when you tilt.
• Sluice box: a wooden trough with riffles that washes gravel on its own and adds gold at the end of every day.
• Rocker: a rocking cradle that washes much more gravel each day than the sluice.

You start on Lower Creek, where a pan holds only a few flakes. Stake Willow Bar, then Upper Creek upstream, then Quartz Gulch for richer gravel and a better chance of nuggets.

Days and weather

A day runs from 8 AM to 6 PM. Scooping, panning and dipping all take time, and at sundown the day ends with a summary of what your sluice and rocker caught. Each new day brings weather. Rain raises the creek: fresh gravel washes down, so pans hold more gold and the sluice catches twice as much, but the faster water also washes your pan faster, so ease the tilt. On hot, dry days the creek runs low and the sluice and rocker get less water.

Goals and free play

There are 10 goals, from panning your first color and making your first sale to finding a nugget, building a rocker and staking Quartz Gulch. Free play opens every tool and claim with no goals, and it is saved separately from your main claim. Your coins, gold, gear, claims and goals are saved in your browser.

Tips

• Swirl first, tilt second. Right after a scoop the gold is still mixed through the sand. A few seconds of swirling sends it to the bottom, where a gentle tilt can’t reach it.
• Stay in the green. A middle tilt washes sand steadily. Going faster in the red zone is how flakes and nuggets go over the lip.
• Buy the sluice early. It pays every day, and on rainy days it pays double.

FAQ

Is Gold Rush Game free?

Yes. It is free to play in your browser with no account or install.

Does it work on a phone?

Yes. Tap the creek to scoop or dip, drag circles on the pan to swirl, and drag the tilt bar or hold the Tilt buttons to tilt.

Why is there black sand left in my pan?

Black sand is heavier than ordinary sand, so it stays near the bottom with the gold. Real panners finish with a little black sand and pick the gold out of it, and the game does the same.

Want to dig deeper? Drill down for ore in our Mining Game, or rope calves on the ranch in the Cowboy Game.