Cash Truck Begins Slot Review
Cash Truck Begins from Quickspin brings about the latest in the series that began to rival the Money Train Series.
Despite its name, Cash Truck began long ago with its first release in 2022. Since then, we’ve had a few follow-ups like Cash Truck Xmas Delivery, a festive take on the explosive carnage, Cash Truck 2, and Cash Truck 3 Turbo.
Cash Truck Begins is the newest, but the oldest chronologically. It takes Cash Truck back to its ‘ruthless roots’, a savage and barren wasteland where brutal clans battle it out. It’ll be a battle for the ages, providing there’s anyone left alive to tell the tale.
Armed to the teeth and ready for chaos, this prequel packs a serious punch with an arsenal of features, a staggering 20,000x max win, and an RTP of 96%.
Base Game & Features
Cash Truck Begins is a 7-high 5-reel slot with up to 16,807 ways to win.
Wins are formed when at least 3 of any matching symbol connect from left to right on adjacent reels, starting from the left-most reel.
The only high-paying symbol is Valeria. Medium paying symbols are Rogar the Red, Thulgrim, Garrik, Swords, Hammer and Axe symbols. Low-paying symbols are Clubs, Spades, Diamonds and Hearts.
There are also Wild Symbols and Big Wild Symbols. Both substitute for all symbols except for the Bonus Scatter.
Tumbling Reels
Symbols in winning combinations are removed, and new symbols drop down to fill the spaces. Tumbling continues if there are new winning combinations.
Expanding Play Area
Each tumble that creates a winning combination expands the play area. This opens up three randomly selected locations from the locked area and the revealing symbol underneath it.
All Base Game rounds start with a play area of 5 reels at a height of 7 symbols, with 3 locked symbol positions above them.
Big Wild
A 3×3 Big Wild will be placed in the centre of the play area. This happens the first time there are no locked spots in the base game after all tumbles have completed.
Second Chance
If there are 2 Bonus Scatter symbols in the open area once all tumbles have been completed, the Second Chance feature will trigger.
The Second Chance Scatter clears the open play area of all symbols except for the 2 Bonus scatters. The play area will be expanded by opening up three randomly selected locations from the locked area, and new symbols will drop down to fill the cleared spaces.
Bonus Game
Landing 3 or more Bonus Scatters in the Base Game awards the Bonus Game.
If there are more than 3 scatter symbols, then the Bonus Game will begin with one extra Expander symbol for each additional Bonus Scatter Symbol.
The Bonus Game will begin with 3 spins. Landing a scatter symbol anywhere during the bonus game will restore the spins to 3. It will end when no spins remain. On each spin, cash and/or special symbols can land. These remain in place for the rest of the Bonus Game unless removed by another feature.
- Cash – The cash symbol adds its value
- Grabber – The Grabber symbol adds the values of all other symbols on the unlocked play area to its own value.
- Brutal Grabber – The Brutal Grabber acts the same as the Grabber, but also triggers on every spin where any other symbol lands thereafter.
- Doubler – The Doubler symbol doubles its value each time the spin counter is reset to 3.
- Zapper – The Zapper symbol doubles the value of all symbols connected to it orthogonally in a chain of symbols upon landing
- Brutal Zapper – The Brutal Zapper symbol doubles the value of all symbols connected to its cluster by touching sides and on every spin where any other symbol lands thereafter throughout the Bonus Game.
- Booster – The Booster symbol adds its value to all other symbols on the unlocked play area upon landing.
- Brutal Booster – The Brutal Booster symbol adds its value to all other symbols in the unlocked play area upon landing on every spin where any other symbol lands thereafter for the duration of the Bonus Game.
- Upgrader – The Upgrader symbol upgrades symbols immediately above, below, to the left, or to the right of the Upgrader symbol. A Cash symbol can be upgraded to a Grabber or a Booster. A Grabber, Zapper, or a Booster gets upgraded to the Brutal version of the symbol.
Max Raid
The Max Raid screen triggers upon reaching the maximum win of 20,000x the bet. When this happens, the bonus game ends.
Bonus Buy
Players may buy the bonus game, with two options available
- 3+ Bonus Scatters – 40x the bet – 96.48% RTP
- 5 Bonus Scatters – 185x the bet – 96.79% RTP
Our Honest Verdict
We’ve always quite liked the Cash Truck Series, and Cash Truck Begins is another good one.
It checks a lot of boxes. Potential? Check. Features? Check. Graphics and Style? Check. It’s a fairly complete package, not at all generic, and we must say – we’re particularly fond of the origin story spin Quickspin have gone for here.
What the Money Train clones seem to lack are modifiers in the bonus round, but Cash Truck Begins has a fairly significant arsenal. The arsenal isn’t quite as effective as Money Train’s, but it can deliver.
It’s a lite version of the acclaimed series, even if its win potential is quite significant. 20,000x vs Money Train’s 50,000, 100,000 and 150,000x means it doesn’t come close to not only Money Train 4, but the ones before it.
Potential isn’t the Be-all and end-all – maybe Quickspin didn’t want a hugely volatile monster, which is fair enough, but it might cost them some of the fans looking for unforgiving volatility.
Another thing we noted was its cheap bonus buy cost. The standard 40x bonus can cost less than some Nolimit City boosters, which had us wondering about the effectiveness of a 3-scatter bonus. In our testing, some were okay, and some were very poor. Some players won’t make this connection as no buy will be available to them, but it certainly doesn’t get us that excited for a normal bonus round.
Overall, it’s a solid game. It won’t rival the great Money Train, but it’s a notable instalment from Quickspin.
*The images found in this slot review are currently from Demo Play. On average, our reviews are written prior to the initial release date and before real play is available.
