EN
14 February 2023 
Murder is afoot, but who, what, where, why and how? In a crime-ridden city where nobody can be trusted and malevolence is around every corner, it’s up to you to follow the clues and apprehend the suspect.
We’re delving into the gritty underworld of crime in a detective themed video slot from NetEnt, Cash Noire Slot.
If you play enough games you’ll know that NetEnt is a consistent and imaginative developer, and the brains behind Starburst, Gonzo’s Quest and the massively popular Dead or Alive Series.
Who’d have thought you’d swap the life of an outlaw to become a man/woman of the law?
Crime Doesn’t Pay
NetEnt have done well in projecting the imagery of a dark and dreary setting. A dimly lit detectives office, and the silhouette of a woman smoking a cigarette deep in thought fills the backdrop.
You’ll also see a board of clues, displaying various things from newspaper cut-outs, murder weapons and the man suspected of the unthinkable. Where the design really stands out though, is the audio.
The music is suspenseful and evocative of a forewarning that trouble Is stirring, and once you spin the reels you’ll hear the musings of the detective as he contemplates evidence so far, and things he’s learned along the way.
“Never trust a woman with a grudge”. Sound advice from the detective that we can all heed warning from.
The Mechanics of the game are fairly simple, with a little bit of a twist. The game works on 1024 paylines, active at all times.
This means that no matter where a symbol lands, you’ll bag a win as long as you have 3 matching symbols on consecutive reels from left to right, starting from the leftmost reel.
Bets start as low as 0.20 and go as high as 150 and NetEnt have given the players the option to display the bet as coins within the settings, you can also disable the detective voiceover, if you so wish.
The Base Game
The Base game is pretty simple, we’ve got nothing big in terms of in game features here like we might with some others games. Your main objective is to get to the bonus.
As mentioned, wins will pay from left to right if 3 or more matching symbols are adjacent to each other. The game also features what NetEnt are calling an ‘Avalanche’, where wins will disappear from the reels, to make room for new symbols to fill their space.
This will be helpful in racking up those consecutive hits, and quite necessary because of how you reach the bonus in this game.
The aforementioned twist to the base game is The Crime Zone. The Crime Zone is identified on screen as a red hotspot, which will initially surround 3 positions on the reel.
The Crime Zone is how you’ll reach the bonus in this game. Consecutive hits will be needed in order to continually get wins within the zone, and after enough hits the zone will expand, giving the player the opportunity to more easily obtain ascension to the bonus.
The number of symbols you clear from The Crime Zone will determine how many spaces towards the bonus you will move, because each winning symbol inside the zone will activate an item from the list. 13 clues will be needed to activate the free spins.
To further aide you on your quest for justice is the Mystery Symbol. When there are no wins on the reels after a spin or an Avalanche, the mystery symbol will transform itself, which could help you to carry on the chain of hits. If this mystery symbol should happen to land outside of The Crime Zone, then it will reveal a random symbol.
If it happens to land within the zone, then it will expand, covering the entirety of the zone and clone itself. This is particularly helpful when The Crime Zone is at its maximum size of 5, and a hit here could send you a massive 5 spaces closer to the free spins.
City Chase Map Bonus
You’ve got a lead and it’s time to apprehend the perp. The City Chase Bonus will commence when 13 clues have been cleared from The Clue List, and you will be awarded 6 spins.
During free spins there is an active multiplier, starting at 1x, and The Crime Zone covers 5 spaces as standard, and will not reset between spins. A map will appear on screen with spaces in increments of 1 between you, and additional enhancements.
Hits will be needed in The Crime Zone to progress towards these enhancements, and symbols that are part of a winning bet way unlock the same amount of locations on the map.
The Multiplier will increase by 1 for every 7 locations you unlock, and along the way you’ll also unlock additional spins to help you get there.
There is a limit to how far you can get in the bonus. Your max multiplier will be x10. When you get there, the map will disappear from the play area and you’ll be awarded 3 extra spins, giving you a chance to win with your newly obtained multiplier.
Our Verdict
Cash Noir has all the thrills, and will make you think you’re Sherlock Holmes. It’s a fun and suspenseful game and The Crime Zone mechanic really puts an interesting spin on things.
Those who enjoy a murder mystery will have found their niche with this enjoyable instalment from NetEnt and as per usual, NetEnt are thinking about a variety of different formats, so you can enjoy this game on PC, IOS and Android.
It can seem at first like the bonus is unobtainable due to the number of steps needed to actually get there, but it’s actually not too bad, and you’ll certainly enjoy the aspect of hitting those consecutive wins to reach it.
On the other hand, the game will certainly rile you up when you get close and lose your progress when no winning combinations fall into place.
Cash Noir is a low volatility game, so you can expect to win more often, but in smaller amounts. I don’t think we’ll be seeing anything astronomical in the way of wins here with its low potential, and it definitely won’t provoke the same admiration from fans that some of NetEnt’s other instalments have.
Nonetheless, you’ll find this one pleasing aesthetically, you’ll find it interesting and you should definitely give it a go.
Case Closed.
Welcome Bonus
