Money Mania Cats Slot Review
An acacia tree stands silhouetted against an amber African sky, dry grass hazing the bottom of the screen, and a purple graffiti-script logo splashed over the top of it. Money Mania Cats is a game where the same three symbols on a payline can pay two very different amounts, because what matters isn’t the symbols you see – it’s how many cats are inside them.
The interesting part is that this isn’t a symbol-matching game in the usual sense. IGT have built the paytable around counting cats rather than lining up single icons. It runs on a 5×4 grid with betting fixed at 30 paylines, and there’s no published RTP figure – this is a jackpot game on its own terms.
Cleopatra and Rainbow Riches are the natural IGT comparisons, with Cash Eruption the closer match on the jackpot side.
Base Game & Features
The reels carry four big cats – lion, leopard, panther and cougar – alongside A, K, Q and J card symbols. The twist is that cat symbols come in two forms: singles holding one cat and doubles holding two of the same cat. Wins are counted by the number of matching cats on a payline, left to right, not by the number of symbol positions.
That’s the whole engine of the game, and it’s a good one. A payline carrying three double cats pays as six matching cats, so the same visible line can be worth wildly different amounts depending on which version of the symbol landed. A line of three singles and a line of three doubles look identical at a glance – they aren’t.
Split Symbols
The doubles are the feature doing the quiet work. A single symbol position can contribute one or two cats to a win, which is how the longer combinations become reachable on a 30-line grid. Without doubles, the top cat combinations would need more positions than a payline can hold.
The Logo Symbol is wild and substitutes for everything except the Paw and Double Paw symbols, and when it substitutes it always counts as two matching cats. That makes it the most valuable single position on the reels.
It can’t stand in for the paw prints, so the bonus triggers stay honest.
Paw Print Bonus
Paw prints land on reels 2, 3 and 4 as single or double symbols, and they build towards the free spins round:
- 5 paw prints revealed awards 5 spins
- 6 paw prints revealed awards 10 spins
- 3 Double Paw symbols is the 6-pack route to the 10-spin round
Because the paws themselves come in single and double form, the same three reel positions can deliver either total. Two doubles and a single makes 5; three doubles makes 6 and doubles the spin count from 5 to 10.
The bonus plays on different reels from the base game, at the same bet as the triggering spin, and it cannot be retriggered. 5 spins is a short round by any standard, so the 6-paw version is the one worth chasing.
Money Mania Cats Wheel Bonus and Jackpots
The Wheel Bonus triggers when 3 Wheel Bonus scatter symbols overlay reels 1, 3 and 5, and it can also be awarded at random after a spin that contained 1 or 2 of them. One spin of the wheel is the award, and the multiplier it lands on applies to the total bet of the triggering spin.
Two things don’t get multiplied: the Money Jackpot and Mania Jackpot awards pay flat. The wheel itself changes with your stake – a different wheel is used at different total bets, so higher stakes are looking at a different prize structure, not just bigger versions of the same one.
The wheel can only be awarded once per base game, so a second trigger in the same game isn’t on the table.
Jackpot Bonus
The Jackpot Bonus is awarded within the Wheel Bonus, and it’s a hold-and-climb round built on rows rather than a grid. It starts with 3 respins and row 1 active:
- Each symbol position is a separate reel during the respins
- Rows 1-7 contain only Green Paws, Money Balls and blanks; row 8 holds only Money Balls and blanks
- Only one Green Paw may appear in each row
- A Green Paw or Money Ball landing on an unlocked reel in an active row locks that reel and resets the respins to 3
- A Green Paw or 5 Money Balls in an active row activates the row above it
- Each Money Ball in an active row awards a cash prize
- All 5 reels locking in an active row awards that row’s prize
A round runs like this: respins tick down until something lands on an unlocked reel in an active row. That reel locks for the rest of the bonus and the counter snaps back to 3. Keep landing and the climb keeps going; the round only ends when 3 consecutive respins bring nothing new to the active rows.
Eight rows is a deep ladder, and the rows carry different prizes – locking all 5 reels in a row pays that row’s prize rather than the symbols on it. The reset-on-lock rule means a single round can keep climbing as long as something new keeps landing. The top of the ladder is where the game’s real ceiling sits.
Our Honest Verdict
Overall Rating: 7.7/10
This is a game that rewards paying attention under the golden-hour savannah. The one reason to pick it over a dozen other jackpot slots: every spin can quietly be worth double what it looks, and a base game you actually watch is rare on a progressive.
The Jackpot Bonus is the best thing here – the respin reset makes a hot run feel genuinely open-ended, and eight rows give it somewhere to go. The paw-print round is the weakest part: five spins with no retrigger is a thin prize for the work of getting there, and the game publishes no RTP, so you’re trusting the progressives entirely.
It suits patient players who enjoy a climb and don’t need the maths spelled out. Anyone who wants a stated ceiling and open numbers will find this one keeps its claws in.
Money Mania Cats FAQs
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Who makes Money Mania Cats?
Money Mania Cats is made by IGT. -
How many paylines does Money Mania Cats have?
Betting is fixed at 30 paylines. -
What is the grid size of Money Mania Cats?
Money Mania Cats uses a 5×4 grid – five reels and four rows. -
How do Split Symbols work in Money Mania Cats?
Cat symbols come in single and double forms. A double symbol holds two of the same cat, and wins are based on the number of matching cats on a payline from left to right, so doubles count twice towards a combination. -
How is the free spins bonus triggered?
Paw print symbols land on reels 2, 3 and 4 as singles or doubles. 5 paw prints revealed awards 5 spins and 6 paw prints awards 10 spins. The bonus plays on different reels at the same bet as the triggering spin. -
Can the free spins bonus be retriggered?
No, the paw print bonus cannot be retriggered once it’s running. -
How does the Wheel Bonus work?
Three Wheel Bonus scatter symbols on reels 1, 3 and 5 award one spin of the wheel, and the round can also be awarded at random after a spin containing 1 or 2 of the symbols. The multiplier the wheel lands on applies to the triggering bet, though the Money and Mania jackpot awards are not multiplied. -
How does the Jackpot Bonus work?
Awarded within the Wheel Bonus, it starts with 3 respins and row 1 active. Green Paws and Money Balls lock their reels and reset the respins to 3, activating new rows as they fill. Each Money Ball pays a cash prize, and locking all 5 reels in an active row awards that row’s prize.
