Money Train

How much of Money Train happens inside one bonus round?

Most of it. Money Train is a 5×4 video slot with 40 fixed lines, and nearly everything that sets it apart sits in a single feature: the Money Cart Bonus. The base game has stacked symbols and pays left to right on adjacent reels. That is about the extent of it.

So the bonus is the thing to understand before you load the demo. It is a hold-and-respin round. Symbols that land stay put while the remaining positions spin again. Bonus symbols carry values, and four character symbols pay out, multiply or collect those values. Listings add that extra reels can join the grid during the round.

Relax Gaming built the game in-house, and it was the first entry in what became the Money Train series. Listings put the release in August 2019. The studio’s page does not state a date.

The numbers on file

Features, weighted by impact

The list is short, and the gap between the top item and the bottom one is wide. Here is how they rank by their effect on a session.

• Money Cart Bonus. The reason the game exists. Every other part of the design is either feeding into this round or filling time until it arrives. Because winning symbols lock in place and the rest respin, the round has a visible build: you watch the grid fill and the values add up. How you feel about that format will decide how you feel about Money Train.
• The four characters. The gang leader, debt collector, TNT expert and gunslinger are the working parts of the bonus. They are what turn a handful of locked values into something larger, by paying, multiplying or collecting. The demo’s paytable sets out each role. It is worth a read first, as the round can look busy until you know which figure does what.
• Extra reels. According to listings, the bonus grid can widen with additional reels. More columns mean more spaces for values and characters to land, so this sits third, ahead of anything outside the bonus.
• Stacked symbols. The base game’s one real talking point. A tall stack running across neighbouring reels can cover several of the 40 lines in one go. When stacks fail to connect, the reels play as a standard line slot.

Some non-UK versions also include a bonus buy. It is not offered in UK versions, so it is left out of this ranking. In practice, this means the base game matters more than its modest feature set suggests. You will spend most of your time there, waiting for the Money Cart Bonus to trigger by itself, so judge the demo on whole sessions rather than on the bonus alone.

What 96.2%, high and 20,000x mean in practice

The return. The 96.2% comes from game listings, which all agree on it. It is a theoretical average over an enormous number of spins: in the long run, the standard version is designed to pay back 96.2 units per 100 wagered. A single session can finish well above or well below that. Relax’s own page lists only one return, 90%, for the German version. That is a separate configuration with a lower long-run payback, not a figure that changes during play.

The volatility. Relax describes Money Train as high volatility. This is about how the return is spread out, not its size. The game tends to pay in fewer, heavier bursts with long flat runs between them. Given how much rests on the Money Cart Bonus, those flat runs will mostly be base-game spins that return little. Virtual coins let you see that rhythm for yourself with nothing at stake.

The ceiling. The studio caps wins at 20,000x the stake. At the €0.10 minimum on the studio’s page, that comes to €2,000. At the €50 maximum, it becomes a seven-figure sum. That explains the very large cash numbers you may see quoted for this game: they are the same 20,000x limit at top stake, not a different multiplier. Hardly any rounds get close to the ceiling. It tells you how far the game can stretch, not what to expect from it.

Every spin is independent. A long gap since the last bonus does not bring the next one closer.

Money Train beside other games we cover

Bonanza removes winning symbols and drops new ones in. Money Train’s bonus does the reverse: it holds what lands and respins the empty spaces.

Extra Chilli centres on a free spins round. In Money Train, you follow a filling grid instead of a falling spin count, which suits a different kind of patience.

Gold Cash Free Spins shares the forty fixed lines, so the base-game pace may feel close. Their bonus ideas have little in common.

King Kong Cash gives its main game more to do between features. Money Train leans much harder on its bonus, and its base game is plainer for it.

Where Money Train leaves us

This is a tightly focused slot. A hold-and-respin bonus, four characters with distinct jobs and the chance of a wider grid account for almost all of its character. The stacked base game is serviceable but rarely more.

The figures match that picture. High volatility and a 20,000x cap point to lumpy, bonus-led results. The 96.2% return is a solid standard figure, but it rests on listings, because Relax publishes only the 90% German version on its own page.

It is a good pick for anyone curious about the game that started the Money Train series and content to sit through quiet base-game spells. It is a poorer fit for players who want frequent small wins or a lively main game. A few demo sessions on virtual coins will show which camp you fall into.