Cash Crooks

Cash Crooks: Slot Overview

If pop culture has taught us anything, it's that when human beings rob a bank vault, it's nasty, but when an animal grabs a swag bag full of bank notes and miscellaneous loot, it's adorable. Then again, in slots, even humanistic criminals can be portrayed with a cute streak. In Hacksaw Gaming's bank-robbing slot Cash Crooks, players find themselves dealing with a couple of feline baddies named Betty and Clyve. Like their namesakes, Bonnie and Clyde, this pair cruises the countryside, emptying vaults, and getting their paws on ill-gotten gains. However, they do it for the rush rather than the riches, though gamblers who take on Cash Crooks will no doubt be hoping the game delivers both rush and riches as it lands Vault Dial prize wheel symbols to spin up rewards.

The game starts with Betty and Clyve brandishing machine guns against a security guard dog holding a baton, which doesn't feel very fair. It's got a swinging, 30s, devil may care attitude, where the baddies aren't really all that bad, but rather loveable rogues standing up against an oppressive system, having a laugh or two in the process. Bonus rounds progress through the vault, one full of gold ready for the taking, one empty apart from the skittish security guard, the other is… hidden. No matter the location, it's Vault Dials you want to see, and they can land at any time, in a slot which came across as a cat-themed version of a Max Spinwell release.

Divided by lasers is Cash Crooks' gaming grid made up of 5 reels and 14 paylines. Hacksaw Gaming has set the math model volatility to medium, as it generates an RTP of 96.22% at the highest return value. By clicking the up and down arrows, players may select a stake of $/€0.10 at minimum to $/€100 at the most.

Cash Crooks' regular paying symbols are 10-A playing card ranks, rings, earrings, diamond bags, bank notes, and bags of bank notes. Hitting a winning combination of 5 matching royals pays 1x the stake, or hitting 5 matching premiums in a winning line awards 2x to 5x the bet. Wild symbols are conspicuous by their absence in Cash Crooks, meaning they do not land at any stage.

Cash Crooks: Slot Features

Be on the lookout for Vault Dials, three bonus games - Grab'n Go, Fierce & Fur-ious, and Vault to Victory, as well as feature buys.

Vault Dials

One Vault symbol may land per reel, on the leftmost, middle, and rightmost reels. When a Vault symbol lands, it activates after any regular wins to display a Vault Dial. Dials spin to award the Max Win, an additive multiplier of 2x to 250x, or a multiplicative multiplier of x2 to x20. Additive and multiplicative multiplier values are applied to the Piggy Bank above the grid. If more than one Vault Dial is on the grid, the multiplier values are combined from left to right. If a multiplicative multiplier is first, it acts as an additive multiplier. After all Dials have been activated, the final Piggy Bank value is awarded.

Grab'n Go Bonus Game

Landing 3 scatters in the base game awards 10 free spins in the Grab'n Go bonus. Before the Grab'n GO and Fierce & Fur-ious rounds start, players may gamble on a wheel. The wheel awards more or less spins (5-20) or a Bonus Upgrade. The Bonus Upgrade upgrades the current bonus to the next higher bonus. During Grab'n GO, there is a higher chance of landing Vault symbols. Also, hitting 2 or 3 scatters in any of the three bonus rounds awards +2 or +4 free spins, respectively.

Fierce & Fur-ious Bonus Game

The Fierce & Fur-ious round's 10 free spins are awarded when landing 4 scatters in the main game. This feature works like Grab'n Go, except its Vault Dials have additive multiplier values of 10x-250x and multiplicative values of x3-x20, as well as the Max Win.

Vault to Victory Hidden Epic Bonus

Hitting 5 scatters in the main game triggers 10 free spins in the Vault to Victory round. This bonus keeps the mechanics of Fierce & Fur-ious, but it will land at least one Vault Dial on each spin.

Feature Buys

Four features may be bought in Cash Crooks. They are BonusHunt FeatureSpins, making each spin 5 times more likely to trigger a bonus game for 3x or Safe & Sound FeatureSpins costing 50x to guarantee at least one Vault symbol lands. Grab'n Go costs 100x to trigger, or 250x buys the Fierce & Fur-ious round.

Cash Crooks: Slot Verdict

Cash Crooks is an entertainingly whimsical naughty cats on the run from the law game, but it's not one of Hacksaw Gaming's groundbreakers. The main reason is that it is basically a rehash of the studio's diabolical slot SixSixSix, released a couple of years prior. Naturally, the outer skin is completely different, but peel away the wrapper, and what's left beneath shares a lot of similarities. What lessens Cash Crooks' appeal, however, is that the changes it has made have led to a weaker game than triple six was. On the other hand, there could be players who prefer the less volatile math model driving the playful criminal cat theme, and fair enough if that is the case. Otherwise, Cash Crooks, being a watered-down version, might rub certain gamblers up in a negative way.

The mechanical alterations include condensing the Red Wicked Wheel and Blue Wicked Wheel from SixSixSix down into a single Vault Dial. This has ended up with reduced maximum additive multipliers, but it does streamline the action. Free spins bonus round progression follows a similar pattern as well, increasing the chance of landing Vault symbols and removing lower values from wheels as the tiers get higher, then dropping at least one guaranteed Vault Dial on each spin in the hidden bonus. As before, Cash Crooks also gives players a chance of gambling their way into a higher round, at the risk of losing a number of free spins rather than the entire bonus, which is a somewhat benevolent touch.

Overall, Cash Crooks was okay, but it felt like a step down from SixSixSix. Even the max win has been cut back to 10,000x the stake, though by the same token, some gamblers may prefer the cuter, trimmed-down, less sophisticated version. The feline criminals bring charm, and the Vault Dial mechanic is able to deliver exciting moments when prizes are stacking up. However, players looking for the same level of depth and innovation found in some of Hacksaw Gaming's stronger releases may find Cash Crooks underwhelming.