Cash Truck Begins

Cash Truck Begins: Slot Overview

Whilst a number of casino game makers may have looked on at the success of Relax Gaming's Money Train franchise with a touch of envy, few have really stepped up to take the studio on at its own game. One that has is software provider Quickspin through a vehicular series, which is content to use anything but trains. So far, the series has passed through the desert of Cash Truck, the snowy tundra of Cash Truck Christmas Delivery, the future of Cash Truck 2, and the villainous domain of Cash Truck 3 Turbo. Now, in an unexpected move, Cash Truck Begins trundles through a fantasy-style world as it delivers a big hold 'n win bonus round stacked with special symbols.

If Quickspin was trying to put distance between its slots and its competitor's, the team could hardly have picked a more contrasting theme. Shunning futuristic vehicles, or even those of the present day, Cash Truck Begins spins the clock to an age of swords, axes, and face-to-face warfare. Instead of staring at the back side of a truck as it thunders along a highway, players get to inspect a sort of caged wagon contraption bearing a pile of gold coins, making its way towards somewhere misty and fantastical. The series might have had a facelift, but Cash Truck Begins keeps the sensation of travelling along at speed… though whether that's towards glory or ruin remains to be seen.

Base game spins take place on a play area of 5x7 in size, where the top 3 positions of each reel begin in a locked state. Cash Truck Begins has a ways-to-win pay system to create winning combinations, producing up to 16,807 win ways when the grid is completely unlocked. Every Cash Truck slot to date has been highly volatile, and Cash Truck Begins does not buck the trend. While betting 20 c to $/€100 per spin, the top RTP config comes in at 96.19%.

Cash Truck Begins' pay symbols are hearts, diamonds, spades, and clubs as the lows, an axe, hammer, swords, Garrik, Thulgrim, and Rogar the Red as the mediums, leaving Valeria as the sole high pay symbol. Hitting 5 OAK winning combinations awards 0.25x for the lows, 0.5x to 2x for the mediums, and 5x for the high. Wilds and Big Wilds substitute for all symbols except the scatter. Symbols in winning combinations explode from the grid, causing new symbols to drop down and fill the spaces. Tumbling continues as long as there are winning combinations. Each tumble that creates a winning combination expands the play area by unlocking three random positions in the locked area.

Cash Truck Begins: Slot Features

Cash Truck Begins offloads tumble wins, an expanding play area, Big Wilds, and a second chance in the base game before launching into a tricked-out hold 'n win round.

Big Wild

The first time there are no locked positions in the base game, after all tumbles are complete, a big 3x3 wild lands in the centre of the play area, triggering a win evaluation.

Second Chance

When there are exactly 2 scatters in view, the second chance has not already occurred in the current round, and the big wild is not triggered, the second chance activates. It clears the open play area of all symbols except scatters, causing new symbols to drop into the cleared spaces.

Bonus Game

Landing 3 or more unlocked scatters on the grid activates the bonus game. If more than 3 scatters trigger the feature, the bonus round starts with one extra Expander symbol for each additional scatter. The round awards 3 spins, though landing a new symbol resets the spin counter to 3. On each spin, cash and/or special symbols may land. Landed symbols remain in place for the rest of the round unless removed by another feature. Symbols are:

• Cash - adds its value upon landing.
• Grabber - adds the values of all other symbols in the unlocked play area to its own value.
• Brutal Grabber - acts like a regular Grabber but on every spin for the rest of the round when other symbols land.
• Doubler - doubles its value each time the counter resets to 3.
• Zapper - doubles the value of all symbols connected orthogonally to it in a chain of symbols.
• Brutal Zapper - doubles the value of symbols connected to its cluster by touching sides on every spin for the rest of the round where another symbol lands.
• Booster - adds its value to all symbols in the unlocked play area.
• Brutal Booster - acts like a Booster but on every spin for the rest of the round when other symbols land.
• Upgrader - upgrades orthogonally adjacent symbols. A cash symbol can become a Grabber or Booster. A Booster, Zapper, or Booster are upgraded to the Brutal version.
• Expander - unlocks 3 random positions from the locked area.

Feature Buy

Buying the bonus game triggered by at least 3 scatters costs 40x the bet, or buying the bonus game triggered by at least 5 scatters costs 185x the bet.

Cash Truck Begins: Slot Verdict

Since the Money Train juggernaut came to a grinding halt with the release of Money Train 4 in 2023, few studios have chosen to release their own contenders in an attempt to dethrone the king. If there were hopes Cash Truck Begins could be one, it might be good to temper those expectations. For sure, Cash Truck Begins is an entertaining slot, one that motors the Cash Truck range across unmapped territory while packing an explosive hold 'n win bonus round, but it could have been better. Probably the biggest caveat is that the game is basically a remake of Cash Truck 3 Turbo, returning virtually the same set of features.

Don't want to be negative, and this might sound horrendously materialistic, but Cash Truck Begins also loses a few cool points on account of its winning potential. For sure, few gamblers would be shedding tears over a 20,000x the bet hit, but weirdly, it is the smallest figure in the series and looks more than a little sad compared to Money Train 4's 150,000x. As already stated, few would rue pocketing a 20,000x hit, but the diminished win cap makes Cash Truck Begins a lighter-weight slot and lessens its impact.

The lessening continues when considering how close Cash Truck Begins is to Cash Track 3 Turbo mechanically. While the fantasy-esque theme change is interesting, taking CT3, halving the potential and axing the gamble for more Expanders features doesn't feel like a boss move. On the flip side, bargain-hunting gamblers may appreciate cheaper price tags for triggering the bonus games, and there is about double the probability of hitting the win cap. Ah well, consumer choice is an important component of economics, and in Cash Truck Begins, gamblers get a freshly presented Cash Truck slot with alterations around winning potential, though very little to nothing new mechanically beneath the facelift.