On the behalf of Bigwinboard and all online slots enthusiasts around the globe, we’d like to send a massive thanks to Relax Gaming for giving us the opportunity to do an exclusive first ever Money Train 3 interview with game product owner Callum Sultana. Having scored the first ever perfect 10 on Bigwinboard, it’s safe to say that Money Train 3 is one of the most anticipated releases of all time! But let’s not waste anymore time – it’s time to hear all the good stuff directly from the source!
Bigwinboard: Hi Callum, congrats on receiving the first 10 pointer ever awarded on Bigwinboard!
Callum Sultana (CS): Thank you very much, the whole company is buzzing from this review. To be awarded the first perfect 10 score is incredible for everyone involved and Relax Gaming as a whole. We worked tirelessly on this and it means a lot to have our efforts recognised.
Bigwinboard: Money Train 2 was such a massive success, did you feel a lot of pressure creating the follow up or were you able to enjoy the process?
CS: A mix of both, creating a follow-up to a knock-out success like Money Train 2 feels ambitious and brings with it a lot of pressure. That said, however, we never set out to make a sequel for the sake of it, we knew what we wanted to improve on and had important goals to reach with Money Train 3. So, before even starting the production phase we were confident that we were bringing another hit to the market. Ultimately, it’s the quality of the game that we care about and we’re thrilled that all our hard work is paying off with the first 10-pointer review in the bag!
Bigwinboard: You definitely succeeded in every way possible. It looks like you guys have found the perfect balance of staying true to the original whilst doing just the right upgrades. I imagine that must have been quite a challenge? Was there any point where you guys just wanted to go crazy and take the game in a totally different direction?
CS: Thank you! I could easily sit here and say it was a huge challenge, but in all honesty, we’re a team with a vision and don’t start anything we don’t feel we can deliver on. The concept for this game was crystal clear from the get-go and we knew the narrative evolution we wanted to convey, so it was more challenging to ensure that we reached the potential we aimed for rather than getting lost in different directions. This is true for both the narrative and mechanics. Mechanically, we wanted to add more features but not tip the scale too far and make it feel like something completely new. From a story-telling perspective, we need something continuous – the same gang but upgraded, as though they’ve gone away and refined their skills before jumping back onto the Money Train. In the end, we felt we achieved both and are proud of the exhilarating title we’re about to launch.
“In terms of win frequencies, I can confirm that winning 20,000x and 50,000x will happen more often than they did in its predecessors and we should expect to see plenty of 100,000x wins as well!”
Bigwinboard: The 100,000x potential is a talking point in itself. During testing we triggered a 40,000x win with our fifth bonus buy, and we know from experience Relax Gaming potential is no joke. Obviously, triggering the max win won’t be easy. Was it hard trying to balance the math of making the game playable whilst offering such high max win potential? Could you also tell us a bit about the chances of landing 1000x, 5000x, 10,000x+ wins?
CS: Fantastic, we love seeing big wins! That win in particular truly showcased how well the Persistent Sniper combines with the Collector when landing slightly later on. Games like this are always a balancing act and we’ve seen win caps used for marketing purposes and instill false hope, but in Money Train that cap is needed because the max win could otherwise reach some even crazier numbers. In terms of win frequencies, I can confirm that winning 20,000x and 50,000x will happen more often than they did in its predecessors and we should expect to see plenty of 100,000x wins as well!
Bigwinboard: Oh boy, can’t wait to see the 100,000x win, it will be spectacular for sure! Something else that immediately stood out was the Persistent Shapeshifter, that’s a fantastic addition. How did you come to think of that and can you tell our readers a bit more about the feature.
CS: The Persistent Shapeshifter was pitched by the mathematician working on the game, Ola Öinert, and the idea was to have a Mystery Symbol feature that would enable players to experience all the great aspects of Money Train in one feature symbol. An aspect that makes the Money Train sequel so special is that there isn’t any one way to hit big wins, the game is packed with different money-making combinations and the Shapeshifter Symbol perfectly exemplifies that.
“As often happens at Relax, many of our upgrades and improvements are rooted in player feedback. When we set out to make Money Train 3, we sat down with some fans and deep-dove into their likes and dislikes”
Bigwinboard: That’s awesome, a shoutout to Ola then! Another cool thing we’ve noticed is that the payer now has more ammo. All of the changes may seem like small upgrades, but have really helped perfect a game that was previously more or less already perfect. Can you tell us a bit more about all the other upgrades available in the game?
CS: As often happens at Relax, many of our upgrades and improvements are rooted in player feedback. When we set out to make Money Train 3, we sat down with some fans and deep-dove into their likes and dislikes. From this, we gathered that the Payer left more to be desired, but as we mentioned earlier, it’s a fine balance between old and new when making a follow-up game. With this in mind, rather than swapping the character out for another feature, we explored the idea of giving her more ammo in the form of an automatic rifle so that all her efforts could be concentrated on one target, rather than stretching across the whole board. In Money Train 2, players felt disappointed if a Payer landed early on in the game as the value derived from the number of symbols already on the board, this way, we eliminated that somewhat underwhelming element.
Bigwinboard: Money Train 2 is in many ways a feature buy oriented slot. In Money Train 3 you have expanded the options. Can you tell us a bit more about that? Also, you can trigger the max win from an organic bonus trigger too, right?
CS: Absolutely! Max wins are definitely possible from an organic trigger. We’ve also made changes to the Base Game which should make it more entertaining than its predecessors. As for the buy feature options, these have been on the cards for a very long time and we wanted to go all out for Money Train 3. I feel that the Persistent Buy Feature speaks for itself and was requested by many players and fans, so we were keen on providing it. We also included two lower-cost alternatives which allow players to buy features for 50x and 20x with 2 spins and 1 spin resets rather than the 3 spins in previous games. These turned out to be great additions to the game as they broadened the appeal amongst player groups through different price points and varying levels of volatility. It’s worth mentioning that you can land a Persistent symbol on the trigger spin of any of these Buy Features too!
Bigwinboard: That’s fantastic Callum. Players will love to hear that! Is it also possible to give us some insight into the odds of landing the persistent features?
CS: Players should see a Persistent symbol in roughly every 9 features. However, there are different values attributed to each of them, you should definitely be excited if you land a Persistent Necromancer or Persistent Collector Payer, for example! Alternatively, you can choose to see them in every round through the Persistent Buy Feature.
Bigwinboard: It’s going to be super exciting watching our streamer friends Letsgiveitaspin and the bunch trying to crack this one. Given how viewer-friendly it is, did you have streamers in mind when you developed Money Train 3?
CS: Truthfully, we have all players in mind when we’re creating games and don’t specifically think of streamers; this is something we pride ourselves on at Relax. Internally, we all love playing these games so we approach a slot with our type of players in mind. The excitement is palpable within our teams at the moment and we’re all looking forward to the 22nd of September so that we can watch people’s reactions to the game as it happens!
Bigwinboard: The reactions and feedback on Bigwinboard and on our social media channels have been super positive. When we went out with the news and published the review, it immediately caused a buzz of excitement. We even broke the record for most visits on the site during one single day! Anything you want to say to the community?
CS: First of all, thank you very much for all the kind comments and positive feedback that have come our way, it’s been a huge source of motivation for us to deliver a game that everyone can enjoy. Apart from that, keep watching this space, we’ve got a lot cooking right now!
