Piggy Riches Begins

Piggy Riches Begins: Slot Overview

Piggy Riches Begins is an online slot designed by software provider Red Tiger, which continues a more than decade-long series that was started by partner NetEnt in 2010. First off, kudos to the piggy family for sticking around for so long and retaining their riches through the turbulent intervening years. Secondly, the game's title was a bit of a puzzle because while the 'Begin's part would hint at a return to origin, Piggy Riches Begins deliverers different gameplay to the original Piggy Riches slot, triggering a Hold and Respins feature rather than free spins with a multiplier. Perhaps this is the beginning of a new evolutionary pathway or a new business venture; let's have a look.

Piggy Riches Begins' appearance is closer in style to Piggy Riches 2 Megaways than the first game, as well. The original had that old-school grid dotted in payline numbers dominating the screen thing, which has been fazed out as the years have passed by. Instead, the sagging in the middle mansion is back to colour the background, joined by a swimming pool, dollar sign trimmed plants, and various other wealth signifiers.

If size matters, then Piggy Riches Begins takes a step back from its Megaways predecessors. Gone are the chaotic reel expansions - instead, you’re working with a fixed 5x4 grid that offers 1,024 ways to win. Bets range from 10 cents to $/€4, and while the layout might be simpler, volatility is still high. One bright spot: the max RTP edges past its two older siblings, landing at 96.01%.

The paytable features nine regular symbols, including the usual 10 to A card royals, along with hats, watches, dollar bills, and safes. Five-of-a-kind wins pay 0.3x-0.4x the bet for the low pays and 0.8x-10x for the premiums. Wilds appear on reels 2, 3, and 4, starting as humble 1x1 symbols. However, every time the Hold and Respin feature hits, the wild grows taller - adding a row with each level until it maxes out at a full 1x4.

Piggy Riches Begins: Slot Features

Patience and persistence may be needed to progress Piggy Riches Begins through its four levels, which increase the size of wilds, Cash, Prize and Multiplier values as it does so. There's also a Hold and Respin round to look forward to.

Cash and Collector Symbols

Cash symbols have a random value depending on the progression level. One Collector symbol may land on the rightmost reel in the base game. It collects the value of all Cash and Prize symbols in view if there are fewer than 6 of them in total. If there are 6 or more Cash and Prize symbols, the Hold and Respins bonus is entered, then only the Cash symbols are collected by the sticky Collector.

Multiplier Symbol

Multiplier symbols may land on the rightmost reel, revealing a random multiplier depending on the progression level. The Multiplier multiplies ways wins, and not Cash or Prize symbols. Only one Multiplier may land on a spin, and it cannot land with a Collector.

Progression

There are 4 levels of progression in the game. The game starts a new stake at the first level. Each triggered Hold and Respin feature during the first 3 levels raises the level. Levels 1-4 increase wild size from 1x1 to 1x4, boost Cash prizes from 1x-3x up to 1x-20x, raise multipliers from x2-x10 to x2-x1,000, and at Level 4 add prize symbols: 25x Mini, 250x Minor, 1,000x Major, and 20,000x Mega.

Hold and Respin Bonus

Landing 6 or more Cash and Prize symbols triggers the Hold and Respin bonus. All Cash, Prize and Collector symbols are held, while 3 respins are awarded. Only Cash, Prize, Collectors, or blank positions may land during the feature. Any new non-blank symbol resets the respin counter to 3. Each Collector sticks to its landed position, collecting the value of all Cash symbols on landing, freeing their positions for new symbols. The round ends on a full grid or when respins go to zero. At the end, all Cash or Collector symbols plus the values of Prize symbols are awarded to the player. Only one Mega Prize symbol may land.

Piggy Riches Begins: Slot Verdict

Hasn't the Piggy Riches series been on a twisty, turny journey? It garnered success when released by NetEnt in 2010, then came roaring back ten years later courtesy of a Megaways extension by Red Tiger, followed up four years later in Piggy Riches 2 Megaways. Now, here we are on the gold-plated doorstep of Piggy Riches Begins, a slot which initially triggered as many questions as answers. The first question was the Begins part, and the answer lies in the slot's progression system. Four pictures above the reels track each of the game's four levels, also linked to the expanding wild symbols depicting a youthful piggy character getting evermore older and wealthier before cha-ching, the level four pig resembles the gentleman found in the original release.

Red Tiger does like its players to spin through a game in order to unlock its more powerful features. The studio has done this on a number of occasions, and linking progression to a story about a slot that is 15 years old at the time of writing was a neat touch. The features get much more potent, too, as progression, uh, progresses, from wild growth of 1x1 to 1x4, max multiplier growth of x10 to a staggering x1,000, and, of course, getting the chance to land Prize symbols. How integral landing the Mega Prize is for achieving Piggy Riches Begins' full potential is not clear, but its value is not much less than the game's max multiplier of 20,556x the bet.

Too bad we don't get to see Mrs Piggy's journey from humble origins to cashed-up madame. Maybe she's a trophy wife; maybe she brought her own pile of cash to the relationship; maybe her story will be told in a future release. Piggy Riches Begins is an unusual game in that it moves away from Megaways instead of towards it, but in its place is a progression system which can potentially reward patiently persevering gamblers who are into this style of slot, accompanied by an interesting origin story they may enjoy as progression unfolds.