Money Train 3

What makes the perfect slot sequel? More action? Maybe bigger potential, or higher volatility? Whatever your answer, I bet when I said ‘perfect slot sequel’ you started thinking about some of your favourites, and it probably included Money Train 2. Well, you haven’t seen anything yet, because Relax Gaming are going back to the Money Train board once more, bringing us Money Train 3. With wins available up to 100,000x bet, this highly volatile release comes with a fixed RTP of 96.10% (96.50% Feature Buy), and enough changes to excite the most critical of players, but enough continuity to please fans of the series. The perfect balance? Let’s see…

Money Train 3 Base Game

Visually, things are exactly what you would expect from a sequel done well – upgraded perfectly from the other releases in this series, with an overall sleekness. There’s a futuristic feel to everything, fitting perfectly into the idea of being a sequel, and once again the team at Relax have proven they are one of the best when it comes to artwork and attention to detail. Audios are, again, an upgrade on what we’ve seen before, helping to tie the whole thing together into something that works tremendously well.

Money Train 3 Features 40 Fixed Win Lines

Money Train 3 Base Features

Taking place across 5 reels, wins are formed on Money Train 3 by matching at least 3 symbols on adjacent reels, beginning with the leftmost reel, across one of 40 fixed win lines. Symbols begin with non premiums, with blue diamonds, green clubs, orange hearts, and red spades – all awarding wins of 0.20x bet for 3 of a kind, increasing to values between 3 and 5x bet for 5 of a kind. At the premium end, we meet four character symbols, again blue, green, orange, and red in colour. Landing 3 of a kind of any premium will see wins between 0.50 and 0.80x bet, with this increasing to values between 8 and 20x bet for 5 of a kind. Finally, Gas Mask Wild symbols are available, substituting for all symbols except Bonus symbols.  Landing 3, 4, or 5 Wilds across a win line will produce wins of 0.80, 4, and 20x bet, respectively.

Re-Spins Can Be Triggered Randomly at the End of Any Spin Without a Win

The main aspect to the base game is the Re-spin Feature. At the end of any spin without a win, a re-spin may be triggered randomly. One of the symbols already present on the reels will be selected to be sticky, and a re-spin is awarded. Only additional symbols of the same type can land during re-spins, and each time a new one does land, another re-spin is awarded.

It is also possible to land multiplier symbols with values of x1, x2, or x3. Multiplier symbols do not stick, but they award another re-spin. Re-spins end when no new symbols land. At the end of re-spins, the total multiplier value will be applied to the win. Multiple multipliers add together.

Money Train 3 Persistent Features

Money Train 3 Bonus

Landing 3 or more Bonus symbols anywhere on the reels triggers the Money Cart Bonus Round, with 3 spins awarded. Persistent symbols can substitute for Bonus symbols, but we’ll explain more on those below.

Once the bonus round begins, any symbols involved in triggering the feature will reveal a value which is displayed as a multiplication of the active bet – for example 1x – and they will stick in their triggering position. If a Persistent symbol was involved in triggering the feature, it will reveal its action before the first spin.

Fill a Column With Symbols to Open a New Column – This Can Happen Twice

Each time any new symbol lands on the reels, the spin counter is reset back to 3. The Bonus Round will end when no new symbols land for 3 spins in a row. When a column is filled with symbols, an additional column is opened – this can happen a maximum of 2 times during the Bonus Round.

Money Train 3 Original Feature

It is possible to land the following symbols during the Money Cart Bonus Round:

• Normal Bonus Symbols – A value between 1-10x bet.
• Collector – Collects all visible values on the reels and adds them to its own value.
• Sniper – Doubles the values of 3-8 other symbols. Snipers can act on the same symbol multiple times.
• Collector-Payer – Selects 3-5 symbols as targets, adds their values to its own, and then pays out this updated value to each of those targets.
• Necromancer – Brings between 2-7 already used non-persistent Special Bonus Symbols to life again. The same symbol can be targeted several times.
• Absorber – Absorbs all Normal Bonus Symbols and removes them from the reels. Special Symbols cannot be absorbed.
• Tommy Gun Sniper – Targets one randomly picked symbol, doubling its value from 2-6 times.
• Tommy Gun Payer – Reveals a value from 5-100x and targets one randomly picked symbol, adding the revealed value from 3-10 times.

Money Train 3 Persistent Sniper

Alongside the above, it is possible to land the following Persistent Symbols:

• Persistent Collector – Collects all visible values on the reels and adds them to its own value at the end of the spin in which it lands, and every spin that follows. Persistent Collector Symbols do not collect their own value.
• Persistent Sniper – Doubles the values of 3-8 other symbols at the end of the spin in which it lands, and every spin that follows. Snipers can act on the same symbol multiple times.
• Persistent Collector-Payer – Selects 3-5 symbols as targets, adds their values to its own, and then pays out this updated value to each of those targets at the end of the spin in which it lands, and every spin that follows.
• Persistent Necromancer – Brings between 1-7 already used non-persistent Special Bonus Symbols to life again at the end of the spin in which it lands, and every spin that follows. The same symbol can be targeted several times.
• Persistent Shapeshifter – Turns into a different Special Symbol after every spin. Shapeshifters can become a Collector, Collector-Payer, Sniper, Tommy Gun Sniper, or Tommy Gun Payer.

Money Train 3 Persistent Collector

There are a number of Buy Feature options available in Money Train 3:

• 1 Spin Feature (20x bet) – Guarantees the Bonus Round is triggered with 1 starting spin. Every new symbol that lands will reset the spin count back to 1.
• 2 Spin Feature (50x bet) – Guarantees the Bonus Round is triggered with 2 starting spins. Every new symbol that lands will reset the spin count back to 2.
• Original Feature (100x bet) – Guarantees the Bonus Round is triggered as it would be if triggered through the base game. Every new symbol that lands will reset the spin count back to 3.
• Persistent Feature (500x bet) – Guarantees the Bonus Round is triggered with 1 Persistent Symbol. Every new symbol that lands will reset the spin count back to 3.

The theoretical RTP for all Feature Buy options is 96.50%, and it is possible to trigger any of the above with a Persistent Symbol – the Persistent Feature simply guarantees it.

The maximum win available in Money Train 3 is 100,000x bet. If the sum of a total game round exceeds this, the game round will end and 100,000x bet will be awarded.

Money Train 3 Persistent Shapeshifter

First Impression

There’s a lot to digest here. Money Train 3 does what many games have tried before, and what many games will try in the future, in becoming the perfect sequel. I could count on one hand the number of truly successful sequels – one of which being Money Train 2. It’s one of the hardest things to do, especially with such high hopes from fans of the original release, so it’s extraordinary that Relax Gaming have now produced two phenomenal sequels. From artwork and audios, to features and symbols (like the new Absorber) – Money Train 3 really feels like the perfect follow on, made even better by a fixed RTP of 96.10%.

Gameplay is fast paced, intense, and truly, highly volatile (like, 40x return from a Persistent Collector Feature volatile) – Money Train 3 will have you ready to give up one minute, and then suddenly everything will change, from as little as 3 symbols in view (seen below). When the right combination lands, things can take off in ways we just haven’t seen before in this series, especially from just 3 spins. The list of Persistent Symbols has grown once again with the addition of the Persistent Shapeshifter – probably my favourite thing to come from this release. One spin you have a Persistent Sniper to double up your symbols (possibly multiple times each), and next thing you know you have a Persistent Collector-Payer to collect that value in, and pay it back out. This isn’t a release that has us wondering ‘wins up to 100,000x bet – how?’. It’s glaringly obvious what Money Train 3 is capable of, and it’s what makes things so exciting.

Of course, that means things have to be reigned in, and in my experience on demo this is mostly done in the form of dead spins. When the right combination is there, there is no landing 1x to appease players and give a few more seconds of excitement – it’s all or nothing. The image below shows this – even 1 more symbol landing would have turned a x361 into x987 – the difference one small symbol can make is staggering when the Persistent symbols are in play. And so, you’ll see a lot of Persistent Features that don’t seem to do much, dead spinning out to avoid things getting too out of control. In spite of this, things are so incredibly… Well, fun – exactly as they should be. You can’t help but try again, because you know all the pieces are there, they just need to fit together.

If you’re wondering, I bought around 30+ Persistent Features (I told you – they’re fun!), and saw roughly 7 Persistent Snipers, 4 Persistent Shapeshifters, only 1 Persistent Collector-Payer, no Persistent Necromancers, and all others were Persistent Collectors. I’m not comfortable quoting the likelihood of each Persistent Symbol when buying this feature, but I’d be comfortable enough to say Persistent Collectors will probably be the most common.

It’s hard to see where Relax could go from here – when you’ve managed to create the perfect sequel, would you risk trying it again? Who knows, but for now we’re happy to just sit back and enjoy Money Train 3 – one of the best things to come from the team.

Money Train 3 Persistent Collector-Payer

*The screenshots taken of games reviewed on this site are taken from Demo Play, as reviews are often written before games are released for real play.