Cats and Cash Online Slot Review
My first thoughts on seeing this slot were ‘oh no, another kitsch cat slot!’ In the tradition of IGT’s Kitty Glitter or Aristocrat’s Miss Kitty – Play N Go have created a cross between a cat slot and a gameshow theme. Compared to many of their games, this is not the most impressive graphically – though I will say it has got some appeal, if only for being such an odd mix.
The full title of this slot is ‘Rich Wilde and the Aztec Idols’, and the smooth intro video gives you a flavour of the production quality. The symbols are exactly as you’d expect, different face-masks are mixed with card symbols with stylised carvings. There is an explorer (presumably ‘Rich Wilde’ himself) which acts as the wild. There are some animations on the reels, though these are not overdone – for example the sparking of the golden temple or rotation of the ancient calendar. Sounds are a mix of drums, pipes and upbeat tones when you hit wins. When you stop spinning you’ll hear crickets and background jungle sounds. These are good quality effects, though the levels of the ‘win’ noises could do with being lower in the mix.
This game does have a bonus game, which involves a wheel-of-fortune type spinning reel. This can be accessed via two different bonus symbols, which determine how big the prizes on the wheel will be.
Setup and Play for Cats and Cash
There are 15 win lines in this game, which is lower than many of today’s slots. You can select any number of these. In common with other Play N Go games, you can select the number of coins per line (between 1 and 5) as well as the value of those coins. The max coin value is $1, so at 15 lines and the max 5 coins you can spin for $75 a time. Most people will be closer to the 15c minimum spin end of the spectrum. Auto-play is available for up to 50 games each time.
The top symbol is the showbiz looking brown cat which is surrounded by lights. This is also the wild symbol, substituting for everything except the bonus and the scatter. You can win 10,000 coins for 5 wilds on a line, and 1000 for just 4.
Regular symbols are topped with the gold bars, which are worth 2500 for 5, the diamond necklace (1000) and the pile of money (500). The different cat characters come next and make up the smaller win amounts. There are no playing cards on this slot.
Goldfish in a bowl are the scatter symbols, paying 400 times your total bet for 5, and 20x for 4. There are also two different bonus symbols. One is a wheel with the word ‘Bonus’ on it, the other is a gift box. You’ll need 3 or more of these to activate the bonus feature.
Cats and Cash Bonus Feature
There is only one bonus game, though the amount you can win depends on which of the symbols you line up 3 of in order to trigger it. The ‘Bonus’ symbol allows up to win up to 5000 coins, while the gift box has a max win of 2000 coins.
You are taken to a break out screen and will see a spinning wheel with different coin amounts on it. This is hosted by a glamourous cat – to me this felt odd, like a glamourous body with a cat’s head. The wheel will start to spin automatically, and you’ll see a big red ‘stop’ button at the bottom of the screen. Your only interaction is to click this – the wheel then slowly stops to select your prize. There is an opportunity to respin (next to the pointer on the left of the wheel), though I was not lucky enough to trigger this.
Cats and Cash – Conclusion
This slot might not be the horror story I imagined when I first played, at the same time it is not the greatest title in the Play N Go range. The retro graphics, annoying ‘meows’ and only a single bonus which does not have any real interaction are not really enough to keep be engaged for long. I get the concept, though if kitsch and over the top cat games appeal to you, then IGT’s Kitty Glitter does a much better job.
On the positive side, the top wins are large for this game – with 10000 coins for 5 wilds and 400x your total bet for 5 goldfish scatters.
